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Who do you need? The Handmaid’s Tale, Kendrick Lamar, La La Land or George Orwell ...
Who do you need? The Handmaid’s Tale, Kendrick Lamar, La La Land or George Orwell … Composite: Allstar, Getty Images &Hulu
Who do you need? The Handmaid’s Tale, Kendrick Lamar, La La Land or George Orwell … Composite: Allstar, Getty Images &Hulu

What is the piece of pop culture we all need right now?

This article is more than 6 years old

Everything from 1984 to La La Land has been called the thing we need right now, but what is the definitive answer? We take a forensic look at the situation

We need The Handmaid’s Tale right now. And don’t just take my word for it. Look at the headlines. “The Handmaid’s Tale is the prestige miniseries we need right now”, says Yahoo. “The Handmaid’s Tale is just the book we need to see on-screen right now” says Bustle. “A Handmaid’s Tale is the dystopian warning we need right now”, says some blog I’ve never heard of.

From this, we can assume one of two things. First, The Handmaid’s Tale is an important and timely piece of culture that we actually do need right now. Alternatively, the fad for proclaiming that things are what we need right now desperately needs to stop. For example, here’s a list of things that people have recently claimed are what we need right now. They can’t all be what we need right now, so which of these things that we need right now do we most need right now? Here’s a ranking, from things that we need least right now to things that we need most need right now.

La La Land

La La Land: in retrospect, maybe not. Photograph: Allstar/LIONSGATE

La La Land is the feel-good film we all need right now” said GQ, which is one of the worst “thing we need right now” offenders. Oh God. In retrospect, it’s becoming evident that we didn’t need La La Land at all. Sure, it’s a nice film. Sure, it was a deliberate throwback to a more innocent time that starred two beautiful people demonstrating undeniable chemistry. Sure, I went to see it with my mother and we both enjoyed it. But would I trade a world with no La La Land for a world where nobody wrote tedious La La Land thinkpieces accusing it of everything from racism to unchecked male entitlement? Good lord, in a heartbeat. Still, at least La La Land’s producer Jordan Horowitz is “the truth-teller we need right now”, so that’s something.

1984

Why Orwell’s 1984 matters so much now,” said the Washington Post. “Look around you, man,” your idiot friend has almost definitely said at some point this year. “1984 has finally come true, thanks to Donald Trump”. But wait. People were saying that 1984 had finally come true in 2016. And in 2014. And in 2013. And in 2006. And in 1999. And in actual 1984. And pretty much any other time in the past when something has gone wrong and a journalist has wanted to compare it to something, even though they’ve only ever read one book in their entire lives.

Damn by Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar: just an album that happens to be out right now? Photograph: Polydor

“The album we need right now”, according to GQ … again. Why do we need to hear Damn right now? Because it’s the follow-up to one of the best albums in recent years? Because Kendrick Lamar has honed his career to the point that it’s now a perfect balance of musical risk-taking and voice-of-a-generation lyricism? Or is it just because it’s an album that happens to be out now, which gives journalists an opportunity to write about someone other than Ed Sheeran for a change? Also, Damn features U2, which is arguably a sign that we don’t actually need it right now. Or ever, for that matter.

Hidden Figures

Why Hidden Figures is the movie we need right now” said Teen Vogue, adding “This is so important” for kicks. Is Hidden Figures the film we need right now? Well, no, obviously, because the film we need right now is one that emits a steady torrent of carbon monoxide from the screen so that we all end up blissfully dead by the time the credits roll. But is it a film that went some way to redressing the balance of history? Yes. Is it a film that provided a necessary counterpoint to the Oscars’ tendency to whitewash itself? Yes. Is it fun? Yes. Is it worth watching more than once? Look, three out of four isn’t bad.

The Americans

Matthew Rhys, left, and Keri Russell in The Americans, a show you might actually really need right now. Photograph: Craig Blankenhorn/AP

Why The Americans suddenly feels more timely than ever” said Rolling Stone. OK, they might actually have a point this time. The Americans has always been one of the very best shows on television but, between all the dense plotting and silly wigs, it’s been quite a tough sell. But accusations of real-life Russian intervention in American politics has suddenly thrust this weird little show about Russian intervention in American politics into the zeitgeist. The Americans really is the show you should be watching right now.

A video of some young people rapping about vegetables

Kids rapping about healthy food is the truth we need right now” said Organic Authority. That said, full marks to Organic Authority for telling it like it really is. This really is the video we all need to see right now. Not because it’s well made or especially informative – although it is both of those – but because it’s a five-minute video of some children rapping about vegetables, and as a result has nothing to do with this increasingly dystopian hellride we’ll all stuck on and helpless to change. It’s a brief but pleasant distraction, which easily makes it the most necessary thing on this list.

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