I commented “Watching from District 12” on a Vogue TikTok of the Met Gala. I expected some likes I guess, but not much else. Instead, I got an unexpected public service announcement: multiple people rushed in to let me know that District 12 is not real because I have a cellphone.

Thank you. Genuinely. I had been under the impression we were all living inside The Hunger Games world this entire time. 

But what really got me was how many people felt personally called to defend the Met Gala. Not just explain it. Defend it. Passionately. On behalf of celebrities. On behalf of designers. On behalf of an event they will never attend. (For context, I love fashion. I think it can inform us about society, history, and more. I have a Vogue magazine subscription. It makes me happy to get it in the mail. But I can still have that interest and think critically about the conversation.)

“It’s not dystopian,” they said.

“It funds the arts.”

“Educate yourself.”

“Most Americans aren’t even wanted there because they can’t afford it, so it’s not for them.”

I’m sorry… take it back now y’all. The last comment was written verbatim by someone insisting that the Met Gala is not at all dystopian. Because the poor aren’t wanted there anyways? What has happened to our youth?? I fear the children were left behind.

The counterpoint this TikTok user presented to me has now become my thesis. So thank you.

Side note: Dolly Parton has never been to the Met Gala, and Dolly is a fashion icon in the A-lister world. That tells me all I need to know. But if it doesn’t convince you, let’s talk about some facts.

The Met Gala is, objectively, a spectacle of extreme wealth. Tickets cost more than most people make in a year. Tables cost more than houses. The event itself costs millions to produce all while millions of people watch from their phones, in between shifts, bills, and trying to figure out how to afford groceries. All while there are millions starving in Sudan, Myanmar, and more. The amount of people starving and displaced around the world is heartbreaking, but we're too busy watching outfit reels of celebrities to care anymore. It's all very dystopian.

When people hear “dystopian,” they seem to think it means literal arenas and forced combat. It doesn’t… even though footage from children racing to get one sack of flour in war-ridden Palestine begs to differ.

Regardless of whether you want to admit current events are really happening in the world, dystopia is about imbalance. It’s about spectacle. It’s about a small, insulated group living in excess while everyone else watches, participates from a distance, and is told this is normal. Actually not normal. This is aspirational. If they work just a little harder it could be them too…

And to reiterate: I love art. I love fashion. I think funding the arts is important. But if the primary way we fund art is through hyper-exclusive displays of wealth that only the top fraction of a percent can access, it’s at least worth asking a few questions. And it’s definitely not a stretch to compare them to the fictional “Capitol” in the Hunger Games franchise where the whole point is extravagance for a few while the rest starve, suffer, and die. And no, I don’t think that’s an extreme comparison considering global and US national news lately.

Oh, how quickly people rush to protect that system that will never include them in its top ranks.

There’s this deeply ingrained belief that if you just work a little harder, grind a little longer, you might end up on the other side of the velvet rope. This wealth gap becomes personal, something one can fix, rather than the structural issue it really is.

So people defend it. They ride for the top 1% like they’re on the guest list. There are not enough cold showers in the world to keep these people down.

The vast majority of people watching the Met Gala will never be invited, not because they’re not talented, not because they don’t appreciate art, but because exclusivity is the entire point.

That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it. I watched it too. I liked the outfits. I get the appeal. But we’ve got to stop pretending that pointing out the obvious makes someone bitter or “anti-art.” It just means people are paying attention.

Because while the actual top 1% is distracting us with social media videos and runway shows and the faces of their celebrities, they are still committing atrocities worldwide. Except now you’re too entertained to notice.

And I just want to ask, gently: Did they pick you yet? The wealthy? Do they respect you now? See you as an equal, because you defended their right to wealth and luxury while people are blown up and starved? I didn't think so, lol.