Youthquake Time Warp: 2001 MTV Edition

A Noughties Girl Retrospect

⏳ Retro Fixation is a series dedicated to our infatuation with the past, which is undeniably resurging now, so step back in time with us on this TGIF journey below.

Retro fixation is a continuous trip unlocking hidden folders of past forgotten nostalgia archives in my brain. I’ve rewatched past favorites such as The O.C., Gossip Girl, and others who are joining soon. Watching the trashy Bravo reality show, Summer House reminded me of a past MTV reality star of yesteryear. Now I’ve been contemplating rewatching Laguna Beach or The Hills— if I or my wifi can tolerate it (the number of outages lately has been beyond frustrating levels). However, in the bouts of my youth’s nostalgia— and frankly, some inspiration, I re-watched the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards.
As a teenager of the noughties, MTV was a daily source of entertainment with its absolute stronghold on an entire generation. The influence was magnetic and obnoxious but magnetic for someone from a straight-edged religious family. The channel was impossible to stay away from, whether it was my devotion to Daria. My fascination with Road Rules and The Real World, or my obsession with music videos— MTV had me hooked. What a time to be alive witnessing such a legacy in the making from performances that shifted pop culture. Back then, the VMA’s were not to be missed, and I thank my sisters for introducing me to all the cool things that still mean so much to me now— snobbery and music/film elitism of my twenties be damned.

Thanks to the wonderful Internet Archive, I found this video that unlocked many memories I’d forgotten about in my nostalgic quest back into 2001. The immediate familiarity of Kurt Loder and SuChin Pak’s voices transported me to a time I’d forgotten, like how I used to have a crush on MTV VJ Gideon Yago. The preshow was performed by Alien Ant Farm and City High, who I also completely forgot about and now am furiously adding to my Y2K playlist. The added commercials of that time were also a trip to re-witness— like Shakira and Britney Spears’ iconic Pepsi moment, those Carrot Top AT&T ads, and Game Boy Advanced.
Rewatching Jamie Foxx host the 2001 MTV VMA’s has been a great reminder of his musical talent a few years before smashing it in Ray (2004)— although his jokes didn’t seem to land then, and they still don’t. Like the shots at Backstreet Boy’s AJ’s rehab entry or the homophobia towards Elton John and Eminem joke from their joint GRAMMY performance earlier that same year. What won me back over was the performances of the night, which weren’t all memorable for a reason.

Firstly from the newly minted ‘J.Lo’ and for whatever reason, the transition from a Latinx performance into a hip-hop breakdown made me laugh inexplicably. Performing the remix version of I’m Real, struggling to find a note while Ja Rue came in with a West Side Story-worthy background— it was all rocky. She also wisely skipped out on singing the N-word, yet she still has featured in her explicit version. As the awards ceremony carried on, there were appearances and wins from forever favorites like Spike Jonez winning for his directorial of Fatboy Slim’s Weapon of Choice. More performances, including Linkin Park and their profound grasp of Chester Bennington’s vocals, had on high school me. Their perfect melding of hip-hop and rock was on full display as they brought on The X-Ecutioners.
Following the performance was Alicia Keys with Für Elise’s transition into Fallin’, followed by the ladies of Lady Marmalade presenting Moby with a win— my sentiments on him haven’t changed; there’s something creepy about Moby.

Other presenters came and went, but seeing the parallels of Will Smith channeling a big-time Hollywood heavyweight and playfully playing along to Jamie Foxx’s bit was refreshing after this year’s Oscars (maybe if they stop choosing from the usual presenters from a hat, they can find someone entertainingly worthy). Notably, presenting Alicia Keys with Best New Artist were Mary J. Blige, Nelly, and Macy Gray, who was ahead of the marketing game but shamed for the self-promo— times were so much simpler and hateful, considering the Kardashians are human walking billboards and herald as savvy business sharks for living the American Dream of private equity (more on that later).
Christopher Walken did what he does best, giving us ‘wow’ and ‘wowwie wow wow wow,’ while introducing *NSync with a too-on-the-nose performance of their hit Pop as famous art pop from Lichenstein and more. Not to mention a surprise cameo dance performance by the King of Pop, Michael Jackson (who looked like he was immediately over it). Seeing Justin Timberlake in his pre-hip-hop influence is a hilarious reminder that he’s always truly been that cheesy guy, yet JC Chasez’s vocals smoked him every time. Seeing a happier Britney Spears in the audience was heartwrenching; this would be only a few years before being publicly humiliated time and time again by Justin Timberlake, who continuously shamed her for allegedly cheating on him with their mutual friend and choreographer Wade Robson (also in attendance and even thanked by JT). Seeing Britney next to Justin Timberlake’s mom and her scalp brought me back— those blonde cornrows were a choice then as they are now.

Image via HuffPost/Kevin Kane via Getty Images.

