Coach, put me in

Dirt is a daily email about entertainment.

Terry Nguyen, Dirt's senior staff writer, helms our dispatch on the coaching industrial complex, The Idol drama, and Lydia Tár's Twitter. 

A “bullshit job,” according to the late anthropologist David Graeber, is a job that an employee struggles to justify the existence of but, out of propriety or financial necessity, pretends that their work is meaningful. There are many bullshit jobs in the world. In his 2013 essay, Graeber condemned roles like “private equity CEOs, lobbyists, PR researchers, actuaries, telemarketers, bailiffs [and] legal consultants,” arguing that their labor is only valuable in “maintaining the power of finance capital” and the ruling class. It’s a controversial theory. 

Nevertheless, I was recently reminded of the bullshit job phenomenon when reading about the prevalence of reality TV coaches, or “casting consultants.” Streaming platforms are investing in more reality shows, but the process of getting cast is more competitive than ever. Record numbers of people are signing up, hoping to parlay their five (or fifty) minutes of fame into an influencing or acting career. The Wall Street Journal describes these coaches as “part of a growing cottage industry of former casting agents and contestants.” They are, however, not the only kind of coaches building their trade from experience. These days, it seems as if anyone can be a coach, consultant, or guru—depending on their noun of choice. 

There are corporate coaches, individuals hired by companies to facilitate human resources seminars or “leadership training”; life coaches devoted to personal growth; spiritual coaches; college coaches; and career coaches for wannabe entrepreneurs, marketers, influencers, or writers. There are dating coaches for people struggling with love, and fitness coaches for those trying to get in shape. 

It’s largely economical: The proliferation of coaching is tied to the freelance (or creator) economy. As more “knowledge work” becomes gig-ified, coaching becomes just another stream of revenue for the ever-growing population of freelance-creators. Freelancers with work experience in a certain field or practical knowledge of a certain skill—like UX or graphic design, for example—can claim expertise, accrue a social media following, and set up a website marketing their coaching services. And since the coaching industry is mostly unregulated, there’s little accountability and no formal basis to measure one’s professional expertise. “There are no oversight boards, no standard curricula, no codes of ethics; if I wanted to hang out my shingle as a life coach tomorrow, no one would stop me,” wrote Rachel Monroe in a Guardian investigation on the unregulated rise of life coaching. 

In January, I wrote about the trend of TikTok layoff vlogs as major tech and finance companies downsized. White-collar workers, who no longer have secure jobs, feel pressure to perform as “creators” for their livelihoods. A similar argument can be applied to the personal coaching industrial complex. Freelance creators need a sustained form of income—so they become coaches. Employees used to just think that their jobs were bullshit. But coaching offers some validation, even if the role fulfills an entirely non-essential function. Clients affirm their coaches and the title itself imparts some notion of authority.

It may not be politically correct to dream of labor, but coaching? Why yes coach, put me in. 

PLAYBACK

Snippets of streaming news — and what we’re streaming.

• Drama on set of HBO’s The Idol (starring Lily Rose-Depp and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye): Rolling Stone spoke to 13 sources who say the production was “plagued by delays, reshoots, and rewrites.”

  • Some key details: Director Amy Seimetz left the show when it was nearly done filming. HBO confirmed that it was due for a “major creative overhaul.” Reports allege that Tesfaye felt there was too much of a “female perspective.” 

  • With Sam Levinson (showrunner of Euphoria) brought on, the original script was reshot and rewritten to be more Euphoria-esque. Bigger stars were brought on and even more explicit (and disturbing) content was reportedly added.

  • “This was such a strong example of just how far [Levinson] can really push HBO and they will continue to cover [him] because he brings in money,” one source says. “He’s able to walk away unscathed and everybody still wants to work with him.”

• Theaters aren’t updating and cleaning their projectors often enough, leading to dim pictures and an overall bad moviegoing experience. James Cameron might partly be to blame. Most theaters swapped their film projectors for digital ones to show Avatar in 2009. In the decade since, many theaters failed to maintain upkeep. (Vulture)

• An updated EU ruling in its antitrust case against Apple is possibly good news for Spotify. (The Verge)

• Legendary hip-hop trio De La Soul’s albums are now available to stream. 

• Masego’s self-titled sophomore album is perfect. I am a slut for his sax riffs. 

• TRAILER WATCH: Very ready for the Nicholas Brittell-scored Carmen, starring Melissa Barrera and Paul Mescal. Also the final Succession trailer. 

MIXTAPE

Good links and recs from the Dirtyverse.

• Related to my Friday essay on the future of search: Dirt contributor Drew Austin on how AI might reduce “semantic digital clutter,” things like SEO keywords and hashtags. Once they no longer serve a purpose, he posits that we may grow “nostalgic for the ‘enshittification’ aesthetic once it’s gone … collecting the internet’s once-ephemeral detritus the way we collect vinyl.” 

• Adina Glickstein’s column is always a must-read: “The New York hot girls have lost interest in Urbit … Another esoteric crypto-adjacent startup has entered the landscape: Praxis Assembly.” (Spike Magazine)

• Actor Chris Pine’s book recommendations. (Esquire)

• Eater chronicles the Los Angeles dumpling drama, featuring Din Tai Fung, a California-based dumpling chain, and the meme-fueled rivalry between the Glendale Galleria and the Americana. 

• Lydia Tár’s Twitter. 

• Five drinks to know Dirt: Vietnamese coffee (Terry), ginger shot + water (Terry), Campari soda (Daisy), canned La Colombe oat milk double latte (Daisy), half-sweetened jasmine green milk tea (Osirene)

 🌱 JOIN THE DIRTYVERSE

• Join our Discord and talk Dirt-y with us. It’s free to join! Paid subscribers have access to all channels.

• Follow @dirtyverse on Twitter for the latest news and Spotify for monthly curated playlists.

• Shop for some in-demand Dirt merch.  🍄