In The Heights: The Movie & The Hannah Montana Tour of 2008: An Interview with GG!
Because everything is better with friends!
Today, I’m introducing a new series on Pop-Closure that I have wanted to do for a looooong while. In the wake of the pure havoc COVID has wreaked on my creative patterns, I have decided to seek inspiration from the people I enjoy most in this world. I’m tapping into all of my creative networks and having conversations about everything and anything to do with popular culture. This newsletter has showcased all the things that I am fascinated by and obsessed with, but what are the moments that keep everyone else in my life up at night?
My response to that fascination is this new series of interviews. We’re Getting Pop-Closure, with up-and-coming producers of arts and culture! And, this week, I have the honor of sharing this incredible interview that I did with GG!
GG is a multi-hyphenate. They’re a writer, graphic designer, film student, former music producer... At their core, they are a producer of all things arts and culture. GG is someone I admire. Their creativity is really something special.
For this interview, I got the chance to talk to GG about their passions, projects, and the moments in popular culture that they haven’t gotten over yet.
What are your favorite popular culture pieces right now?
The Marvel/Disney Universe… the Mouse. I just got into WandaVision and the Marvel thing... I feel like I’m back in the theater watching Endgame.
Wait… I’ve never gotten into anything in the MCU… What is it that keeps you invested in their storytelling?
Oh… I had a celebrity crush on Robert Downey Jr. so I was just like “I love Tony Stark.” But my family… they’re like comic book nerds, and I’ve never read the comics, so I was just like… the movies are the fastest way that I could learn about these superheroes. And then, Spider-Man with Miles Morales, he’s from Brooklyn, so I have to support.
That’s the only Marvel movie y’all ever caught me watching… Into the Spider-Verse.
Right! It’s a good one. I didn’t like the other Spider-Man movies, no disrespect to Andrew Garfield.
Yeah… Andrew Garfield was just too old to be playing a 15-year-old. And Emma Stone…
Emma Stone… Bless her heart. The only movie I actually remember her from… what’s that film where she’s singing that song…
Easy A!
Yes!!! But… I’m usually more into the throwback stuff. Like, I got into the Studio Ghibli movies, like Totoro and all that. It’s soo good. I never got a chance to watch it before, like when I was younger, because it was never on in my house… but it was so good! I was like, I see the hype, I understand the hype!
What kinds of projects have you been working on since the pandemic hit?
I have my writing project — Yeah, I’m really into Medium right now. I got my #RonaReviews — that’s where I do my film reviews of what I’ve watched over quarantine. And then, I have GG & Friends, where I interviewed Nik Walker … and then the other stuff is like… not done yet so I can’t really say too much about that.
For folks who aren’t familiar with your work, what is the niche you fill? Or, what does your work focus on?
It’s mostly current pop-culture. That’s one of the things that I have a lot of knowledge about. It’s the best way to describe it, really.
What’s something in popular culture that you have never fully gotten over? A moment in the culture that kind of just makes you go “What???”
For me, it’s the Hannah Montana tour of 2008. Because, I’m still not over how this girl really put on a wig and had a whole career! And, I think all of the early Nick shows of like 2006, basically because I was trying to be on TV.
And, if you could delve into the popular culture, pick one moment, and get an all-out investigation on it, what moment would you go back to and interrogate? Or, put more simply, what’s the thing you need closure on?
I want to be controversial. Keeping on-brand with In The Heights, so, you know how they didn’t cast Camila in the film? I want to know what was up with that and why they changed the plot of the entire Heights movie. They were like, “Oh, it’s going to be the same thing!” But there’s like new characters, [redacted] is there for some reason, and there’s no Camila! I just want to know what’s up.. like what was the reason??!
Oooh… That is a good one! Right, I mean, because they really wrote her out the film.
Right, like. Out of all the songs in the film we could have lost, why didn’t we lose Kevin’s song? It’s literally useless.
It’s literally useless!! (For context, Kevin’s song in In The Heights is called Inútil, which means useless in Spanish). I didn’t even think about that, but it’s very spicy. I’m pretty sure her actress (the one who originated Camila’s role on Broadway) is definitely still alive… Like.. there was no reason for that.
Yeah!! It’s the same reason they didn’t cast the original Daniella! But I’m going to mind my business.
Yes… and then, my last question. If you could insert yourself into any popular culture moment. What’s the one moment you want to be in?
Have you seen the movie Enchanted? Yes. Any part of that movie. Because James Marsden and Patrick Dempsey in the same movie… It’s my favorite Disney-but-not-Disney movie ever. And, for my favorite scene… definitely the one where they’re in Central Park and they all dance. My friend actually told me that the little old guys that are dancing in there are the dancers from Mary Poppins… That’s the cutest Easter egg I’ve ever heard.
Special thanks to GG for this interview. You can find them on Twitter at @cafebusteloking. Their Instagram is @usnavidelavega. You can find their medium page here: https://medium.com/@cafebusteloking