tw: employment - a24 cancels timothée chalamet premiere after unconsensual display of labor

tw: hard work, capitalism, unhealed corporate trauma, aggressive scheduling, email.

hey besties. i am literally shaking right now trying to process the absolute physical violence that just occurred at the tcl chinese theatre. my nervous system is completely dysregulated, and frankly, i am so exhausted by the sheer act of existing in this timeline. i am taking deep breaths and holding space for myself and everyone affected by the premiere of ari aster’s new film 'rot'.

the movie was supposed to be a safe space. a24 and aster promised us a four-hour somatic healing journey of timothée chalamet just bed-rotting in a dimly lit room, completely disengaging from the toxic economy. it was being called the cinematic equivalent of setting a firm boundary with the universe. (btw if you need to create your own bed-rot sanctuary to cope with this news, i highly recommend the sensory-deprivation anxiety pods on my amazon storefront, they are literally saving my life rn).

but then the unthinkable happened. aster completely betrayed our trust and violated our peace. right before the credits rolled, timothée’s character gets out of bed, puts on a structured collar (extremely triggering), and opens a laptop to update his linkedin profile. guys, he literally applied for a corporate job. exposing an entire audience of emotionally fragile individuals to unconsensual themes of hard work and career progression without a trigger warning is actual, literal violence.

the vibes shifted instantly and people started hyperventilating. zendaya had to be carried out of the vip section by paramedics because the visual of a pdf resume template disrupted her somatic alignment. tom holland was just weeping in the lobby, telling a wall that he simply wasn't in the headspace to process economic participation. the theater staff tried to de-escalate the situation by sending a mass email blast apologizing to the attendees, which just compounded the trauma because, as we all know, sending an email is basically a digital hate crime.

david fenkel and the rest of the a24 executives just dropped a notes app apology on tiktok, but the damage to our collective psyche is already done. we are living in a late-stage capitalist nightmare where not even a movie about doing absolutely nothing is safe from the toxic, aggressive expectations of the workforce. i'm going to go disassociate into my led light therapy mask (also linked on my storefront) and try to forget i ever saw timothée chalamet type a cover letter. stay safe out there and please remember that you do not owe the economy your labor or your peace.