Gay London Life | Feb '26 Edition - Magazine - Page 36
Topher
Talks
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been
The 72 hours that followed
LOVING the Victoria Beckham and
were glorious. The memes were
Brooklyn Beckham drama.
exceptional. Thousands of videos
I know. It’s probably a bit tragic.
flooded everyone’s timelines and
Why am I even focused on rich
stories, and I laughed so much on the
people’s problems? Why do I care?
first day that I ended up with a hoarse
Usually, I don’t. I genuinely couldn’t
throat and aching cheeks.
care less about celebrity culture
One thing I love about the UK is our
in general. Unless it’s Madonna,
unspoken rule that we can slag off our
obviously. And even then, I wouldn’t
celebrities and culture, but outsiders
use the word “celebrity” for her. More…
absolutely cannot. Especially, rich
creamy, smooth pop icon goddess.
kids who are married to billionaires.
It’s been years since I’ve found
This tiny blip of what felt like collective
a celebrity or influencer genuinely
internet unity, however fleeting, was
intriguing. They all blur into one now.
oddly comforting. In a world where
Maybe that’s an age thing.
everything feels fractured and
But the truth is, it’s been a
welcome distraction.
Because it feels like the world has
combative, largely fuelled by politics
and culture wars, this moment felt safe,
light, and almost cosy.
completely lost its mind. The cruelty
I grew up a Spice Girls fanatic and
has escalated at a horrifying pace
have always had a soft spot for Victoria,
since Trump 2.0 and the accelerating
so the whole ordeal felt like the perfect
radicalisation of the far right in the UK.
collision of camp and nostalgia. Perfect
Every day I open my phone or switch
for Topher Taylor. It was the ideal storm
on IHIP News, if you know, you know,
for a millennial queer desperately in
and it’s like being slapped in the face
need of light relief and escapism. It felt
with fresh hate and brutality.
familiar and silly. And I was so excited to
The absolute worst people in
indulge in something that didn’t demand
the world are currently at their most
outrage… JUST participation. And boy,
confident. Worse still, more people
did I participate.
are being pulled into that mindset at a
And maybe that’s why it worked
terrifying rate. It’s exhausting.
so well. For a brief moment in time, the
I have a bad habit of doom-
internet wasn’t split into sides. There
scrolling and obsessing over the
were only a few purity tests, very little
news. Partly because many of my
moral grandstanding, and no endless
friends are politically switched on,
threads demanding you pick a position
and I follow activists and educators
and defend it to the death. For the
who genuinely care about making the
most part, we all just seem to laugh
world a better and more equal place.
collectively, share references, and feel
Staying informed matters - but it also
like we were all in on the same joke at
means being constantly confronted
the same time. It reminded me of the
with how ugly things are right now.
good old days of the World Wide Web.
Staying “woke” takes its toll, and it
In darker moments like this, it’s
changes far more than how you vote.
scarily easy to forget how powerful
It strips pleasure from consumerism,
that kind of unity can be. Not the loud
something I once loved. It alters how you
and performative kind, but the gentle
eat, travel, and communicate, and forces
kind of unity that reminds you that
you to stare directly at the bleak reality of
other people are still here. A clear
the planet and the people in charge of it.
reminder that we are still human and
So, on Monday evening, as
still capable of laughing at the same
I was leaving a dinner date with
thing as you. It didn’t fix anything. It
my friends Tara and Ally and our
didn’t solve the world’s problems, but
partners at Tendrils in Mayfair, my
it did seem to soften them, just a little.
group chat exploded. I was blessed
I wish we could tap into that
with information that would keep me
more often. Not by ignoring reality or
distracted and laughing for days.
switching off completely – because
Brooklyn Beckham had posted
that would be fucking stupid. But by
a series of stories that appeared
remembering that connection doesn’t
to expose a deeply strained and
always have to come from politics,
controlling relationship with his
anger, or fear. Sometimes it can come
parents, including commentary
from camp and a shared moment of
around what he described as his
ridiculousness. And sometimes, that’s
mother’s “inappropriate” dancing
enough to make you smile and keep
with him at his wedding. It was the
you going.
dancing that planted a seed that
would break the internet.
36
@tophertaylor