Thankfully, the hilarious juxtaposition of Mudvayne in bloody garb winning the MTV 2 award and everyone else brought me back as they stated, ‘art is not competition.’ Seeing Mark Wahlberg and DMX was surreal, to see how I remember X’s persona most— lively and funny. The duo introduced a forgotten favorite with the band Staind, which reminds me of my high school love; also, it’s been a while.
2001 also reminds me of certain linguistics that rappers said as the whole world immediately took in like a sponge, thinking a certain demographic like in 2003 Malibu’s Most Wanted. That was a dark reminder. Thankfully, my then-crush on Limp Bizkit’s Wes Borland was a memory unlocked; his singing of Iron Maiden’s Wasted Years was unappreciated and lost on my younger self yet completely understood now as an adult. The year also introduced us to the term Stan which was only Eminem’s song featuring Dido, which now takes on a more ominous meaning. The rest of the show wasn’t memorable other than Missy Elliot’s mesmeric Get Ur Freak On. Also, as mentioned in the previous Cold Brew, Britney Spears stole the whole show with her performance of I’m a Slave 4 U.
Without realizing it, I remember watching the 2001 VMA’s merely days before the world seemingly changed all those years ago and what’s even stranger is how I didn’t contemplate the anniversary being days away as I was initially writing. Or how I haven’t been able to post this since Friday like I wanted to, but instead, the universe had other plans and waited for the day of— the universe can be so curious and mysterious, it’s better to accept it and go with the flow as time parallels. She’s so relatable like that.

Rewatching the VMA’s also reminded me of this rendition of the Patti LaBelle banger from the Baz Luhrmann 2001 hit Moulin Rouge. The women took back the reigns of female sexuality in a time when women were constantly slut-shamed into oblivion. Even though the video below is from the MTV Movie Awards, it’s too good not to revisit— including behind-the-scenes footage. The only other time it was performed by the ladies was at the 2002 Grammy’s with the legend Patti LaBelle, who outsang Christina Aguilera.

As our over-saturated social media feeds try to weigh us down by doomscrolling to escape the news cycle with mindless pop culture nonsense, escapism is well-deserved. So for those like-minded nosy bitches like myself that love to not mind their business, even for just a bit, here’s the pop culture round-up we can’t get away— or enough of, seemingly.

• I tend to stay away from a certain family of mess, but how can we? Kim and her American Dream are featured in Interview magazine for what they assumed would garner another frenzied online moment with another Americana-themed editorial. Except they didn’t count on being overshadowed by the appearance of a strategized nonchalant entrance of Florence Pugh for nearly a week— or by the passing of Queen Elizabeth. However, her particular words on climate change were just too hollow even for her to be trolling.

  

  Screenshot via Interview.

  While Kim re-standardized beauty and body expectations, now twenty years later, she’s also redefined expectations with unrealistic new standards. She sells microplastics as shapewear while packaging and selling whatever she can for her growing legacy. One of America’s top capitalists expects to become the ultimate commodity by being an immediately identifiable and recognizable brand. Her makeup looked stunning, though.
  

• TW/SA
  
  Ana de Armas had her grand Venice moment with the premiere of Blonde. The NC-17-rated Netflix film comes from the fictionalized biography by Joyce Carol Oats and continues to capitalize on a women’s tragedy vs. her actual legacy, which includes a rape scene. Also following suit among other actors by channeling the great spirits of those they’re depicting, like Kristen Stewart and Princess Diana, Stefani Germanotta (Lady Gaga), and Patrizia Reggiani. Perhaps Norma Jean Baker stayed with them since they decidedly filmed the day and even filmed the death scene in the actual room where the star of the Golden Age of Hollywood died— of course, she lingered; the woman can’t ever rest. So far, the reviews have been as polarizing as expected. More importantly, the luminescent de Armas proving accents shouldn’t be something to scoff at, but three hours— haven’t we been through enough; why are films unnecessarily long?
  Then there’s Brad Pitt stepping on her moment supporting as a producer and being photographed in good graces to evade that confirming FBI report not long ago.

• Jennette McCurdy’s been doing the PR rounds supporting her New York Times Best Selling book, I’m Glad My Mom Died. Most recently, she joined the Red Table Talk discussing the harrowing abuse from her mother while showing grace. Reminding us that forgiveness isn’t and doesn’t always have to be granted— and that’s alright. Despite the grass not always greener on the other side, sometimes the grass where we’re at needs some tending to, and that’s even better. Alas, life goes on, albeit seismically, but the ever-flowing course of time helps.

• There is now a King of England for the first time in seventy years. Below is how I imagine King Charles III’s first days to be like Roman Roy.

  succession clips and reaction videos @successionreact

  succession roman roy nervously looking at computer screen scene/reaction video

This week will be like I have senioritis since it’s finally vacation week. Besides watching House of the Dragon with my sisters every Sunday, somehow, they got me to watch another stupid dragon show with them.
As I continue to find my stride, albeit glacially, I’ve been busy avoiding catching the flu that’s been going around and working around the worst connection week thus far, which further fuels my discontent for certain local Texas authoritarians who only act when it’s convenient for them. Only a couple more days until I’m away from Texas.

Con Amor,

Naomi x