This Week in Timothée Chalamet, Week of April 5

Because being a person in the world is hard and you deserve something nice, this is MarieClaire.com's semiregular column on everything talented young man Timothée Chalamet did that week. You can catch up on the last edition here.

Hello, snowy egrets, and welcome to another edition of This Week in Timothée Chalamet. Before we dive into what Timothée Chalamet has (not) been up to the last few weeks, I want to touch base briefly about self-care. I hope you’re all taking time each day to focus on yourself, that you’re drinking enough water, going to sleep at a reasonable hour, not fretting about the Mueller report, taking deep breaths, etc.

Remember, if you ever feel really stressed, just inhale deeply and imagine yourself balling up all the worries and stresses inside of you. And then you exhale and let them go. It’s a nice temporary reprieve.

Anyway, Timmy is on-set somewhere in the world and laying low, but that doesn’t mean we’re not still talking about him!

Here’s what everyone has béen saying:

Timmy is a Little Fresh Meat!

But you probably already knew that, no? In this story from Business of Fashion—titled “Men Are Changing. Are Brands Keeping Up?”—I learned this term. Say it with me. “Little Fresh Meat.”

And here’s the thing about Little Fresh Meat: I love it.

Basically, it’s a phrase that became very popular on Chinese social media—"Xiao xian rou"—to describe a certain type of crushable celeb. In fact, there's a whole category of "idols" who challenge the typical "tough guy" aesthetic of heartthrobs that were popular in the country just a few years ago (this piece does a great breakdown of the phenomenon). For example, Chinese actor Lu Han (a.k.a. "Chinese Justin Bieber" but minus the whole "Bible Belt gas station attendant" phase Biebs has gone through lately and which I will defend to the death) is one of the O.G. poster boys for the Little Fresh Meat movement.

Uh oh, cutie alert!

Here’s the BoF writer's solid definition of the term:

“It refers, in particular, to men who appear boyish in nature — often androgynous, sometimes overtly effeminate — and possess delicate, elfin features, but their ascension is nothing to sneer at. With an appeal that often spans both genders, they’re able to generate notable sales for the fashion and beauty brands they work with.”

Delicate, elfin features you say? Appeal that spans both genders, you say? Does this sound like anyone we know?

In fact, ya boi and his rabid fan base are hailed in this story as proof that this particular brand of non-toxic masculinity is taking over the world. He's the Franco-American Little Fresh Meat. Petit Fraiche Viande.

But while the author sort of posits that the rise of Little Fresh Meats is a reaction to #MeToo, I would actually argue that both Little Fresh Meat and #MeToo are two reactions to the same thing, which is the collective feeling that the patriarchy has gone on for too long and everyone is very tired of it. If #MeToo is a way to overthrow the old guard, Little Fresh Meat is a way to appoint new heartthrobs and recast the mold in a non-traditional, less threatening, and far cuddlier image.

Also, it’s incredibly fun to say. In fact, I love it so much that I started calling my cat Little Fresh Meat.

Congratulations, Timmy.

This meme is life-affirming!

It’s been a long week so I think we should turn our attention to dank memes. One in particular, from @marypatryto, is especially hopeful, as it is an astonishingly accurate comparison between Timmy and various decorative cakes. Little Fresh Meat and dessert, too.

Please observe:

Click up there to view all of them, it’s well worth your time.

This meme is also quite life-affirming!

In the same spirit, this other meme from Twitter user @lorenchalamet compares TImmy to various iMac G3 computers. Many of you reading probably do not remember the iMac G3, but before laptops were ubiquitous, this was kind of a computorial Statement Piece. I had the green one in my bedroom, because I am so very old. (A quick Google reveals that Timmy was 8 years old when Apple discontinued the G3, which makes me feel a little better?)

Whoops, sorry I love this too! Again, click through to see them all, the whole thread has this genius Tiger Beat aesthetic.

And you know, I think that’s about everything. Please, have a béautiful weekend.

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