Absolutely! I go into this in much more detail (and nuance) in the full essay 🤗

I've got much more to say about this whole phenomenon—the class dynamics beneath it, how it shapes creative industries, and why I'm done pretending not to care. Full essay here: (14/14) www.thatfinalscene.com/p/jeremy-str...

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We've built a culture that celebrates the appearance of effortless success while mocking those who show their work. Maybe that says more about our own fears than about the people brave enough to care openly. (13/14)

The most electric performances—in acting, writing, any creative field—come from precisely that willingness to look completely undone by wanting something. To risk appearing uncool in pursuit of something meaningful. (12/14)

For what it's worth, Culkin himself doesn't play this game. In his Oscar speech, he directly addressed Strong: "Jeremy, you're amazing in The Apprentice. I love your work. It's f---ing great." Real recognizes real. (11/14)

This isn't about who "deserves" the Oscar—both delivered extraordinary performances (though I do have a fave!). It's about how we've turned caring deeply into something embarrassing, something to be hidden rather than celebrated. (10/14)

What's fascinating is how this plays out beyond awards shows. In every industry, we celebrate the "natural genius" while side-eyeing the visible striver. The dropout billionaire over the immigrant founder who meticulously built their business. (9/14)

We've developed a strange relationship with authenticity in 2025. We claim to value realness but recoil when it arrives unfiltered. Remember Timothée Chalamet's SAG speech where he admitted wanting "greatness"? Same reaction. (8/14)

The internet's response? Immediate mockery, especially contrasted with Culkin's reaction—simply posting a photo of himself drinking champagne on a Parisian balcony with "LET'S FUCKING GOOOOO". One approach read as desperate, the other as cool. (7/14)

When Oscar nominations dropped in January, the pattern repeated. Strong released a heartfelt statement about his lifelong devotion to acting alongside a childhood photo of himself outside the 1993 Oscars. (6/14)

The profile highlighted Strong's elaborate preparation: staying in character off-camera, requesting real tear gas for scenes, sending character-related texts at 3am. The internet collectively decided this was cringe rather than commitment. (5/14)

This divide began years ago with Strong's infamous 2021 New Yorker profile. The headline alone—"On 'Succession,' Jeremy Strong Doesn't Get the Joke"—framed his intensity as somehow embarrassing compared to his more "chill" castmates. (4/14)

Culkin's speech was charming as ever, dropping f-bombs and making the audience roar with his "four kids" callback to his wife (that last part was a bit weird ngl). Meanwhile, social media filled with comments about Strong's intense face, continuing a narrative years in the making. (3/14)

When the Best Supporting Actor envelope opened Sunday night, cameras caught Strong's split-second reaction before cutting to Culkin's triumphant walk to the stage—a perfect visual metaphor for Hollywood's two approaches to success. (2/14)

my pleasure aw ♥️

The goats aren't the weirdest thing about Severance. It's that I pay a trillion-dollar company to show me how evil trillion-dollar companies are. My full Substack piece explores my journey through cognitive dissonance and why I can't look away: (14/14) www.thatfinalscene.com/p/the-proble...

When future media scholars excavate the streaming wars, they'll marvel at how Severance pulled off its greatest illusion, convincing us that mandatory workplace viewing could become voluntary obsession. Going delulu never looked this stylish. (13/14)