Elaine Wilson
Sott.net
Mon, 13 May 2024 12:14 UTC – SOTT net
© John Shearer/WireImageActress and singer Zendaya at the Met Gala/ Palestinian child.
You could be forgiven for thinking that the theme of this year’s Met Gala event (purportedly the world’s most prestigious fashion show) in Manhattan was “Fashion from the Capitol of Panem,” with celebrities on the red carpet looking like they had stepped straight out of The Hunger Games. This year’s display of wealth was livestreamed across many social media platforms, TikTok included, and I took some time to watch some of the show and see the outfits.
The theme of 2024 was ‘The Garden of Time’, which is inspired by the J.G. Ballard short story of the same name. For those interested the story is about a 15-minute read and can be found here.
Interestingly, the story is about a rich couple living in a lavish mansion surrounded by beautiful gardens with crystal flowers growing inside. When one of these flowers is picked, it turns back time for a period. A huge angry mob is seen advancing over the horizon running towards the villa, and in the evening the man picks a flower to turn back time and have the army retreat back, buying them a day or two. The number of flowers dwindles and the army gets closer and closer, until the last day when the couple spends their time cleaning and securing their material possessions. When there are no flowers left, the mob breaches the walls of the villa and time catches up on them. The villa is transported into an abandoned state, ruined and ravaged by time, and the couple are turned to stone, immortalized as statues beneath the balcony.
I can’t help but think that this is symbolic of the elite feeling the pressure of time running out before the masses turn on them out of desperation. The celebrities who attend the Met Gala exist in a lavish, artificial bubble as the world is burning around them, while a dark reality – which they had had a hand in creating – advances closer and closer and threatens their comfortable lifestyles.
https://www.sott.net/embed/v1aPBkW85U0obYgNfsCOF9LB3hX
The disparity between the haves and the have-nots was not missed by many on social media. A ticket to the Met Gala reportedly cost $75,000 and tables range between $200,000 and $300,000. South African singer Tyla wore a dress made of sand glued to her body (representing the ‘sands of time’). So fitting was the dress that she could neither walk nor climb the main stairs – a team of men had to carry her into the event.
Singer/songwriter Camila Cabello carried a $22.5k “ice purse” which was a Swarovski crystal-encrusted rose embedded in a block of ice (the handle of which broke off before she even reached the red carpet). The message she was attempting to convey was that “everything is fleeting,” a flagrant display of wealth at the same time that most of the population is struggling to put food on the table.
The event was – like the concurrent 2024 Eurovision Song Contest – also an opportunity to push all things satanic:
© John Shearer/WireImage/Getty Images & Jamie McCarthy/Getty ImagesLeft: Wisdom Kaye “leaning into the theme of bloom and decay”
Right: Queen of all things satanic Doja Cat in a giant wet Tshirt
And to promote the trans, non-binary-whatever agenda:
© Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images & Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty ImagesLeft: Cole Escola (man) in bridal couture
Right: Jeremy Pope giving his suit a “playful feminine twist”
But the ‘highlight’ was model and influencer Haley Kalil, who livestreamed reports on the event while dressed in a Marie Antoinette-themed dress. Kalil posted a video on TikTok of herself miming to a trending soundbite from the 2006 movie Marie Antoinette starring Kirsten Dunst, where she says the famously (mis)quoted line “let them eat cake.” The video has since been taken down, but here is a clip (along with part of her “apology” video):
From Wikipedia:
“Let them eat cake” is the traditional translation of the French phrase “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche”,[1] said to have been spoken in the 18th century by “a great princess” upon being told that the peasants had no bread. The French phrase mentions brioche, a bread enriched with butter and eggs, considered a luxury food. The quote is taken to reflect either the princess’s frivolous disregard for the starving peasants or her poor understanding of their plight.
Although the phrase is conventionally attributed to Marie Antoinette, it can actually be traced back to Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Confessions in 1765, 24 years prior to the French Revolution, and when Antoinette was nine years old and had never been to France. The quote was only attributed to her decades after her death, and historians do not believe that she said it.
This ignited the anger of many people online, who were disgusted with the “tone deaf” post, prompting responders to voice their protest against Israel’s genocide in Palestine. Thus the trending #blockout2024 movement, which calls for social media users to block celebrities and influencers who are remaining silent about this issue.
With the blockout movement gaining traction across social media, it appears that celebrities and high-profile influencers are losing followers. In a video report by TRT World, it displayed the plummeting numbers of followers through the profiles of several A-list celebs and influencers such as Kim Kardashian, Taylor Swift and Haley Bailey.”
