Argentina is back in the World Cup final, the MLB’s All-Star competitions had some hiccups, and everyone online is auditioning for their Netflix documentary debut. But first:
Resource of the Week: The Conversation Starter
If you’ve looked around recently and noticed that it seems like pre-teen girls look, act, and dress older than when you were their age, you’re not alone. In fact, there might be a very real reason for this. In our most recent Conversation Starter, our very own Jenna Mindel asks the question: Where’d the tweens go? What she found was that our culture has closed the gap between childhood and adulthood, and it’s our girls who might suffer the most. You can hear Jenna’s thoughts on our YouTube channel here.
And now for our three conversations..
1. And Then There Were Two
What it is: The World Cup final is set for this Sunday, with Spain and Argentina fighting for the World Cup championship and the ultimate national bragging rights.
Why it’s (sometimes) not just about the game: Spain dismantled France, and Argentina defeated England in a bitter rivalry game to set the final. It’s been over a month of competition, and just like many other worldwide sporting events (i.e., the Olympics), the World Cup demonstrated a shift in how young people engage in sports. Argentina star Lionel Messi remains eternally popular with young players. Norway’s Erling Haaland became an internet meme star, and even did some memeing himself (he took a taxidermied raccoon back home). England’s Jude Bellingham was apparently the heartthrob of the tournament. It seems young people are less inclined to support a team because of sport alone, but rather because of factors like memes, an individual player’s social media, and other content unrelated to the game (or match) itself.
Continue the conversation: Who do you want to win the World Cup?
2. Game Changing
What it is: The American League dominated in the All-Star Game, and slugger Jordan Walker won the Home Run Derby as the MLB hosted its All-Star competitions in Philadelphia.
Why it was a baseball state-of-the-union: It’s been a busy summer for sports, but baseball hasn’t made a dent in the headlines. For the most part, robot umps and the looming threat of a player lockout have defined this season. But for two brief nights in Philly, everyone tuned back into baseball—or at least, that’s what the league was hoping for. The Home Run Derby was criticized, not for player enthusiasm—Kyle Schwarber and Jordan Walker showed up and showed out—but for the clumsy, paywalled Netflix production, which cut away from big hits and a rotating cast of bored-sounding retired players. Fox broadcast the All-Star Game itself, but no amount of production finesse could pep up an Aaron Judge-less game where the final score was 4-zip. The league has been working overtime to reinvent itself to appeal to a younger audience, but this week was a step backward.
Continue the conversation: What makes a sports event fun to watch?
3. Documentary Style
What it is: The “me preparing for my Netflix documentary” trend is taking over TikTok and Instagram, going so viral that Netflix itself has responded.
Why it took off: The trend is pretty simple to participate in, which always helps something get popular. You sit in a chair, adjust a lapel mic (or an object standing in for a lapel mic), and adopt a posture that says you’re ready and willing to spill the tea. “On a Mission,” a frenetic violin-led track by composer duo Duomo, provides the perfect documentary background music. Add some text and, if you want, a prop to personalize the trend with your own lived experience of what type of documentary you’re “preparing” for— maybe you’re equipped to address how popular 4Loko was on college campuses in the 2010s, or you’ve really seen some behind-the-scenes stuff at a company everybody thinks is cool—and you’re done.
Let’s translate this one further…
We all have that thing that we have the behind-the-scenes scoop about. Whether it’s deep-seated corruption or just something quirky we encountered, it’s natural to imagine what we’d say if someone gave us an unrestricted license to just spill it.
And in our imaginations, our perspective will be vindicated and our patience celebrated, as the world sees the facts as we do and nods in agreement that we were right. Even if most of us did nothing in the moment to correct that no-good thing we saw, that doesn’t stop us from imagining that our vindication will come, if and when we finally tell the story.
To celebrate America’s 250th anniversary, I’ve been spending some time revisiting the 2015 hit historical musical, Hamilton. In one of the opening numbers, Hamilton and his rebel friends realize that they will be remembered by history. The song goes: “I may not live to see our glory/But I will gladly join the fight. And when our children tell our story/they’ll tell the story of tonight.”
I can’t really imagine Hamilton sitting down with his fake lapel mic, gazing at his phone camera, preparing for his Netflix documentary on how he and Washington managed a supply crisis in the early days of the American Revolution. Hamilton, like most of the true icons of history, was quite forthcoming with his opinions on current events, even as violence and uncertainty unfolded. (Aaron Burr might have argued he was more forthcoming than was necessary… but I’ll save that for another time.) Real change-makers don’t wait for an invitation, and they certainly don’t narrate history in hindsight.
Whenever possible, the time to speak truth to power is in the moment that power is abused. In Ephesians 6:14, we’re called to put on the breastplate of righteousness—and a belt of truth buckled around our waist. It’s not exactly a fake lapel mic; it’s something much stronger that we can keep with us always: empowerment from the Holy Spirit to stand firm in our convictions against evil done in the dark.
For more context and nuance, check out our Roundtable podcast on Spotify, Apple, our brand new YouTube channel, or wherever you listen to podcasts. In the meantime, here are three questions to help you continue the conversation with your teens:
- Netflix calls you tomorrow to be in a tell-all documentary. What would you hope it was about?
- Why do you think documentaries resonate so much with younger audiences?
- How would you define “justice”? How do you think God defines it?
Parenting together,
Kate Watson and the Axis Team
In Other News…
- A parasite that causes extreme digestive upset is maybe the meme of the week (alongside Netflix documentaries). It certainly doesn’t help that it’s possibly connected to Taco Bell.
- Christopher Nolan’s film The Odyssey is out in theaters this weekend. We’ll write more about it next week, but for now, the R-rated take on Homer’s epic poem is reviewing quite well with critics and audiences.
- Letterboxd has opened itself (paywall) to being purchased. It’s Gen Z’s movie review app of choice, and considering how Gen Z showed up to theaters this year, it’s pretty valuable to buyers like Netflix and Sony to understand the preferences of young people.
- Meta rolled out a “feature” that effectively lets you use their AI tools to deepfake users with public accounts. It was promptly rolled back after the internet (rightly) freaked out.
- Assassin’s Creed is back? Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced (a remake of Assassin’s Creed Black Flag) sold 2 million copies in its first day.
PS: Know someone who could use our conversation starters with their teens? Share the CT with a friend!