Hollywood's COVID Reckoning

The most nerve-touching moment of Ari Aster’s new movie, Eddington, isn’t its unflinchingly violent finale or brutal sendup of teens worshipping at the altar of Floyd. It’s the director of cerebral A24 hits like Hereditary and Midsommar’s intimate knowledge of what a smalltown grocery store actually looks like. 

Amid the shelves stocked with Food Club private-label brands and anemic produce section, Joaquin Phoenix’s put-upon, asthmatic Sheriff Joe Cross has his political awakening. Already bristling at mask mandates with no regard for his own respiratory condition, he intervenes with the full force of the law when employees boot a naked-faced senior citizen. 

It’s the catalyst for his seemingly quixotic mayoral bid against hicklib Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal riffing–whether intentionally or not–on his own SJW online persona). It’s also a scene that proves Aster is searching, far more preoccupied with sussing out some semblance of truth than enjoying the spoils of his status as one of Hollywood’s most sought-after artists.

With its polarizing critical notices and audiences reception, Eddington has cemented its status as the best release of the year thus far, a film that has dominated the online world in ways movies rarely do anymore. Regardless of what one believes about COVID, the George Floyd riots, or Big Tech’s domination of our diminished West, it broaches topics that have long been the sole territory of the minds behind South Park. 

🖋️ Edited by Megan Podsiedlik.

🗳️ Election Dates for D7 Yesterday, Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett released the election schedule to fill Mark Green’s vacated seat in the 7th Congressional District. The primaries will take place on October 7, and the general election will be on December 2. Early voting will be open from September 17 to October 2, and the voter registration deadline is September 8.

Candidates have until August 12 to submit their paperwork. Those who’ve entered the race are already exchanging punches. Current State Representative Lee Reeves took a shot at his General Assembly colleague Representative Aftyn Behn on X. “The [AOC] of Tennessee - Aftyn Behn - does not live in the 7th Congressional District and cannot even vote for herself,” he posted in response to a recent Scene article. “SAD!”

In the publication’s profile of Behn, the Nashville representative reveals that she lives “within walking distance” of the district and filed her paperwork using the “in-district address of friend and campaign staffer Katherine Briefs.”

Behn has already made her way onto CNN, highlighting her campaign promise to tackle affordability issues for young people. “Washington Republicans did the opposite — they passed One Big Bullshit Bill that gutted health care and gave handouts to billionaires,” she wrote on X. 

Behn also took a shot at her D7 Democratic primary opponent and Tennessee House colleague, Representative Vincent Dixie, for crediting himself for helping eliminate the state grocery tax. “Men taking credit for bills women sponsor is exactly why I got in this race,” she posted, with a picture of her, ironically, unsuccessful “End the Grocery Tax by Closing Corporate Loopholes Act.” Dixie may be referring to the 2023 “Tennessee Works Tax Act,” which provided a grocery tax holiday between August 1 and October 31, 2023.

📑 Vandy & UT Join Belmont In DEI Leaks Three Vanderbilt University administrators and one University of Tennessee coordinator joined the list of officials busted for admitting to “shadow” Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs. In an undercover recording obtained by FoxNews, Ivie Carmouche, an academic coach at Vanderbilt's Center for Student Wellbeing, admitted that the university is still carrying out DEI work. "The language will be different because we have to kind of be strategic,” said Carmouche. "When I say different, it just looks different now because the language has had to change.” 

Vice Provost for Student Affairs and Dean of Students at Vanderbilt, G.L. Black, was caught on tape in a video released by The Daily Wire. “All the things that I would say are components of DEI work are part of what we do,” said Black. “Even if we don’t label everything as DEI work.”

Tristar Daily published a leaked video of Vanderbilt’s Peabody Facilities Manager Janet Roberts: “We are heavily supported by federal funding…[so] we’re not advertising diversity and inclusion lectures,” she said. “We’re flying under the radar.” Roberts also took a jab at Senator Marsha Blackburn. “God help us, she’s ridiculous,” she said, referring to the Republican Congresswoman.

Lastly, FoxNews also published transcripts from a leaked recording featuring the coordinator for UT's Access & Engagement office, Will Eakin, calling the adjustment to Trump’s federal orders to dismantle DEI initiatives a chess game. "We had to take our current programming and our future programming and make sure that it aligns so that we can do the work that we're trying to do, while also catering to the Department of Education, the federal," said Eakin. "The biggest thing is using language as a tool for protection." 

📲 New Cellphone Rules In MNPS This July, a state law that creates new policies restricting students from using phones and other wireless devices during class took effect. On Tuesday, the Metro Nashville Public Schools board passed new language clarifying the use of personal communication technology to adhere to the new standards.

Though K-12 students are allowed to possess cellular devices, “students are prohibited from accessing social media platforms using district internet except when expressly authorized by a teacher for educational purposes.” Personal cell phone use is limited to lunch time and transition times for 6-12 and for educational purposes in K-12 instruction. Furthermore, teachers and administrators are authorized to confiscate devices and hold them until released to a parent or guardian. 

DEVELOPMENT

• Highwoods Properties unveils plans for 145-acre Ovation site in Franklin (NBJ)
• Ascension Saint Thomas, TriStar approved for Clarksville hospitals (Post)
• Italian restaurant slated for Wedgewood-Houston (Post)

THINGS TO DO

View our calendar for the week here.

📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.

🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.

👨🏻‍🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide.

TONIGHT

🤘 Lightning 100 Presents: Silversun Pickups @ Brooklyn Bowl Nashville, 8p, $52+, Info

🥁 Daniel Villarreal w/ Sofia Goodman Trio @ The Blue Room, 7p, $26, Info

🎸 Alabama Shakes @ Ascend Amphitheater, 7p, $59+, Info

🪕 Starlett & Big John @ Station Inn, 9p, $25, Info

🪕 The Cowpokes @ Acme Feed & Seed, 12p, Free, Info

🍀 Live Irish Music @ McNamara’s Irish Pub, 6p, Free, Info

🎸 Kelley’s Heroes @ Robert’s Western World, 6:30p, Free, Info

📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.

Today's newsletter is brought to you by Megan Podsiedlik (Nashville), Jerod Hollyfield (Crowd Corner), Camelia Brennan (Local Noise), and Davis Hunt (everything else).