The Morning: Stepping outside your taste

There's pleasure to be found in seeing movies that aren't exactly "for you."

View in browser|nytimes.com November 23, 2024 By Melissa Kirsch Good morning. Understanding what's "for you" or "not for you" is part of refining taste. But what if it's also closing you off to pleasure and connection? María Jesús Contreras Your heart's desire It's "Glicked" weekend, if you're up for it, an invitation to take in a double feature of two of the season's most anticipated movies, both of which opened yesterday: "Wicked," Jon M. Chu's adaptation of the Broadway musical, starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, and "Gladiator II," Ridley Scott's return to the Colosseum 24 years after his original epic. If this particular cinematic portmanteau is missing some of the multisyllabic whimsy of 2023's "Barbenheimer," the two films on offer this time are as unalike in subject as "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" were, making for another dizzyingly dissonant mash-up, another chance for die-hards to dress up and spend five hours hunkered down in a multiplex. When I first heard that some fans were planning to see "Wicked" and "Gladiator II" back to back, I thought, "Oh, that's fun, but it's not for me." If I'm honest, neither of these films seemed, on its face, to be especially "for me." I'm inclined to smaller movies over blockbusters. I'm not a huge fan of musicals, nor of action movies. I'm a cultural omnivore, personally and professionally, so I knew I would eventually see these movies. But I would be seeing them as a sociologist, a curious outsider rather than the ideal audience member. I wasn't going to be mouthing every word to "Defying Gravity" or comparing Lucius's performance in the arena to that of his father. Understanding what's "for you" or "not for you" is part of refining taste, of figuring out what you like and don't so that your time is pleasurably spent. There's a confidence in that: This is my kind of movie, this is the type of music I listen to, this is the food I like, this is what works for me. It's the reward for a life discerningly lived — you know who you are. I went to see "Wicked" this week and, if I didn't feel like it was for me, I did understand after seeing it that it's for a lot of people who are not me. I was tempted to leave it at that — different strokes for different folks! — but there seemed to be some possibility here. "Wicked" is going to be a huge movie, one that people will be talking about, debating, quoting and referencing, and I was, however tenuously, now connected to these people by dint of having seen it. A few hours in a theater and I could join the conversation. The next day in the office, I ran into my colleague Louis, who'd just written a story about the costumes of "Wicked." The movie, he confirmed, was definitely for him. He'd seen the stage musical several times, knew the soundtrack by heart. I told Louis that after having seen "Wicked," I was interested in questioning what I think of as for me, in finding what happens when we deliberately explore something that we've consigned to others, assuming our tastes or tendencies are so established that there's no way in for us. He'd gone to five Mets games that year, Louis told me, becoming in one season a baseball person, the type of fan who might be inclined to seek out a bar when the game was on. Just like that, a new community. It seems like an irrefutable good to know oneself, the ultimate sign of maturity. Enough faffing about figuring out who you are, now you can just be that person. You've arrived at your destination. But there's a finality to that arrival, a rigidity, an end to curiosity. You know who you are, so you know what's going to happen. What happens if you go see the movie that's so clearly advertising itself as not for you? Yes, you might sit bored for a couple hours, but there's a good story (and Milk Duds) even in that experience. Or you could discover something unexpected — an actor you'd never encounter otherwise, a soundtrack that's actually kind of for you after all. What if you applied the same openness to a problem that's been plaguing you, or a relationship that's been challenging? You think you know who you are, how you will react, how things are going to go. What if you don't know yourself as well as you think you do? What if the you that you think you know, with its taste and preferences and ways of reacting and relating, isn't totally set in stone? For more Read Manohla Dargis's reviews of "Wicked" and "Gladiator II." THE WEEK IN CULTURE Music Liam Payne's funeral in Amersham, England, on Wednesday. Dan Kitwood/Getty Images A funeral for Liam Payne, the former One Direction singer, was held in England a month after his death at 31. His former bandmates were in attendance. Kendrick Lamar released a surprise album, "GNX," yesterday. Lady Gaga, Green Day, Post Malone and Travis Scott will headline next year's Coachella festival, Pitchfork reports. Adele is ending her Las Vegas residency. She is leaving a legacy of excellent black dresses, our fashion critic writes. Rashida Jones, daughter of Quincy Jones, accepted her father's honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards. Rashida delivered a speech he wrote for the event before his death. Film and TV The new Hulu series "Interior Chinatown," adapted by Charles Yu from his own novel, satirizes Hollywood's pigeonholing of Asian actors. See the sets that bring the story to life. "The Piano Lesson," produced by Denzel Washington and based on a play by August Wilson, is one of nine movies our critics are talking about this week. Theater In the Broadway production of "Sunset Boulevard," an actor dodges pedestrians and parked cars on West 44th Street while a camera operator captures the scene live. The brief scene takes 62 people to pull off. "Tammy Faye," a new musical about the televangelist, will close after less than a month. The show, which gained some good reviews in London, failed to find an audience on Broadway. TKTS, the theater discounter that has been a Times Square mainstay for 51 years, is expanding to Philadelphia. Someone driving a pickup truck stole props from a Michigan ballet company ahead of its annual production of "The Nutcracker." The community has stepped up to help the show go on. More Culture A recent spate of celebrity look-alike contests has attracted everyday men who bear passing