this is the house that pop culture built

every book, movie, album, game, tv show and moment that raised me

Aug 22, 2023

As I’ve been sleeping in my childhood bedroom and reading through my teenage diaries I’ve been noticing something - I seem to have always had a need to categorise myself based on my latest obsessions. My diaries contain lists of my favourite books, songs, movies and quotes, as if by not writing them down I thought I’d somehow forget them, and by forgetting them, I wouldn’t know who I was.

As well as writing them down for my own personal records, I also had to make my latest obsessions my entire personality. From the ages 15-16 One Direction occupied my walls. When I was 17, Liv painted me my favourite photo of Lana Del Rey, and she took 1D’s place. In my second year of uni I got another Liv original - this time David Bowie - who she’d painted to mark that summer’s love for him. And after posters came posting - anyone who followed me on social media had to know about my deep crushes (unless my latest crush was so important that they had their own dedicated social media accounts which were kept private from those who knew me.) My eras were everyone’s problem.

The next era of this obsessive documentation was starting Shit You Should Care About, which has been built off the back of all these obsessions, maybe because I no longer felt shame for being such a fangirl, or maybe because I was lonely and wanted to share my latest loves with all of you. Either way, I’ve decided to continue with my incessant need to be defined in print so I don’t somehow forget who I am, so here is the pop culture that built me (and SYSCA.)

I’ve tried to organise each category chronologically, so you can see what I was into as a kid, a teenager, and as a 20-something.

Movies:

Barbie as Rapunzel. God. This movie. The sound of the footsteps still stays with me to this day. And the soundtrack by the London Symphony Orchestra. And the scene where she paints herself a gown! This entire movie.
The Sisterhood Of The Travelling Pants. We got this DVD as part of a bundle when we got our first-ever DVD player and I watched it to death. Still can’t put my finger on whether I had a crush on Blake Lively or her soccer coach tbh.
Role Models. Got this as part of the same bundle and was FAR too young to be watching it (as with most things I consumed as a kid) but watched it on REPEAT.
Step Brothers. Probably the movie I’ve watched the most in my life. My family still quotes it daily. Very formative to my sense of humour. It’s basically an initiation for any new friend/ family member to have to watch this.
Napolean Dynamite. Chefs kiss. No notes. Another very formative movie for my sense of humour.
Sleepover. It’s what I thought going to high school would be like.
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. My number one favourite movie of all time, which I wrote about quite extensively here.
Camp Rock. As you’ll see, anything with a high school heartthrob and a musical element will get me sooooo good. Camp Rock has ALWAYS been number one in this genre though.
High School Musical. See above. I remember watching this premiere on Disney Channel with my best friend Georgia. It was the best feeling in the world.
Lemonade Mouth. See above.
Hairspray. See above EXCEPT, it was my dream to play Tracy Turnblad in a musical. Unforch I can’t dance, act, or sing nearly as well as her. At least I have SYSCA I guess.
Zombieland. Rubes and I were OBSESSED with this movie growing up. We’d stay up all night in her lounge eating Doritos, drinking Coke and watching this.
The Breakfast Club. At about the same time as I discovered Tumblr I discovered John Huges and became absolutely obsessed with everything he’d touched. The Breakfast Club was my introduction to him, and I had an unhealthy need to know everything about the Brat Pack.
Girl Interrupted. I was incredibly depressed and watched this probably 20 times.
The Greatest Showman. Something about the introduction to this movie altered my brain in the best way (but are we surprised because it’s another musical featuring Zac Efron??)
Popstar Never Stop Never Stopping. The Lonely Island raised me and I don’t care if you think this movie was a flop, it’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.
Call Me By Your Name. The only time I’ve ever properly appreciated the setting of a movie. Just sooo good on the eyes (a shame about Armie Hamer though.)
Hamilton on Disney+. Rubes introduced me to this musical and it singlehandedly got me through the pandemic, and every long car ride I’ve done since.
We Live In Public. I only just watched this the other day and it’s already become formative to my being. It’s a documentary about early internet pioneer Josh Harris, and the fucked up (but well before his time) experiments he conducted to prove what the internet was going to do to us in the future. Spoiler - everything he predicted back then came true.

