Rando Report: I Hated Anora, a Burberry Scarf Craze, and More
Donna Karan goes back into her archives.
The Rando Report is about things that I’ve been reading and seeing…
I Saw Anora, and Hated It
My former boss told me that the main character of Anora would have been me in some other warped universe as a rotten-mouthed, flat-chested dancer who speaks bad Russian. Director Sean Baker shot the film in Brighton Beach, a part of Brooklyn I have long frequented. I was intrigued.
The main character is the exotic dancer/sex worker Anora “Ani” Mikheeva played by Mikey Madison. She’s an inky-haired, second-generation Russian and speaks the language with a heinous American accent. At the strip club, she meets the young spawn of a Moscow oligarch whose cash promises security. Private planes are chartered. There’s a cornucopia of lap dances. Punches are thrown. Fuck you motherfucker is said.
Everything is filmed in New York, not your sterile Upper East Side or Soho or West Village or Park Slope, Brooklyn, but a different, less captured part of New York.
At its core, the setting, Brighton Beach, is certainly raw. The bottom tip of southern Brooklyn, which hugs the Atlantic Ocean, resembles a snapshot of the corrupt post-Soviet Union. There are still whiffs of lawlessness that came with the newfound free market independence that swiftly bludgeoned Eastern Europe in the early ‘90s. And that reckless feeling is exciting, especially if your days are consumed with flossing Sweetgreen out of your teeth as you rot behind a computer screen. Brighton Beach is exhilarating, and only a train ride away! Depending on the restaurant, you can still smoke indoors after a particular hour, the cuticleless women can magically walk in the highest heels you’ve ever seen, babushkas marinate on the boardwalk benches, and the men profess their love to you. Brighton Beach operates according to its own rules without American niceties. A perpetual drunkness that cloaks the area. A loneliness. A liveliness.
The environment makes for good fodder, and Baker knows that. Except, this dark fantasy-by-way-of-the-B train was poorly executed. It’s a trick! The film didn’t go further than exposing the oddities of a non-Western culture. I never got to know the characters. Sure, I liked the actress who played Ani. The Russian oligarch’s kid was cute. The Armenian thug-priest was great. And yet, for me, there was a disconnect permeating throughout the film that felt like a shortcut. In many ways, the most interesting thing about the film is the setting, which isn’t enough. Yes, Ani is emotionally orphaned because her only commodity is her body. There’s a power struggle between having money and not having money. That throughline, which has been stated by others before, is compelling if not completely exhausted by shows like White Lotus and Succession. These lofty themes are nice and all, but ultimately, the Anora story was flat, with no twists and turns and a less-than-exhilarating second act. Depth was replaced with wealth-porn and lap dances. Ani is little more than a tight-abbed mouthful of profanities with an impressive right hook. The plot and characters are aimless and lean on screaming episodes, reckless driving, broken noses, and crashing restaurant kitchens. A gut-wrenching story is lost because the film depends on this Brooklyn world and its proverbial curse words—and that’s all it really is.
There’s nothing beyond the superficial dependence on the weirdness of the Brighton Beach ecosystem, the Russian language, brusque interactions, and the nonchalant violence. I’m not surprised. In the United States, we are starved for culture, so we rabidly consume subcultures or small communities, only to spit them out but not thoughtfully explore them in art, film, or writing. The characters have little to say, and their success depends on how much the West can be entertained by cultural peculiarities that it deems exotic. The result is voyeuristic and cheap. It’s like playing bad dress-up—essence in drag.
The film felt like an Uncut Gems rip-off, and I loved the Safdie brother’s film. I adored the McMansion-sodden shots. I was in love with the rude Bukharian diamond dealers. I wanted to get a drink with Howie’s tender and frustrated wife. Then, I wanted to slip my hands under Howie’s sweaty silk shirt and give him a lap dance of my own. Uncut Gems unearthed a whole new world for many people, as Anora did. But there was a solid plot in Uncut Gems, great dialogue, and layered characters. We were fully let into the foreign, demented world of the Diamond District. Yes, Anora was a film that delved into a relatively untapped community and exposed its idiosyncrasies, which was entertaining at times, but that’s as far as it went.
The Burberry Scarf Is Back
The Burberry check scarf is already everywhere, but get ready for…more. The account @databutmakeitfashion pops up on my Instagram a lot. Back in mid-November 10th, the account claimed the scarf had an 85% increase in internet searches. Perhaps the boom of the Burberry check is because of the cold weather, but regardless, I love seeing this scarf out in the open. I was in London last year for the show and did a mini project where I photographed people wearing the piece. Young. Old. Arty. Proper. Everyone had one! Fast forward to this past September, Devon Lee Carlson, longtime #Burbgirl, wore the scarf in London with low-slung darkwash jeans. Beloved by millions of girls, I’m sure her making a cameo swaddled in the piece helps with the uptick of searches.
Like many of the items I often discuss, from the Louis Vuitton Neverfull to the Tory Burch Claire flats, the Burberry scarf is one of those killer classics you can make your own. It’s just up to you to put in the styling work.
The new pieces, which make great gifts depending on your budget (and how much you care about the receiver), retail for $450 to $960. And there are stellar vintage scarves that won’t break the bank. Note: The most delicious vintage Burberry scarves come with the tag “Burberrys” before the name change in 1999. Look at this one for $65 on eBay.
Donna Karan Goes Into Her Archives–and Sentimentality Sells
I loved this moment on Instagram when Donna Karan, aka @donnakaranthewoman, flips through a book of her designs and campaigns over the years. In the clip, the designer name-checks Rosemary McGrotha (she starred in Karan’s “In Women We Trust” campaign in 1992) and her monumental seven easy pieces.
Karan knew clothes, and she knew bodies. There’s a great clip from a 1992 video from the talk show Attitudes in which Karan talks about her design process. “These are the absolute first pair of jeans that I ever made, and they were made on my body because I would not approve the jeans until I made a size 12,” Karan told the hosts. Now, that’s a woman who designs for women.
I’ve long been diving into the Donna-verse and loving the Donnassiance in the vintage world. This past September, there was an uptick in searches on The RealReal for Donna Karan. I’ve mentioned this before, but the increase for “Donna Donna Donna” probably has to do with the major revamp for Donna Karan New York earlier this year, which included a campaign reboot that featured a zillion supermodels and was conceived by the brand’s former creative director, Trey Laird. The powerhouse was responsible for some of the best ads for Donna Karan and DKNY in the ‘90s, including the DKNY/NYC 1994 book he shot with Peter Lindbergh. I interviewed him, and you can read about the rare book and Laird’s work here.
Note: Karan no longer owns her namesake company and has Urban Zen, which still has the same wearable, woman-on-the-go ethos.
Another note: Something else that I love about Karan’s Instagram post was that in the comments, women weighed in on their early purchases from the lifestyle brand. It was beautiful to read.
Another Another Note: Rachel Tashjian sent me a glittering constellation of a look…a gorgeous cherry red cashmere V-neck skirt set slathered in sequins on The RealReal designed by La Donna. What a beaut.
A Short Note on Mall Brands
This Vogue article from 2022 is ancient in the world of the internet, but I’m resurfacing it as “vintage” mall brands are gaining more traction. Essentially, H&M and Zara contributed to killing good-quality mall brands like Ann Taylor, Bebe, and The Gap.
It’s true, Anora should come with trigger warnings for pointless screaming and saggy middle syndrome
Time to rewatch Uncut Gems! Loved this Anora critique