Tag: Cat Person

Parasocial Cat People: Of The John Mulaney & Olivia Munn Discourse


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Not since the “Cat Person” discourse have we seen everyone have a hot take on a pop news event. It’s just about the right time of year for it, so here we are. First, let me say I wish the couple the best and I expect them to have a very hot, very funny child.

The way things are going, there should be a “SNL Babies” cartoon on the show about the hilarious hijinks of SNL cast members high-profile babies. Rug Rats meets Ambiguously Gay Duo, if you will.

But back to today’s baby daddy discourse.

Baby Daddy and his girl.

From what I’ve read, Olivia Munn is not some sort of crazed stalker woman who got pregnant to keep Mulvaney locked into her life for 18 years. Something about that particular Barstool Sports hot take is kind of…uh…racist? Seems to me, Munn sort of had love at first sight and when the opportunity came, it happend. Mulvaney seems very happy and so what’s the problem? Munn dates A-list Hollywood men and Mulvaney is, maybe, a solid B-. So it seems like a win-win for everyone.

A guy she really digs is now her baby daddy and Mulvaney has a preemo ladyfriend in his life for the foreseeable future. They’re both really funny and everyone’s happy so…what’s the big deal? And in passing, I would note that Mulvaney’s interview on Late Night was dark, funny and cathartic. Made for great TV, if nothing else.

Some of the intensity of this discourse, of course, comes from how a lot of people have become invested in Mulvaney’s public persona. “Parasocial” is a term I’ve seen a lot for this particular situation. I can’t think of a single living celebrity I have a parasocial relationship with. I’m the main character in my story, or at least try to be, for better or worse.

Though, to be fair, as I’ve grown older, I have come to believe that the reason why parasocial relationships exists with some celebrities is it’s kind of how our reality is constructed. It’s no different than the Greeks looking up the stars and thinking up stories about the goings-on on Mount Olympus. All those stories likely said more about real life sexual shenanigan than what was going on in the heavens.

But I will again note that all this Mulvaney drama happened just after he swooped in to give SNL bad boy Pete Davidson some avuncular guidance. It seems as though maybe instead looking into the abyss of Davidson’s life and seeing it as a warning, Mulvaney said, “I’d like to try that out!”

I find myself liking Munn more because of all of this. She seems like a lot of fun. It’s a great story to tell, in the sense that Mulvaney gives nerds like me hope that one day they can snag a beautiful, funny woman who one got nailed by Christ Pine!

I guess this was the fun little story I was looking forward to this year. Now back to my hysterical “doom shit” about the prospect of a civil war in January 2025.

Here’s My Contribution To The ‘Cat Person’ Discourse


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Before we begin, let me be clear — I started reading the short story “Cat Person” but it hit too close to home on a personal level so I stopped. (Even though it’s a very short story.) Also, I’m just too lazy to do even the most basic of Google search for some details on this subject — think of this as just my impressions on things.

The thing about the short story “Cat Person” is it struck the zeitgeist at just the right moment. It was, as I recall, the height of the #MeToo “moment” and the story resonated with a lot of women who were enraged by men and thought they were all, collectively, a piece of shit.

Anyway, we now learn that a lot of the short story’s characterizations were lifted straight from real life. I’m writing a series of novels at the moment and so I have a lot to say about such things. I have stripped mined my personal life — and the lives of a number of other people — for plot points and characterizations. But all but one of instance of this is so out of context and garbled that it’s not a one-to-one type situation. A lot people I have met over the years would know that this or that quirk or trait of a character was based on them, but it’s not like the entire character is them.

But for one character.

One character is pretty much literally based on the late Annie Shapiro. Ms. Shapiro greatly changed my life while we were both in Seoul. The story of what happened between us is so interesting that over the years, I’ve repeatedly attempted to tell it both literally and in fiction. The literal version of I’m deeply embarrassed about — I had no right do that — and the various fictional versions were either failed or just bad.

But the series of books I’m working on now are much, much, much better than anything else I’ve worked on. And, as I mentioned, a very important character in the series is based on Ms. Shapiro. She’s dead, so I figured I’m not hurting anyone by doing this and also she was one of the most unique individuals I’ve ever met so I’m trying to honor her memory, not hurt it.

Anyway, I’m a pretty unique person, so I know that it’s very possible that someone could base a character on ME and the characterization is unlikely to be very kind. I could totally see someone using me as the basis of a villain in a fictional story, given what Ms. Shapiro and I went through in Seoul with ROKon Magazine. I was drinking a lot back then and also the stress of running the magazine really, really got to me. I was not in a good place. Ms. Shapiro and I hurt each other a lot in various ways and I was angry at her for a long time.

But her death devastated me. RIP, kid.

Now that I know the background of “Cat Person” I pause to reflect on my responsibilities as a writer. Is anyone going to get mad if I base a character of a dead person? And what about all the other people I’ve borrowed aspects of their personality and physical features from? I should be ok, I think, given how garbled it all is.

It is interesting, however, how loaded the “Cat Person” short story has become. It’s become something of a totem for men and women and how they view relationships in different ways. I can only hope for that much cultural relevancy with the series I’m working on.