15 Pop Culture Things To Bring Up At Thanksgiving So No One Brings Up Politics
ADVERTISEMENT
Breaking news: things are bleak! Politics are a mess. It feels like every day we're fighting to save health care or watching one national blunder after another. To make matters worse, even the TV and movies we turn to to escape all the bad news are now tinged with an overwhelming number of allegations of sexual assault against prominent actors. It all started with Harvey Weinstein, and more accusations are still unfolding against other powerful men in the industry like Louis C.K. and Jeffrey Tambor. Not only does this put no one in a holiday mood, it also means that when it comes to making non-controversial small talk over the Thanksgiving dinner table this week, the number of safe subjects has dramatically decreased.
Of course, these things in Hollywood aren't new. It's just that, as Angelina Jolie pointed out, these allegations previously weren't taken seriously.
"All too often, these kinds of crimes against women are laughed off, depicted as a minor offense by someone who cannot control themselves, as an illness, or as some kind of exaggerated sexual need," she said in a speech at the U.N. Peacekeeping Defense Ministerial Conference in Vancouver on Wednesday. "But a man who mistreats women is not oversexed. He is abusive."
But let's not dwell on that! It's the holidays, and despite this heavy news cycle, not all is ruined in this world. When it comes to pop culture, there are still things happening that are relatively innocent — or, at least, won't lead to one family member throwing a bread roll at another. Ahead are 15 totally safe and not at all argument-inducing subjects — unless, of course, your uncle has strong feelings on Taylor Swift.
ADVERTISEMENT