Michael Cera didn’t get to be in the Barbie group chat because he’s one of those “just a flip-phone” guys
Can you imagine missing out on Ryan Gosling's meme game?
Aux News Michael Cera
When we think about the rarefied lives of the mega-famous, there are certain signifiers that come swiftly to mind. Opulent mansions. Fancy cars. Tiny foods. And, of course, old-ass Nokia flip-phones. You know the kind: No Wi-Fi. Barely any ability to text. And of the type that society’s Michael Cera-types apparently cling to in their ivory towers, blissfully free of the blessing/burden of smartphones constantly distracting them from lives functionally ruined, thanks to constant distractions from smartphones.
(Did you know Dolly Parton uses a fax machine to chat with people? Miley Cyrus revealed it in an interview last year. Can you imagine being as relaxed as Dolly Parton, waiting calmly for the gentle whirr and crunch of an incoming fax?)
But while Cera, especially, is a vocal proponent of the flip-phone-only lifestyle—having revealed his propensities in multiple interviews of late—there are some drawbacks to this particular brand of cellular asceticism. Take a recent THR conversation he had, cued to his upcoming role in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, and in which he revealed that the film’s male stars have a group chat where they talk about, like, Ken Stuff. And Cera can’t participate.
Of course, as Cera himself notes, he’s not playing a Ken in Gerwig’s film, but an Allan—thus remarking that “I wouldn’t belong on [the group chat] anyway, because Allan is sort of in his own little world.” (The group chat apparently formed while the male cast members were doing their own thing while star Margot Robbie was holding a sleepover for all the Barbie actresses; they are really trying to sell the vibe on this one, huh?)
Cera previously revealed his flip phone kind of life back in February, noting that, “For many years, people resented me for this lifestyle choice. But now people say that they envy it.” (Did you know Chris Pine only got a smartphone in 2022, and he frequently sounds like he’s made a Faustian bargain while describing it? “I don’t know if my soul can handle it,” he told the Happy Sad Confused podcast last year. Pray for Chris.)
Anyway, Cera is holding strong so far—even if he’s missing out on Ryan Gosling’s meme game, which we can only assume is thoroughly on point.
73 Comments
Honestly that checks out for Michael Cera. There is something satisfying about closing a flip phone and ending the call.
Yeah, great. He’s far less likely to have a couple drinks and tweet his thoughts on race relations in the middle of the night. But he’s not substituting a smartphone with a flip phone. He’s substituting it with a manager and an agent. Try engaging the professional world without a mobile version of e-mail, Slack, Teams, Xoom, a web browser and who knows what else. You wouldn’t be able to get job behind a fast food counter.
This is a good point. Cera is privileged enough to have other people handle the intrusion of a smart phone. Meanwhile he gets to go about his life and act like he’s above it all.
Uhhh….wha? I work for ::Unnamed Mouse-Related Entertainment Behemoth:: and I told the people both above and below me that I’m not putting Slack on my iPhone and if I’m not on the clock or working on something on my own, they shouldn’t expect me to be available. Keeping a nice line, thick line between my work life and my personal life is a lesson I learned the hard way and I’m not making those mistakes again.
Yep, having TEAMS on my phone helps me unchain from my desk when I’m working remotely. I can take a meeting while driving to an errand or to pick up my kids or to yoga or something. The mobile device allows me a freedom I wouldn’t have otherwise.
Or, you’re always at work.
This is during work hours. If I’m running an errand during work hours I need to be available for work. I’m not taking TEAMS calls after hours.
New South Wales Health in Australia still uses a lot of faxes for decades now. I’m only finally getting used to scan to email (still from a fax machine). Still have to ring up and confirm receipt verbally just in case.
WA Police still uses them for buying stuff. At least the Air Wing guys do.I know, because I used to work for a company that made refueling gear, and we had a fax machine, and I asked why we had a fax machine and the boss says “Sandgroper chopper cops. That’s all they’ll use to order – tried to get them to email, phone calls, nope. Fax only. And they’re the only reason we have it.”Then again, if it’s between having a fax machine and not selling $200 grand of gear a year to police of the Duchy of Rinehart, well, it’s an easy choice. Boss was a prick, but man, if I had to buy an aviation refueling setup he’d be the one I go to.
Good to know that Australian Health Care is just as backwards in this respect as US Healthcare. I remember being told by frightened administrators and their lawyers “for God’s sake, don’t email. IT ISN’T SECURE!!!!” and thinking about all the fax machines just sitting around where anybody could grab a nice fat stack of Protected Health Information and walk away if the spirit moved them.
Yeah. Emails aren’t safe, but leaving PHI right where Belinda the nosy-ass admin assistant can snoop on them is fine. HIPAA at its finest.
Faxing is still common in healthcare in the US as well because it’s easier to make it privacy compliant when you’re dealing with small providers that can’t manage secure email.
I’d mock him except I don’t have a mobile device at all. I love that I can walk out of my door and nobody can reach me.
