Sunday Reads: The Performative Murder of Bianca Devins, the Overprotective Gun Owner and Solving Global Loneliness

Ya know, I think I’m just about done with prestige TV. Who can keep up? The number of quality shows IS TOO DAMN HIGH. In fact, maybe the only way to watch the hot, new popular series is to binge on it a decade after it’s peaked, like a lot of our parents do. 

It’s actually a genius move, Miles Klee wrote this week. After all, so much of pop culture takes years to determine what’s going to hold up and have a lasting impact anyway. 

Time: Nature’s TV Guide.

Must Read

“Bianca Devins and How Livestreamed Murder Has Become the Ultimate Shitpost”
This week, the internet was horrified by the livestreaming of 17-year-old Bianca Devins’ murder. Unlike most crimes, information about what happened wasn’t coming from news reports or the police, but from the alleged killer himself, Devins’ 21-year-old “darkcel” boyfriend, Brandon Andrew Clark, whose photos of Devins’ dead body were rapidly spreading across social media. It was another awful sign that murders broadcast directly to the internet may very well be our new normal. READ MORE

The Week In Features 

The Ways We Live With Guns
Eddie Kim and Tracy Moore both investigated well-worn tropes about gun-ownership: Kim on people who sleep with their guns, and Moore on the gun-toting dad pulling his piece on his daughter’s date. I suppose Bad Boys II had to get that last one from somewhere.

Hello Darkness My Old Friend
Cave-esque, unintentionally minimal and completely depressing, the “boy” apartment is mostly defined by its absence of natural light. Which inspires questions such as: What time of day is it? And: Are we above ground, or beneath it? We’ll never know, because any window — if there are any windows at all — is cloaked by blackout curtains. Regardless of whether they need the curtains to sleep or not, it seems like every single dude has determined that maintaining a sunlit apartment is a bridge too far.

The International Loneliness Crisis
Here’s a terrifying fact: Loneliness can be as bad for your health as alcoholism or smoking a pack a day, and it’s been linked to early death, Alzheimer’s, strokes and more. Somewhere between 14 percent and 46 percent of people experience chronic loneliness regularly, and it’s become such a problem that even world leaders are beginning to take notice.

What True Inclusion in Wrestling Looks Like
For much of its history, the WWE didn’t put much, if any, stock in inclusivity, a fact that it’s only recently begun to rectify (and loudly patted itself on the back for doing so). All Elite Wrestling, however — the WWE’s newest competitor — has made diversity and inclusion a foundational element of its very existence (and let those actions speak for themselves instead of making them part of a self-serving marketing campaign).

The Legend of the Sourtoe Special
The “Sourtoe Special” has only two ingredients: Whiskey and a mummified human toe, a combo that can only be enjoyed at the Sourdough Saloon in the Canadian Yukon. Finishing the cocktail is a worthy achievement for those brave enough to go toe-to-toe, so to speak, with the drink, which is served roughly 50 to 90 times a night. In order to be official, one’s lips MUST touch the toe. But be advised: If the toe is actually consumed in any way, the drinker faces a $2,500 fine or jail time for cannibalism. 

Copyright Your Dick Pics
It’s perfectly legal to send nudes to the U.S. Copyright Office, and if you care about your privacy, you probably should. The nation’s copyright laws were designed to protect and foster creative value, and your glorious nudes definitely have a creative value of their own, too (if only just to you and yours). Moreover, if you don’t want that art of yours distributed without your consent, it provides legal protection against them ever being posted online.

The Week in Movies

• Man, we’re so very sick of remakes. There was some hope that the new version of The Lion King, with its stellar cast and massive budget, would be an exception to this tired trend, but sadly, it’s not — and we only have ourselves to blame.
• While sports flicks and martial-arts movies are typically chock-full of toxic male bravado, The Art of Self-Defense, a new film from writer-director Riley Stearns, subversively kicks that particular trope right in the nards.
• The mismatched-buddy flick is an oft-abused subgenre of the action-comedy, and Stuber is no exception. Yet despite being rife with opportunities to sprinkle in some real-talk about labor struggles and a shifting cultural landscape, Stuber stumbles right past them. 

More From the Week That Was

• Remember a few years ago when teens were putting Burt’s Bees chapstick on their eyelids? What the fuck was that about? Quinn Myers explains how the trendy “high” was actually terribly misunderstood.
• Alright, sex-havers, this one’s for you: There are a lot of theories and techniques out there about how to have a better orgasm. We compiled the best ones and asked two sexologists and a neuroscientist if they’re actually legit. 
• Oreos are a gift from the vegan gods. But just because there are no animal products in them, doesn’t mean they’re good for you — quite the opposite, in fact. Three Oreos alone contains 14 grams of sugar.
• Inspired by a Utah millionaire’s billboards stating that he was looking for love, a 24-year-old named Braden decided he’d give the IRL dating method a shot. He thought it would get the attention of 100 or so locals at best. Instead, the billboard got him appearances on CNN and the Today show. 

But Don’t Just Take Our Word For It…

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Magdalene Taylor

Magdalene Taylor is a staff writer at MEL. She covers internet culture, sex and the online adult industry. She lives in Brooklyn but is from God's Country, Western Massachusetts.