Timotheé Has An Image Problem
Hint: It’s Kylie.
Timothée Chalamet’s rise to fame over the last decade has been interesting, to say the least. I generally enjoy his performances. Dune: Part Two is one of my favorite films of 2024. I think it’s a career highlight for Chalamet, but unfortunately, that’s not saying much.
We can sit and argue whether or not he’s a good actor — in my opinion, he’s just okay — but that would be a waste of time. His offscreen persona is much more fun to dissect than his onscreen performance.
He doesn’t dominate tabloids because of his acting, but because of his girlfriend, Kylie Jenner. Oh, and his “desperation” to win an Oscar. I admire the level of honesty. I think it’s okay to be passionate about your craft, but there’s a certain arrogance. Especially if it is, quite certainly, not your time yet.
Ask anyone — or just Club Chalamet — and this is Kylie’s fault. Unfortunately, I think critics are onto something. But not quite for the reason everyone seems to think.
It’s because of cultural appropriation.
The KarJenner clan has spent the last fifteen or so years borrowing from black culture and building an empire off of it. Has this possibly redefined beauty standards and/or black womanhood? Probably.
Has it affected how Kylie Jenner is perceived by the public? Almost certainly.
“What does this have to do with Timothée Chalamet?”
Well, nothing. But it has everything to do with Kylie Jenner.
How we view the Kardashians as a culture is tied to how we view Black women and/or vice versa.
I’ll admit that when I first heard they were dating — it gave me pause. What was an androgynous, pretty-boy intellectual doing with a Kardashian?
“She’s not smart enough for him! She’s not his true type! What do they even talk about? She doesn’t know movies! That crowd doesn’t take her seriously!”
- Randoms on Twitter, probably
The bob-and-a-tote-bag crowd has been driven insane by this sudden revelation. Maybe Kylie Jenner is just hot and Timothée Chalamet isn’t as deep as you thought. Just because he kissed a boy on camera, it doesn’t mean he’s this free-thinking progressive. He’s no James Spader!
I think there’s a subtle racial undercurrent. The character assassination of Kylie Jenner has been relatively harmless, and it’s harmless because she’s white. Imagine the harassment if Kylie were actually Black.
We’ve seen how this goes. Think Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. FKA Twigs and Robert Pattinson.
And to be clear—I’m not saying any of these traits make someone Black. They don’t. That’s exactly the point.
I think it would be naive to deny that you probably unconsciously categorized her as such in your mind. I know I probably did. And maybe that’s by design.
It’s similar to when a designer brand becomes associated with Black consumers—Gucci, Louis Vuitton—and critics suddenly question whether it’s “losing its value.
As a result, there’s been some image and brand reshaping within the last few years. Gone are the days of long-haired, wind-swept intellectual Timothée. Say hello to #Wiggathe.
The marketing for his last two movies was humorous. Who doesn’t love some “white boy hanging out with Black people” social media marketing? He was hanging out with Druski, after all! Ha ha!
The Complete Unknown and Marty Supreme are two movies that have nothing to do with Black people. In fact, one is about Bob Dylan and the other about ping-pong. So why the sudden shift? Why not the Cannes Film Festival and Venice photocalls? Why not the suave, fashion-led, indie-darling looks?
Because Kylie Jenner doesn’t align with the concept of the indie darling. She doesn’t fit the indie-darling fantasy—not because of identity, but because of the aesthetics she embodies.
It’s also why part of me can’t stand it. It doesn’t read as genuine. It reads as damage control. It’s “I want to keep my career, my female audience that made me famous and also my girlfriend.” And I think that’s fine. He shouldn’t be penalized in the eyes of the public for loving a bad bitch.
But stop trying to sell your audience bullshit. Timothée Chalamet was not always “down.” He was a corny white kid that got his start by kissing Armie Hammer in a movie. Shoutout Guadagnino. He can evolve, but should that evolution come at the hands of your girlfriend? Your girlfriend that’s simultaneously adjusting her image to fit yours, nonetheless?
To close out Black History Month, maybe this essay is just about cultural appropriation and its evolution. Timothée Chalamet is still corny. Kylie Jenner is still a white woman. And the #wigga act is annoying. If the Recording Academy just now gave Beyoncé AOTY, you might lose that Oscar, Timothée. And the way your girlfriend is perceived might be part of the problem.
The backlash isn’t about Kylie Jenner. It’s about how we still rank women in proximity to prestige. And until that changes, no amount of marketing rebrand is going to save anyone’s Oscar campaign.
Try again next year!