by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
Before I begin, I will note that Ms. Gevinson is 25 years old and in the public eye. As such, it’s not like I’m being a creepy middle aged man by simply having a hot take on her. So, please, spare me, Mr. FBI Agent In DC putting this post in your file of me. (If it exists.)
Ms. Gevinson is living the Life of Riley right now. But she’s also extremely lucky. She hit the media zeitgeist at just the right moment in time when she was growing up. What makes her so interesting to me is she does, in fact, have talent, unlike a lot of other young people in the public eye who appear to be famous for being famous.
But Ms. Gevinson is a construct of a very specific area of the media universe. If she didn’t exist, someone like her would be created. As best I can tell, she’s analogous to a blonde, American version of Britain’s fashion It Girl, Alexa Chung.
And, yet, I don’t think the average American understands what a potent cultural force she is in the rarified halls of Elite Media. She’s apparently in a Gossip Girl reboot and she definitely seems to be heading towards being a movie star soon enough.
Yet, again, I don’t know what to make of her. Something about her rapid ascent rubs me the wrong way. It’s like The Powers That Be in New York Media have decided she’s going to be A Thing for decades to come, even if hayseed rubes like me don’t quite get it.
But it could be worse, I guess. She serves a function and she does, in fact, have talent. I think maybe some of my annoyance comes from how precocious she’s been and how a lot of adults who should have known better — at the time — took her way, way too seriously. At the onset of her career as a little tyke she was something akin to Rushmore.
I need to get over myself, though. I just hope she’s grateful that she’s been given some pretty spectacular opportunities at such a young age.
You must be logged in to post a comment.