Movies that I’d only ever watched as TV shows but when I watched them on the big screen gave me a feeling I can’t explain:

Rugrats Go Wild
Hannah Montana, The Movie
High School Musical 3
The Simpsons Movie

Books:

Laura’s Star, Klaus Baumgart. Laura makes friends with a fallen star and sparkles throughout the book. I can remember it so vividly, feels like magic, still.
The Jolly Postman or Other People's Letters, Allan Ahlberg. My obsession as a kid (I think my mum still has it.) Pulling out all the letters and reading them was my favourite thing (until I lost a few.)
I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato, Lauren Child. The design style of these books is still my inspo for SYSCA.
My Hiroshima, Junko Morimoto. My teacher read this to us at primary school - learning what a mushroom cloud was scared me so much as a kid, and this book has stuck with me to this day.
Candyfloss, Jacqueline Wilson. Most Jacqueline Wilson books actually, but this was the one I read the most.
ALL the ‘Little House On The Prairie’ books, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Specifically the feeling of the pages, and learning what ‘Scarlett fever’ was.
ALL the ‘Angus, thongs and full-frontal snogging’ books, by Louise Rennison. The designs of these books were also SYSCA inspo. Special mention to the movie too, obv.
All The Bright Places, Jessica Niven. Read this as a depressed teenager about 1000000 times. Do not watch the movie though.
How To Build A Girl, Caitlin Moran. And the sequel ‘How to Be Famous.’ Related so hard. Always wanted to be Dolly Wilde. Another shoutout to the movie (starring Beanie Feldstein.)
A Little Life, Hanya Yanagihara. The only book I’ve ever finished and picked right back up to read again. I don’t encourage you to read this if you’re a sensitive soul.
Creativity Inc, Ed Catmull. Biggest recommendation for anyone wanting to work (or start a business) in the creative field. Changed how I think about everything.
The House in the Cerulean Sea, T.J. Klune. Read this in 2020 after my friend Luce passed on the recommendation to me. Changed my life and the life of many other SYSCAhood members.
Still Life, Sarah Winman. Another rec from my friend Luce. Convinced me to move to Italy (instead I’m moving to Portugal.)
Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Joan Didion. Bel gave me this as my first-ever introduction to Joan and I was in love. Specifically with the essay: “On Keeping A Notebook.”
Let Me Tell You What I Mean, Joan Didion. Specifically, “Alicia and the Underground Press.

Moments that have stuck with me for whatever reason:

Finding out Nick Jonas had diabetes
Tiger Woods being a cheater
Lance Armstrong being a doper
Michael Jackson’s death
William and Kate’s wedding
Brangelina being over
Seeing 1D live in a 1500-seat venue & then spotting them in a bar at 3am on our way to catch our ferry home

TV shows:

Coronation Street. Always used to watch this with Mum. When Tracey killed Charlie with the statue it haunted me for weeks.
Pretty much any cartoon on Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network: Hey Arnold, Spongebob Squarepants, The Wild Thornberrys, The Fairly Odd Parents, Rocco’s Modern Life, The Angry Beavers, Dexters Lab, Ed, Edd & Eddy… you name it, we watched it.
Also ‘adult’ cartoons like: The Simpsons, Family Guy, South Park
Peak Disney Channel and Nickelodeon: Lizzie McGuire, That’s So Raven, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Wizards of Waverly Place, Hannah Montana, All That!, The Amanda Show, iCarly, Victorious, Zoey 101, The Rugrats, The Wild Thornberry’s
Home and Away. My older cousins watched this so naturally, I did too.
Awkward. I’ve still never seen teen drama done like this. And the writing is just chefs KISS.
Glee. Sorry, I know.
Jersey Shore and Geordie Shore. Gym, Tan, Laundry 4 lyf.
The Carrie Diaries. I have never felt hornier in my life than when Austin Butler and Anna Sophia Robb had a scene together.
The Bold Type. It was like watching me, Ruby, and Liv figure out how to work in the media (if we lived in New York and did chic things.)
Schitts Creek. When I was the most depressed I’d ever been, Schitt’s Creek was the only thing I could handle watching. I still watch it to fall asleep.
Modern Family. I watched this season front to back with my little brother Ben and it’s still our joint comfort show.
The Office US. Because I’m only human.
Fleabag. The best representation of a woman in the world I’ve ever seen.
Shrill. The best representation of a fat woman in the world I’ve ever seen.
My Mad Fat Diary. The best representation of a fat woman with mental health issues in the world I’ve ever seen.

