Should we get off Twitter?
A few weeks ago, our respective internet feeds exploded. The Don’t Worry Darling premiere kicked off at the Venice Film Festival and things got really big, really fast. Every media outlet and every trending page was geared towards the supposed drama happening behind the scenes. Amatuer internet sleuths got to work unpacking every slightly passive-aggressive movement of the cast and Twitter comedians had enough easy material to fill their boots for the next few days. In the aftermath, as Harry Styles fans and people who are sometimes Quite Online, we’re left in the aftermath, trying to piece together our own feelings. How did following all of the drama make us feel? What does it mean to be online when things like this are unfolding? Is diving into this stuff good for us?
Gabbie
Let’s get the movie out of the way: Miss Flo carried the movie on her whole back, so no wonder she went insane. She was paired with Harry Styles—whom I absolutely adore and have been fawning over since I was twelve—but sadly is someone who cannot act for shit. Man’s just screaming everywhere, all the damn time, while Florence Pugh is literally giving such a stellar performance! But anyway, the juice is not the movie but the tension between the cast members… baby, it is so hard to watch. As a Harry fan, I really just want him to be in a happy relationship—allegedly with director Olivia Wilde—but when the whole “Miss Flo” leaked video came out, I couldn’t help but feel like another femme fatale is unravelling in the industry. “Shia, Shia, Shia”, Wilde starts to say in the video, and then proceeds to, basically, blame Florence Pugh for being a reason why he was removed from the cast. Babes, FKA Twigs has a case against this man for sexual assault and assault, and let me tell you, when you dive into that it’s UGLY! I’m not anti-Olivia Wilde, I fucking loved Booksmart, but it’s the fact that she even faked her support for FKA Twigs, but is constantly advocating for female perspectives and stories. The leaked video says it all. Is she just woke-baiting us? And then all this concern just circles back to me as a Harry fan. If he is still dating her, doesn’t that reflect on his values and the new-era-male idea that he’s been sporting? Is he really as great as we think? But then I start to fight myself and just believe that as long as he’s happy I’m happy, but I couldn’t be with someone who would sabotage another woman, for the sake of my career. So, basically, my interaction with this drama is all just cyclical.
Maddy
I’m going to be honest—this has been an incredibly weird experience for me. Not just because I spent many years fawning over a certain boy band member, but because keeping up with all of it online made me realise how terrible Twitter makes me feel. Sure, it can feel pretty good to have your finger on the pulse and be reading responses from a community that’s on top of every single bit of pop culture news. There’s a kind of excitement that comes from knowing every little detail as it unravels… Have you seen the Chris Pine interview? Did you see that Harry refused to look at Olivia? What about Florence Pugh’s stylist posting something cryptic on Instagram? For me at least, I kind of feel like my Twitter timeline is the equivalent of scrolling through the Daily Mail snapchat filter—there’s not much in there that makes me feel nourished and there’s a lot that makes me feel frustrated and weird. I’d rather read the cheeky Bulletin updates at The Spinoff (yes, they did report on #SpitGate). This whole thing actually made me step away from Twitter for a few days, and it’s made me realise how dizzying it can all be. Weirdly, engaging with the Don’t Worry Darling dramas has been very personally productive for me—I think it’s time to do a bit of revaluing of the internet time I have, and think about how to use it in ways that don’t stress me out.
