Something I landed upon this week is the ABC competition series “Holey Moley.” You haven’t heard of it? Mmmmmmm where the hell have you been?!?!!?!?!?!?! It is truly a work of art. A nail-biting competition show that’s equal parts skill and luck, athleticism and personality, flailing and flops. Ultimately, what it is is wipe out + mini golf. It is: the PERFECT show.
My friend Elizabeth brought it into my life. Last weekend, we were in the Berkshires with another one of my dearest friends Emily (hi bayyyyybbbeezzzzz) and we did what anyone would do with an evening alone in the mountains: get a little stoney and watch ABC’s hit comedy/competition show: Holey Moley.
On each episode, eight competitors putt-putt their way through insane obstacle courses and then THEY have to GO THROUGH the obstacle courses and try not to get absolutely obliterated. The end prize is $250,000 (sort of chump change for the amount they endure tbh). Some of the challenges include: running past a huge ear of corn that shoots airbags at you after three seconds, sitting on a well-lubricated plastic horse and trying not to fall over while a “knight” shoves you with a piece of foam, and liTERALLY RUNNING THROUGH FIRE. (!!!!!!!!)
When we first started watching, we pointed out that this show was “everything that was wrong with America” - the whole point is to laugh at people eating shit (well, then also to watch exceptional mini golf, obviously). It’s needlessly expensive, serves truly no purpose in any cultural conversation, and also Steph Curry is in it randomly???? And yet there we were, three liberal-arts-educated ADULTS having the time of our lives because of this big, dumb cable show.
I’m a coastal elite and that goes in the con list for “my personality.” Because of that, I’ve been trained to identify all the issues in stuff like this: it’s schadenfreude, it makes us less empathetic people, it’s rude, a million other arguments that are completely valid. And yet, I loved it?! I was laughing so freaking hard I was crying!!! Reader, I cried!!!!!! I simply didn’t give a hoot about whatever part of me was saying I shouldn’t enjoy this show. I was feeling like, it is simply always funny to watch people fall down. I fell the other day over my grocery cart, skinned my knee and I was like…… ok this is comedy!
At the same time, I, of course, recognized how cruel it was that these obstacle courses were impossible to complete without looking like an idiot. These people seemed to be genuinely getting hurt! It was tough to watch and still, I bought into it. This also perhaps goes into my con list.
I don’t know. I don’t know what to make of all this. The show is good and bad, funny and mean, useless and escapist. It’s all of it. I don’t think I can land on an argument for whether this should stay or go and also I don’t have to — literally no one is asking me to!!! I’m just pondering, and it’s so amazing to be able to be so vulnerable in the newsletter (isn’t this the kind of stuff you signed up to hear??? *“no,” they all said in unison*).
I once had an English professor get mad at me for trying to find meaning in everything. She would just say that lots of art exists just for art’s sake. That’s funny to think about now because I feel like most of my work is silly/dumb/doesn’t have a purpose outside of making people laugh (ahem this newsletter). But I still have that tendency to find meaning in lots of things big and small (ahem Holey Moley). Ultimately, I think things can and do just exist. If everything had meaning, nothing would have meaning, right? I guess what I’m trying to say is that Holey Moley is art for art’s sake and that I’m allowed to laugh at it and not feel like a bad person :) Surprise! It was all about me and my anxiety in the end :)
Here’s the key art from season 2 of Holey Moley just to give you a taste of the kind of wild and wacky shenanigans you can expect on this wonderful show:
In other updates from the weekend, Elizabeth “cheesemonger” McClellan made us a cheese board that brought tears to my eyes :
The full spread from Saturday evening din:
And us at the lake, happiest place on earth :’)
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