Youtube:

FRED FIGGLEHORN. Notably: Fred goes swimming, Fred loses his meds, Fred goes to the park, and his single, “Chrismas Is Creepy.”
Parry Gripp videos. Notably: Spaghetti Cat, Cat flushing the toilet, Chimpanzee riding on a segue, and Baby Monkey (backwards on a pig.)
Amazing Horse. Once, our History teacher asked us to pick a video to play on Youtube and my friend Evie suggested ‘Amazing Horse.’ It was quickly turned off when she heard the lyrics ‘Have a stroke of its mane, it turns into a plane, and then it turns back again when you tug on its winky- oh, that’s dirty!”
The Janoskians. Specifically when Jai dated Ariana Grande. Note: these did note age well.
Christina Grimmie’s cover of Jar of Hearts. (My heart still breaks for her.)
Beyoncé, Rihanna, Mariah Carey, Miley Cyrus, Fergie, Carrie Underwood, Nicole Scherzinger, Mary J. Blige, Leona Lewis, Keyshia Cole, Natasha Bedingfield, Ciara & Ashanti competing for the spotlight as they all collab on ‘Just Stand Up’. This was my ‘We Are The World’ and I YouTube to MP3’d it onto my iPod shuffle instantly.
One Direction’s X-factor Video Diaries. When I discovered these it was like finding gold. Not afraid to admit I still watch them when I need a pick me up. Vas ‘Appenin?
Beyonce’s performance of “I Was Here” for UN Humanitarian Day. Just the best vocal performance I’d ever seen as a kid.
Yebba singing ‘My Mind.’ Just the best vocal performance I’ve ever seen, period.
Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared. My friends Rupert and Adrian showed me this in my first year of university and I became obsessed with finding out what they meant/ making theories about them.
Bing Bong Brothers. I don’t get it either. It’s a Lonely Island thing.
The Sister Squad videos. The one where they all take a trip to Vegas is my ultimate comfort video.
The Dolan Twins ‘milk challenge’ video. Never laughed harder. Made everyone I know watch it with me. Still SENDS ME to this day.
Zoe and Alfie. Particularly when they moved into their new house. More comfort YouTubers.

Comedy:

The Lonely Island. Andy, Akiva, and Yorma are probably the most pivotal people when it came to me forming a sense of humour. They also gave me my favourite memories with my brothers, one of my favourite movies (Pop Star Never Stop Never Stopping) and my biggest celebrity crush (sorry Harry Styles, Andy Samberg is number one.)
Summer Heights High & Angry Boys. Sorry about this one, but Chris Lilley was huge in my household. Mr G will always be one of my favourite characters in the world.
The 12th Man Boned! Niche, but before we had podcasts we had Dad’s ‘The Twelfth Man’ CDs. My brothers and I still know all the words to ‘Marvellous.’
Bo Burnham’s Inside. Changed my life so much that when I got drunk one night I ended up at the house of two random girls, made them watch the entire special with me, and then ubered 40 minutes home at 3am.

Games:

The My Little Pony computer game. Genuinely the first moment I realised I loved being transported to new worlds. I can still hear the ponies munching on the apples.
The Little Bear computer game. Just also so wholesome and fun.
Shrek & Over The Hedge ‘Plug’n’Play.’ My little brother James got one of these for his birthday and we wasted so much time on it.
Barbie.com and adjacent MyScene/ Hannah Montana online games. I remember using our family’s first computer (with dial-up internet) to play these after Nick was done with Runescape.
Stardoll. All the cool girls at school played Stardoll, and when I found this out, I did too.
Tamagotchi v2, 3, 4 and 5 (and tamatown.com). I am being completely serious when I say I never EVER got past generation 2. I just could NOT keep them alive. Maybe that’s when I realised I didn’t want kids.
Pixel Chix. The coolest virtual pet/person on the market. I was obsessed.
The Simpsons Game on PS2. This one still haunts me because the disc was scratched, so we could only ever get up to a certain level every time.
Habbo Hotel. I got off this game after a random dude I was talking to online told me he was going to k*ll himself if I stopped replying to him. That experience definitely changed me in a weird kinda way.
Club Penguin. My penguin was called ‘Miss Quickie’ because she waddled really quick. I had no idea why people kept asking ‘wanna go for a quickie’ or what that even meant.
Moshi Monsters. Like Club Penguin but even BETTER in my eyes.

Internet things:

Bebo. I was obsessed with this, but it also hurt my feelings when I wasn’t listed in someone’s top 16 friends, and when my best friend at the time listed someone she thought was cooler than me as her ’other half.’
Tumblr. Taught me so much I know about the internet. Still love it.
WeHeartIt. This was MY Pinterest.
Rookie Mag. The publication that singlehandedly made me who I am today (and probably single-handedly inspired SYSCA.)

