The Rise of Annamarie

A Gemini Queen figures out her public persona.

Despite being someone who saw Oh Hello on Broadway seven times, I do not feel qualified to talk about John Mulaney’s personal goings on at the moment. Not because I don’t have an intensely boundary-crossing idea of who he is in my head, but whatever’s going on isn’t quite worked out yet. John Mulaney was literally at the apex of his fame when he went to rehab. Sold out shows at Radio City, Spiderverse, every college boy at a party thinking they can do a “spot-on” impression of him. Everything that’s happened since his relapse has fundamentally changed how he is perceived by us, the masses. You could call pre-2020 JM a voice of a generation, based on how often his voice echoed through us. Now we can’t stop analyzing how it all fell apart, as well as our right to do so. All anyone can talk about now is parasocial relationships, his addiction, our right to speculate, timelines and his ex-wife Annamarie Tendler.

Boy, Anna is on fire right now. The only thing everyone can agree on is “Poor Anna.” The scorned, wronged woman. She enters the fray, and my cultural analysis. Go look at her Instagram. Her current project is a photo series featuring her heartbroken self draped around a large, empty, Victorian house. Obviously she is going Through It right now. From a publicity standpoint, she is doing great.

I’ve been following her for a while, and she has always resisted definition, or a singular Brand. Gemini queen! To my younger eyes, she read as a conflicting persona; she used her proximity to fame to elevate her work, but never wanted to be known just as John’s wife. She has dabbled in many seemingly random forms of art, never really standing out to me as a master of any of them. Now I realize she has taken rightful advantage of her position to pursue whatever strikes her in the moment. The millennial dream! As someone who loves art but has no super worthy talent or calling, heck yeah, Anna! In her shoes, I might publish a photo book of a bunch of hairstyles. I might sell some hand-sewn lamps! I also might purchase a fancy camera and flop around a Victorian house. She is the patron saint of people that might dabble in confessional poetry but never publish it anywhere other than tumblr. 

I don’t mean to be mean or trite toward a woman’s art or livelihood. I am impressed by how this current project, her best I’d say, is satisfyingly culminating in the biggest celebrity gossip of the moment. The detectives are searching for evidence and finding it, plain and candid in those photos. “Dinner in March” like ok Anna way to provide us clues, you marketing genius. Let us feel smart by looking for comparisons between you and Anne Boleyn! Keep it classy by not letting out too much, savor our trust, relish in your good press!

I think it’s funny how the post-Inside audience is handling all of this. We know it’s wrong to speculate, we want to support addicts, we want to support women, we feel betrayed, we feel like we don’t have a right to. We also are addicted to Deuxmoi. And didn’t we free britney by analyzing Instagram posts? It feels like half the internet has their hand hovering over a giant “cancel” button. Whatever, I hope Anna’s art show sells out and she coasts on this exposure for as long as she wants to.

Recommendation of the week:
Cake! I can’t stop thinking about the taste of cake. Have your favorite kind if you like.

Love,

Rebecca :) <3

P.S. You knowwww when that Dear Evan Hansen filme comes out I WILL let you know my thoughts on this musical ;)