resemblances to stars like Timothée Chalamet and Jeremy Allen White. In TikTok videos, women are sharing tongue-in-cheek stories about toxic dating behavior under #WomenInMaleFields. THE LATEST NEWS Trump's Appointments Scott Bessent Jonathan Drake/Reuters Donald Trump will nominate Scott Bessent, a billionaire hedge fund manager who has defended Trump's proposed tariffs, to be his Treasury secretary. Russell Vought is Trump's pick to lead the Office of Management and Budget. Vought, an architect of Project 2025, has supported strengthening presidential control over federal agencies. In a surprising move, Trump picked Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer, an Oregon moderate and one of the few congressional Republicans to support pro-union legislation, as his labor secretary. The president of the Teamsters union had recommended her. Sebastian Gorka, a right-wing commentator who backed barring entry to people from Muslim-majority countries in Trump's first term, will return to the White House as an adviser. Trump also filled several other roles, picking a former Florida congressman to lead the C.D.C. and a Johns Hopkins surgeon who frequently appears on Fox News to run the F.D.A. More on Politics The judge overseeing Trump's Manhattan criminal case postponed his sentencing and invited Trump's lawyers to formally seek to dismiss his conviction. Elon Musk is still learning how to play the courtier politics of Trump's inner circle. Many are already speculating about a future falling out. Matt Gaetz, who withdrew from consideration to be Trump's attorney general amid allegations of sex with a minor, said he would not return to Congress next year. Other Big Stories Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group are closer to reaching a 60-day cease-fire, but unresolved details could still scuttle a deal. Federal officials approved New York City's revised congestion pricing program. Starting in January, most drivers will have to pay a $9 toll to enter the busiest parts of Manhattan. Having failed to win power through elections in several Indian states, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party has used bribery, intimidation and even kidnapping to take over local governments. After four female runners in Kenya were killed by their partners, the sport's governing body has taken steps to keep athletes safe from gender-based violence. The Thanksgiving Sale. Subscribe to Cooking now, offer won't last. Less mess, less stress. Cooking provides easy recipes plus videos, community tips and more. Save on your first year of Cooking. CULTURE CALENDAR By Alexis Soloski 📺 "Get Millie Black" (Monday): A detective returns to her hometown to solve a terrible crime — that's the plot of dozens of police procedurals. What sets this one apart is its creator, Marlon James, the winner of the 2015 Booker Prize for "A Brief History of Seven Killings" and author of the ongoing "Dark Star" fantasy trilogy. James forays into television with this tangy, tenebrous crime drama set in his native Jamaica. Tamara Lawrance stars as Millie, a former Scotland Yard detective who returns to Kingston, where her sister, Hibiscus (Chyna McQueen), still lives. If the story is familiar, the sense of place is exceptional. RECIPE OF THE WEEK By Melissa Clark Sheet-Pan Chicken Tikka Turkey may be the foremost poultry on your mind right now, with Thanksgiving approaching and Christmas hard on its heels. But that doesn't mean chicken should be off the menu. Zainab Shah's fragrant sheet-pan chicken tikka is an easy, colorful meal that's elegant enough for guests, and full of ginger, garlic and spices. If you marinate the chicken overnight, you'll be rewarded with a deeper, richer character. But even a 30-minute stint will give you a heady and complex meal to kick off your holiday week. REAL ESTATE Gianna Licari Maansi Srivastava for The New York Times The Hunt: A first-time buyer, excited to start a new government job, took her $300,000 budget to the Washington, D.C., area. Which home did she choose? Play our game. What you get for $2.7 million: A stone mansion from 1906 in Minneapolis; a Spanish Colonial-style house in Santa Fe, N.M.; or a 19th-century rowhouse in Alexandria, Va. LIVING Scenes from ComplexCon in Las Vegas. Gabriella Angotti-Jones for The New York Times Hypebeasts: See inside ComplexCon, a hybrid sneaker mall, fashion show and music festival. Turkey and a side of politics: Tips to avoid a contentious family holiday after the big election. An iconic venue: Want a wedding in Central Park? This planner can help. Winter: Cases of the flu have begun to rise. Read about eight factors that put people at risk. ADVICE FROM WIRECUTTER Clean your dishwasher filter This holiday season, as you put your dishwasher to the test with more dirty pots, pans and dishes than usual, you might want to pay attention to one part of the machine in particular: the filter, which makes it possible to skip prerinsing your dishes by catching food particles and filtering water as the machine washes. To prevent congealed food from clogging it up, which can lead to a stench and dirtier dishes, clean the filter regularly. It should take you less than five minutes. Here's how. — Andrea Barnes GAME OF THE WEEK Michael Reaves/Getty Images No. 5 Indiana vs. No. 2 Ohio State, college football: In 137 years of Indiana football, there's never been a season quite like this. The team is 10-0 for the first time, and quarterback Kurtis Rourke is in the running for the Heisman Trophy. Yet Indiana is still an underdog this week against Ohio State, one of the most dominant teams of the past two decades (and one that Indiana hasn't beaten since the 1980s). A win today likely gets Indiana in the College Football Playoff, with a chance to play for a national championship. 12 p.m. Eastern on Fox NOW TIME TO PLAY Here is today's Spelling Bee. Yesterday's pangrams were backlit, clickbait and tailback. Take the news quiz to see how well you followed this week's headlines. And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. — Melissa Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for the Morning newsletter from The New York Times, or as part of your New York Times account. To stop receiving The Morning, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request. Subscribe to The TimesGet The New York Times app Connect with us on: Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018