While the number of followers lost by these celebrities as a result of this seems like a drop in the ocean compared to the millions of people (and paid bots) who still follow them, it’s a sign that more and more people are fed up and close to breaking point.
This year’s Met Gala was a truly narcissistic celebration of hubris and self-importance, a fitting display of “panem et circences” for our times, and yet another in a continuous stream of media distractions from the epic failure of NATO in Ukraine, Israeli barbarity, totalitarian government, the increasing natural disasters, widespread food insecurity and the rampant array of preventable diseases taking their toll.
Things are certainly shaking up.
See Also:
- World’s central banks buy record $24 billion in gold in first 3 months of 2024
- Victory: Federal Court rules University of Colorado vaccine policies “motivated by religious animus”
- Another Connecticut town tramples Constitution with onerous town green rules
- Illinois politicians aim to change word ‘offender’ to ‘justice-impacted individual’
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Friends of the IDF National NY Gala Dinner 2018: Highlights
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N. Gaza sees heavy clashes as Israel ventures further into Rafah
BY DAILY SABAH WITH AGENCIES
ISTANBUL MAY 24, 2024 – 3:08 PM GMT+3
Israeli forces intensified military strikes on Gaza on Friday, with heavy fighting reported in Jabalia in the north and tanks advancing further into Rafah in the south, according to residents and medics.
Medics said at least five Palestinians were killed when houses were hit in Jabalia and more were believed to be trapped under rubble, but that the area could not be reached due to the intensity of the bombardment.
In the southern city of Rafah bordering Egypt, where an escalating Israeli assault has sent hundreds of thousands of people fleeing from what was one of the few remaining places of refuge, residents reported explosions and smoke rising in the distance as tanks advanced further into the east.
Judges at the U.N.’s top court were due to rule later in the day on South Africa’s request to order Israel to halt its Rafah offensive and withdraw from Gaza, in part of a wider case accusing Israel of genocide.
Israel launched its war on Gaza following a Hamas-led incursion on southern Israel on Oct. 7 killed around 1,200 people and saw more than 250 hostages seized, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, Israel’s military assault has killed more than 35,000 people, according to Gaza health authorities.
The Israeli military said it had recovered the bodies of three hostages taken into Gaza after they were killed on Oct. 7.
It said the bodies of Hanan Yablonka, Michel Nisenbaum and Orion Hernandez Radoux were recovered overnight in a joint operation by the army and the intelligence services in Jabalia.
Israel says its twin goals in Gaza are bringing back the remaining hostages and destroying Hamas.
“We will not stop fighting for their freedom,” said military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari in a televised statement announcing the recovery of the three bodies. “Every decent country would do the same.”
Truce talks
Netanyahu is also facing rising domestic pressure to secure the release of captives still held by Palestinian militants in Gaza. He would soon address the U.S. Congress, House Speaker Mike Johnson announced Thursday.
The United States, a steadfast ally of Israel during the war, has seen President Joe Biden increasingly push Netanyahu to reduce the violence, threatening to halt arms supplies amid a rising civilian death toll.
An AFP photographer saw a group of Israeli activists rallying outside the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem, carrying banners that call to “Free Gaza” and “Stop arming genocide”, before being removed by security forces.
Cease-fire talks involving U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators ended shortly after Israel launched the Rafah operation though Netanyahu’s office this week said the war cabinet had asked the Israeli delegation “to continue negotiations for the return of the hostages.”
CIA chief Bill Burns is expected to hold talks in Paris with Israeli representatives on Friday or Saturday in a bid to relaunch negotiations, a Western source close to the issue said.
No respite
Simultaneous Israeli assaults on the northern and southern edges of Gaza this month have caused a new exodus of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fleeing their homes, and have cut off the main access routes for aid, raising the risk of famine.
Israel had said its forces cleared Jabalia, the largest of Gaza’s eight historic refugee camps, months earlier in the war. But it returned there this month saying it needed to prevent Palestinian resistance from regrouping and the area has seen intense fighting in recent weeks.
Residents said Friday tanks had destroyed the local market and bulldozers continued to raze shops and property in Jabalia’s narrow alleys. Hamas said its members had engaged three tanks there.
Tanks also advanced close to the nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital, where medics said Israeli fire had caused the suspension of operations at the last functioning medical facility in the northern Gaza Strip.
Gaza’s Interior Ministry said Thursday that senior Hamas commander Diaa al-Din al-Sharafa had been killed by an Israeli strike in central Gaza, in a rare acknowledgment from Hamas of a high-ranking fatality.
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Mandatory Palestine: 1936 revolt against British colonialism and 1948 annexation by King of Jordan
BIG BROTHER in the 21. Century 