There have really only been two things on Gen Z's mind this week: Kamala Harris and the 2024 Olympics. While some people (aka my roommate) are anxiously awaiting the start of a new semester, it is not 2015 anymore, and I cannot watch MyLifeAsEva back to school videos all the time. Rather, I've been enjoying Tâm Mai YouTube videos while preparing to move, which is half of a sentiment I'm sure a lot of college students can relate to. But, as we approach August, take a break and check out pop culture news—only some of which will really affect you long-term (the presidential election part). 

Kamala Harris may be ‘bratting' her way into Gen Z's hearts

Vice President Kamala Harris recently was revealed to be the replacement for President Joe Biden in the presidential race. With the shift of candidate, it seems the strategy for the Democratic candidate is also changing. Biden's campaign's official account rebranded to Kamala HQ with a ‘brat' theme. Charli xcx, who has been leading the neon green rave happening all over the country, showed her support for Harris, Tweeting “kamala IS brat”. 

Not only are Harris and Charli interacting with each other online, but fans are also making edits of Harris to Charli xcx's music on TikTok. The most popular video right now is a portion of one of Harris' viral moments, saying “you think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” and then adding Charli xcx music. 

After the announcement was made, Democrats reportedly raised over $50 million in donations toward Harris' presidential campaign. It seems that VP Harris is doing better than Biden did in reeling in younger voters. But, we won't truly know the effect of this until the election in November. 

(G)I-DLE member advocates for acceptance of sexuality

Soyeon, a member of the K-Pop girl group (G)I-DLE, recently discussed sexuality in an interview. She said her friend recently came out, to which Soyeon reacted by saying it doesn't matter who they like. 

“I just think and say, “if they want to like men or if they want to like women, so what?” I don't want to hide who I am. I want to be confident about myself as a person, and I hope others can be as well. I hope everyone can enjoy everything they deserve as human beings,” Soyeon said. 

This has made waves in the K-Pop community, as sexuality is still a touchy subject in South Korea and particularly the K-Pop industry. K-Pop artists are typically restricted on what they can talk about by their companies, so usually there isn't much discourse about sexuality prompted by the artists. But, fans have found Soyeon's interview refreshing and hopeful. 

Soyeon also discussed the double standards of male and female artists in the South Korean music industry.  

The 2024 Olympics are certainly going on 

I don't know much about the Olympics, but they are, in fact, occurring right now in Paris! I, for one, hope I'm not the only one that remembers numerous Paris citizens pooping in the river that Olympians would have to swim in to protest how unclean the river was. There are… as expected, a lot of celebrities at the 2024 Olympics—a notable celebrity being Sabrina Carpenter in a promotional video for the Olympics, where she was talking to a bird. 

Apparently, Celine Dion performed at the opening ceremony, people are excitedly watching the Eiffel Tower and many are discussing… sports!

One important aspect of the Olympics, however, is that attendees and participants are still speaking about Israel's genocide against Gaza. During the Israel vs. Mali soccer match, members of the crowd were booing the Israeli team. The Israeli Olympic team apparently was not permitted to wear pins that said #BringThemHome, to which the Israeli swim team formed the words in the water during the practice. 

Adidas has also faced backlash from fans for featuring Bella Hadid, who is a Palestinian model who has spoken in support of Palestine, in an Ad about a redo of a 1972 Olympic shoe. 

It should also be noted that Russia has been banned from the Olympics for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Many are reportedly wondering why Israel hasn't been banned, too. 

TikTok is to pay $2.4 million

TikTok has recently settled to pay a fine of around $2.4 million after they failed to provide accurate information on parental controls features. The parental controls feature is supposed to be crucial in protecting teenagers, and TikTok was asked to share data about it. But, the company failed, and after an investigation, it now owes a hefty fine. 

Parents of NewJeans speak out about mistreatment

Parents of the K-Pop girl group NewJeans have spoken out in an exclusive interview against HYBE's alleged mistreatment of the NewJeans members. Some main points of the interview: the girls were apparently living in a cockroach-infested dormitory, they were required to work late at night despite starting training at young ages (such as 13), the girls were allegedly pressured to give up their academics to focus on music, the company switched the debut over without explanation, and the company allegedly had a negative campaign against ADOR and NewJeans that included unauthorized release of videos and misinformation. 

So, what is HYBE exactly? HYBE used to be known as Big Hit Entertainment, which got its rise to fame when BTS became popular. There are a lot of entertainment companies in South Korea, but none were as popular as the ‘big three' of SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and YG Entertainment until HYBE came around. For a while, Big Hit was focused on only having boy groups—which is why BTS and TXT have gotten so much attention and support from the company—but also debuted NewJeans in 2022. 

Unfortunately, mistreatment of K-Pop trainees isn't exactly uncommon. SM has had numerous reports of mistreating their artists and trainees, whether it be putting them on extreme diets, overworking them or other unhealthy practices. Since the system of being overworked and underpaid as a trainee for the chance of debuting and becoming a K-Pop star has existed for so long, it is hard to actually cause the system to change. 

As the parents of NewJeans spoke out, they all seem to be in a unified stance. They all have called for HYBE to stop the false narratives and are hoping to end the ongoing conflict. 

My recent media enjoyments

Onto a new segment of this pop culture column, called my recent media enjoyments. As an avid media consumer, I can confidently say that I know way too much about what is happening with celebrities across the board. Here's some short yet sweet media I've been liking:

• Descendants: The Rise of Red (2024). If you look close enough, you can find lesbians crying at a missed opportunity. ⅗ stars on Letterboxd, as I didn't like the ending.
• Ponyo (2008). The theme song is just so catchy!
• My Top Songs 2018. My Spotify wrapped from 2018… which has some banger throwbacks and then random appearances of High School Musical and The Greatest Showman songs.
• Season 20 of Grey's Anatomy. You thought the show was over? One could wish. As much as I wish the show ended after Season 11, I'm just addicted…
• Little Mix music. I recently made my two friends watch an egregious amount of old Little Mix music videos. 
• PADO by NCT U
• Lost in the Woods by Jonathan Groff