"let's do a makeover"
A movie montage is simply a way to multitask, no?
A montage is a miracle.
Normally, we’re beholden to the unrelenting tick-tock of the clock, trapped by the confines of whatever an hour can hold. But in a montage, hours, days, even years, get condensed into mere minutes of screen time. It’s the only form of time travel humans have invented (so far). To be able to speed through the boring bits and just get to the good stuff? If only science would find a way in real life. But, at least we have the miracle of the movies, and the movie montage.
I often find myself wishing I could make a montage out of moments in my life. I mean, who hasn’t? Imagine waiting to get your car’s oil changed, calling cut, and then suddenly speeding away with a full bucket o’ grease under the hood (I don’t know how cars work). Or, imagine the wifi goes out and you go to fix it, but instead of rebooting the router over and over, you get to fast-forward to the moment the internet elves have cobbled the wires together to bring the connection back (I do know how the internet works, I just like to imagine wifi elves ‘cause it’s way more fun).
But a montage is for more than just skimming over boring or unpleasant moments. It’s action. It’s growth. It’s transformation. That’s why we see so many montages that chart moments of change for characters. There’s the training montage, where you see a character build the strength they’ll need to take on the big bad guy later on. There’s the “let’s get the gang together” montage, where you see a ragtag group become a team. And then there’s perhaps the most satisfying montage of all: the makeover montage.
Is there anything more intoxicating than the twinkle in Alicia Silverstone’s eyes when she says, “Let’s do a makeover!” in Clueless? Dion spells it out when she says it’s the “main thrill” that gives Cher “a sense of control on a world full of chaos.” When the world is so wild and unruly, why not create your own small change in the form of a new look. Why not make the tools of the revolution a mascara wand and a curling iron? And why not experience that instant gratification of a few quick montage cuts?
Recently, I’ve been drawn to the gratification of a makeover myself, as last year I finally decided to learn how to do my makeup beyond the same smudgy black eyeliner I’d been applying since 8th grade. I went down a deep TikTok rabbit hole of Sephora hauls, drugstore dupes, and get-ready-with-me storytimes, and I emerged on the other side actually understanding the difference between bronzer and contour. My desire to educate myself emerged mostly out of the ennui I was feeling during the writers strike. I couldn’t share my creative work with the world, so I put a new type of creative work into myself.
I found a lovely form of meditation in my new makeup routine. I put research and care into it, and all for the purpose of decorating myself and feeling beautiful. A dab of blush on just the right corner of my cheek, the careful ticks of my brow pencil, rubbing my lips together to feel the slide of just enough gloss. As I pampered myself with oils and creams, I discovered a peaceful rhythm to cherishing both myself and the moment. It became a ceremony.
There are never enough hours in the day, and I usually am always looking for ways to multitask. But, putting on makeup takes time, and I’ve found that I want to luxuriate in it.
The movie montage was not always used to simply skip ahead through time. The word montage comes from the French word for “assembly,” and Sergei Eisenstein (aka the Father of Montage) thought of it as “an idea that arises from the collision of independent shots.” (That’s right, she has a film studies degree, and she’s gonna USE it.)
In other words, with this original idea of montage, you put two images next to each other and you derive meaning from their synthesis. Rather than speeding through time, you absorb an image and think about how it relates to the images that surround it. It’s not so much about condensing time as it’s about creating a new moment out of the connections between existing ones. Just like in my makeup routine, there’s a ceremony to that definition of montage, too. You sit with it and take it all in. You’re present, rather than skipping ahead to the future. It may not be time travel, but it’s a miracle, too.
stuff i’ve made
My YA romance pilot HEARTTHROB HIGH was featured in the July issue of The Love List Substack. This same pilot made some waves in the Moonshot Initiative Pilot Accelerator. This baby’s ready to be a series; producers, get at me!
stuff i’m thinking about
And, related: the Harris/Walz campaign is very online.
The anthem of young women everywhere: Billy Joel’s “Vienna.”
Glen Powell, The Movie Star. FWIW, I met Glen Powell years ago at a premiere where I was but a humble guest and he had no reason to be nice to me, but he was so genuinely nice to me, so I’m all aboard the Glen train.
The mundane minutiae, creative sprawl, and outright anarchy of TikTok.
stuff i’m loving
Renting movies! If you’re in LA, Vidiots has an amazing selection of DVDs and Blu-rays available to rent. There’s something so much more satisfying about physical media rather than the endless scroll of streamers.
Decoder Ring. This podcast digs into niche pop culture, which is exactly my brand. I loved their recent episodes on random stuffed animals and mass hysteria.
Trader Joe’s Tangerine Dream Bars. Is there anything better than a creamsicle at the end of the summer?
As always, lots of books!
The Art of Catching Feelings by Alicia Thompson
Happy Medium by Sarah Adler
From Hollywood with Love: The Rise and Fall (and Rise Again) of the Romantic Comedy by Scott Meslow
Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe
I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself: One Woman's Pursuit of Pleasure in Paris by Glynnis MacNicol
Late Bloomer by Mazey Eddings
Funny Story by Emily Henry