Albums/ Ep’s:

Feels So Good, Atomic Kitten. The first album I ever owned. Iconic.
Let Go, Avril Lavigne. Special mention to “I’m With You.”
Barbie Summer Party Mix, Volume 2. Special mention to Jessica Simpson’s “With You,”
The Shrek Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. I’m not ashamed to say that the first time I’d ever heard ‘Bad Reputation,’ and ‘Hallelujah’ was also the same time I learnt Smash Mouth’s ‘All Star.’
The Shrek 2 Soundtrack: Yes, I discovered ‘Changes’ Holding out for a Hero’ alongside ‘Accidentally In Love.’
Self Titled, The Jonas Brothers. ‘Goodnight and Goodbye’ ‘Games’ and ‘That’s Just The Way We Roll’ CHANGED MY LIFE.
A Little Bit Longer, The Jonas Brothers. ‘Video Girl’ and ‘LoveBug’ were the standouts this time round. I also shed many a to ‘A Little Bit Longer’ because I’m only human.
Up All Night, One Direction. Rubes and I made my mum play this to us on REPEAT on a road trip once. She probably knows it as well as we do. Notable faves: “Moments,’ ‘I Want,' and ‘Same Mistakes.’
Breakout, Miley Cyrus. “Simple Song” and “Full Circle??” Are you kidding?? Bangers.
Dr Hook, Greatest Hits. Reminds me of road trips with my Mum.
Incredibad, The Lonely Island. Specifically “Sax Man,” “Boombox” and “Space Olympics.”
Speak Now, Taylor Swift. No explanation needed.
Red, Taylor Swift. See above.
The Love Club EP, Lorde. My friend showed me this and told me not to tell anyone else about it (Lorde was still being gatekept a lil then.) I listened to ‘Bravado’ and was never the same again.
Pure Heroine, Lorde. My soundtrack to being a teenager.
Banks, Goddess. Banks is still one of my favourite artists to this day. Liv and I were OBSESSED with her.
Melodrama, Lorde. My soundtrack to being at university.
The Human Condition, Jon Bellion. When people talk about music ‘itching their brain’ this is what I think of. I'm yet to listen to someone who can crack open my skull and crawl in like Jon Bellion does.
Inside, Bo Burnham. Notably ‘Welcome To The Internet,’ ‘That Funny Feeling’ and ‘That Funny Feeling.’
A Brief Inquiry To Online Relationships, The 1975. I’d never heard someone put all my thoughts about the internet into an album before this and I was BLOWN AWAY.
Being Funny In A Foriegn Language, The 1975. Play the outro to ‘Part Of The Band’ as I ascend to heaven, please. Also please listen closely to the lyrics of ‘Looking For Somebody To Love.’
Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever), Noah Kahan. The first person I’ve ever found who blends my love of folk and pop juuuust the way I like it. Also an album about getting out of your small town? Yes plz.

Songs:

Whole Again, Atomic Kitten
Walking on water, Atomic Kitten
Superstar, Jamelia
Miss Independent, Kelly Clarkson
Because of You, Kelly Clarkson
Otherside, Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Video Killed The Radio Star, The Buggles
Mr Blue Sky, Electric Light Orchestra
Big Girls Don’t Cry, Fergie
Glowing, DA Wallach
What About Me, Shannon Noll
Potential Breakup song, Aly and AJ
Heartless, Kanye West
Earthquake, Tini Tempah
Long Live, Taylor Swift
Cover of The Rolling Stone, Dr Hook
Arms, Christina Perri
EASE, Troye Sivan feat. Broods
Thnks fr th Mmrs, Fall Out Boy
Life On Mars, David Bowie
Teen Idle, Marina And The Diamonds
DNA, Little Mix
Off To The Races, Lana Del Rey
Don’t Tell ‘Em, Jeremih
Little Wonders, Rob Thomas
You Should Know Where I’m Coming From, Banks
Rum Rage, Sticky Fingers
Guillotine, Jon Bellion
Good Morning, Bleachers
Issues, Julia Michaels
Age, Liane La Havas
Don’t Let The Kids Win, Julia Jacklin
An Evening I Will Not Forget, Dermott Kennedy
So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings, Caroline Polachek
All Too Well (10-Minute Version), Taylor Swift
Love It If We Made It, The 1975

Woooooah okay that got LONG. Turns out a LOT goes into building me/ SYSCA. If any of these also changed YOUR life then you’ve found a home here <3

Please, comment below the things that built you 𓆩♡𓆪