Haute Couture: Hypocrisy & Hubris #5
The Met Gala has seemingly sewn itself into the hem of liberal duplicity, walking the fine line between lunacy and à la mode.
Ball gowns, bouffants and, recently, burgers have graced the gawking eyes of journalists and gym bros alike. All this kerfuffle, and for what? Mildly talented teens, washed up actors, mumble rappers and irrelevant influencers. In the name of fundraising for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute (which garners a staggering 213.7 million dollars a year in ticket revenue alone) we get to see Katy Perry in a burger bun, Rihanna in a blanket and Kim K destroying a $5 million dollar, 60 year old work of art. How fun.
The Met Gala is an eccentric and outlandish paean to the avant-garde creations of the fashion industry's most notorious designers, since its inception in 1948. But this most recent Met Gala seriously caught the attention of so many. The 2023 Met Gala was in “loving memory” of Karl Lagerfeld, the “legendary designer” who died in 2019. Now, Karl Lagerfeld was iconic; he is attributed as the creative force behind the contemporary revival of Chanel, he popularised fur in everyday items and was infamous for his startling, antagonistic hot takes.
“She is a little too fat” (regarding Adele), “If you don’t want your pants pulled about don’t become a model!” (speaking on the #MeToo Movement), “No one wants to see curvy women on the runway”. These are some of the contentious comments drawn from 80 years of Karl Lagerfeld. He spoke about his opposition to gay marriage and immigration, as well as a cornucopia of other contentious quotes. Now make what you want of these comments, agree or disagree, it doesn't matter. What matters is that Hollywood and the celebrity elites directly contradict the man they chose to celebrate on May 1st 2023.
Many of the cultural aristocracy of the West that convene on this debauched evening do more than just look pretty for the cameras. Many use this evening to promulgate political messages, quite dreadfully may I add. To name one, Alexandria Ocasia Cortez. She appeared at her first Met Gala in 2021 with “Tax The Rich” emblazoned on the back of her white gown. How stunning and brave, I am practically agape with awe. This is just one example of the hypocrisy that runs rife at the Met Gala; AOC frolics with the very elites that she wants to tax, whilst claiming to be an ambassador and representative of the “poor”. If three people holding the train to your nearly $6,000 dress is truly representative of being poor, I’m not sure why so many people are complaining! Worse yet, the designer of the dress, Aurora James, has three tax warrants and six federal tax liens to her name. If this pricks your conscience, like it did mine, I’d seriously implore you to reconsider the people who claim to be torch bearers for the causes you support.
What about our new Barbie? “I’m thrilled that they’re honouring him [Karl Lagerfeld] because he was exceptional”, this was Margot Robbie’s take on the Met Gala’s dedication to the designer. Yes, this is the same woman that opened the 42nd season of SNL wearing a T-Shirt in support of gay marriage, something that Largerfeld vehemently opposed. This clearly exemplifies the obsequious double standards held by those at the Met. Celebrities are clearly willing to wash away their moral lines in the sand in order to conform to the sententious social sycophancy, so prevalent in Hollywood and the Media today.
It’s this hypocrisy, this raging double standard that, on a macrocosmic level, mirrors the wider ideological inconsistency held by Hollywood, the Media and many members of society. The nihilistic and fundamentally amoral foundation of subjective liberalism that are ensconced within the celebrity s class and the Met itself, were on full display. The self-serving, narcissistic and egocentric essence of liberalism is bound to alter in order to fit the obsequious whims and desires of its wearers.
When someone like Margot Robbie or Lizzo or Kim Kardashian praises Lagerfeld, what they're truly saying is that they don’t care about their individual beliefs. They are simply slaves to the institutions of the Media and Hollywood. An institution that positions its pawns in any manner that best suits its own survival and control.
Issa.
*Written in May, 2023.
