"DORM-ROOM DÉCOR" used to mean some combination of those generic posters once sold during freshman-orientation (AI Pacino in Scarface, Bob Marley's head shrouded in weed smoke, maybe Audrey Hepburn looking gamine with her cigarette holder), overflowing laundry hampers, and never-dry shower caddies for the shared bathrooms. And while I'm sure versions of this can still be found at colleges and universities across the land, the confluence of Amazon, helicopter-parenting, and Instagram-oriented decorating has ushered in a new era: the dorm room custom-decorated-often with a unifying color scheme-by Mom.
Recently, I, like reporters at People and the New York Times, have been sucked into a corner of Facebook dedicated largely to mothers who decorate their adult children's college dorm rooms. Dorm Room Mamas, at over 246,000 members strong, is just one of many parent-run groups devoted to dorm décor. What makes Dorm Room Mamas so interesting to me isn't the creative storage solutions, the DIY upholstered headboards, or the bespoke neon signs (names like PEYTON or MARLEIGH, above each roomie's bed, or college cheers-HOTTY TODDY at Ole Miss, HOOK 'EM HORNS at UT). What has me scrolling (and scrolling) is the group's underlying purpose as a place where helicopter parents support one another as they endure the wrenching process of letting their kids go free.
Not all members of these groups are helicopter parents, of course. Many are simply excited for the opportunity to transform a room from a cinder-block cell into something adorably color-coordinated.
Esta historia es de la edición September 09 - 22, 2024 de New York magazine.
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Esta historia es de la edición September 09 - 22, 2024 de New York magazine.
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THE BEST ART SHOWS OF THE YEAR
IN NOVEMBER, Sotheby's made history when it sold for a million bucks a painting made by artificial intelligence. Ai-Da, \"the first humanoid robot artist to have an artwork auctioned by a major auction house,\" created a portrait of Alan Turing that resembles nothing more than a bad Francis Bacon rip-off. Still, the auction house described the sale as \"a new frontier in the global art market.\"
THE BIGGEST PODCAST MOMENTS OF THE YEAR
A STRANGE THING happened with podcasts in 2024: The industry was repeatedly thrust into the spotlight owing to a preponderance of head-turning events and a presidential-election cycle that radically foregrounded the medium's consequential nature. To reflect this, we've carved out a list of ten big moments from the year as refracted through podcasting.
THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
THE YEAR IN CULTURE - BEST BOOKS
THE BEST THEATER OF THE YEAR
IT'S BEEN a year of successful straight plays, even measured by a metric at which they usually do poorly: ticket sales. Partially that's owed to Hollywood stars: Jeremy Strong, Jim Parsons, Rachel Zegler, Rachel McAdams (to my mind, the most compelling).
THE BEST ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
2024 WAS one big stress test that presented artists with a choice: Face uncomfortable realities or serve distractions to the audience. Pop music turned inward while hip-hop weathered court cases and incalculable losses. Country struggled to reconcile conservative interests with a much wider base of artists. But the year's best music offered a reprieve.
THE BEST TELEVISION OF THE YEAR
IT WAS SURPRISING how much 2024 felt like an uneventful wake for the Peak TV era. There was still great television, but there was much more mid or meh television and far fewer moments when a critical mass of viewers seemed equally excited about the same series.
THE BEST COMEDY SPECIALS OF THE YEAR
THE YEAR IN CULTURE - COMEDY SPECIALS
THE BEST MOVIES OF THE YEAR
PEOPLE LOVED Megalopolis, hated it, puzzled over it, clipped it into memes, and tried to astroturf it into a camp classic, but, most important, they cared about it even though it featured none of the qualities you'd expect of a breakthrough work in these noisy times.
A Truly Great Time
This was the year our city's new restaurants loosened up.
The Art of the Well-Stuffed Stocking
THE CHRISTMAS ENTHUSIASTS on the Strategist team gathered to discuss the oversize socks they drape on their couches and what they put inside them.