I gave in about three months ago. I hate the thing. While I sit in waiting rooms everyone is scrolling like they’re getting their last fix and mine is in my bag while I just people watch and think thoughts. It’s a good lifestyle choice.
Is it though? I’d rather read an article, chat with my friends, respond to a work email or play a game then sit around and look at randos while I wait for the doctor. I’m all for those nice times to be alone with your thoughts but I save that time for when I’m sitting outside with a drink in a comfy chair, or on a peer fishing. When I’m waiting for the doc to look at rash, I’d much rather have a focus to keep my mind off why I’m there.
I know it’s just a typo- and Kinja has no functional edit ability- but the image of being on a “peer” fishing makes me laugh.
I know that this is a dumb auto-correct mistake, but I admit I just love the picture of you peacefully sitting on a buddy while fishing.
Idk. I don’t generally run out of things to think about. I do a lot of research and I tend to synthesize it and work on ideas/planning when I’m not engaged with people. I spend a majority of my days on the internet, doing those things you mentioned. I don’t want to do them when I’m not on the internet.
I have my library app on my phone and no social media. I would rather read a book or scroll an entertainment website than read a two-year-old issue of People, which is what I would have done in the past (had I not remembered to bring a paperback).
Why would anyone want to be alone with their thoughts? That sounds like hell to me.
Or worse, alone with their co-workers. The smartphone was invented for “I am sitting next to you but do not wish to converse”.Well, that and books, but it seems people respect phones more.
WHATCHA READING THERE? IS IT 50 SHADES OF GREY? I LOVE THAT BOOK!
Sometime I just whip out an enormous dildo; guaranteed silence.
How else can you smugly prove to the world how much better you are?
Living in this world (if you’re at all aware of the world) is about 75% hell anyway. I don’t do escapism very well.
And I seriously don’t know how anyone can survive without one these days. No in the whole “I must have screen time constantly” way but just the fact that so much of the world revolves around having and using one.
Back when people were still taking Covid seriously, I had to go to the bank and there was a QR code in the window that you’d scan to get your place in line. It said if you don’t have a phone an employee could help you, but there was no way to get one’s attention without pounding on the window. There was confusion all around so at one point I just went in (fairly, I didn’t cut in front of anyone).Then there was the proof of vaccination what was mostly digital, though you could print out your own certificate and I have no need for a printer at home.The time is coming and I know I can’t put it off forever.
I retired 5 years ago, but for about 5 years before that it would have been nearly impossible to do my job as a physician without one. I can’t imagine that has gotten less true.There are even some activities that are impossible to do without a phone these days. We went to an MLB baseball game and you can only access tickets through either the ticketmaster or MLB apps. No print at home, mail, or will call option. I guess you could try calling the team box office or something or walking up and buying tickets at the gate, but I’m not even sure that works anymore.
I was at O’Hare recently at the bus terminal (as my parents live only a hour or so away from the airport so I fly in there and take the bus to their town). It used to be there was a desk with a clerk where you could buy tickets, check schedules, etc. Now there is nobody (it may have been disbanded during the pandemic). Instead there is a sign telling you to install the app to do these things. It’s just assumed that everybody can. Which isn’t really true. I can’t imagine my parents in their 80s successfully figuring this out on their own.
I experienced the MLB thing, but the worst (because it’s more frequent than going to MLB games for me) is the restaurants that make you not only use a QR code menu, but make you ORDER IN THE APP WHILE YOU’RE SITTING AT THE TABLE. I don’t go back to restaurants that do that. I’m not one of those “I don’t use a cell phone so I’m better than everyone else” folks, but if I’m at dinner with friends, I don’t want us to have to spend 10 minutes of it staring at our phones just to order. Plus, in those places the food comes out just whenever it’s ready rather than when everyone’s is ready, so if you decided and ordered quickly your food is out 15 minutes before your friends’, and you just have to sit there watching it get cold.
I got lucky recently. Just went to my first event since Covid and the venue will still print out a ticket. I don’t know how much longer that will last.
Hardly impressive when you’re a broke basement dwelling woketard. Probably dont even get reception in your hole
I have a mobile device and nobody can reach me either because I don’t answer it.
It’s more than just that. It’s also nice to not have more data to feed to the voracious maw of advertising. I know it’s inescapable online, but I appreciate that it ends when I log off.
I mean, you can turn it off or leave it at home. But I agree that’s it’s nice to have solitude when you want it.
Christ dude, I know I know the answer but what the fuck happened to this website? The tongue-in-cheek stuff used to be fun, then there would be substance. Now you just write articles that compete with the greatest of the shitheads on youtube.Seriously, like, what’s with the entire spirit of the voice in this article? Just wanting to be really mean to Michael Cera? Cuz congrats I guess? You definitely nailed it. I’m jus seriously struggling on the why
I don’t think there will ever come a time when I’ll find this information useful whereas, after the pandemic, I had a good laugh when I made a new friend and she told me she had sold her Flowbee for $200 on ebay. I was able to follow up with George Clooney’s questionable claim that he has used one for 25 years. Read that here. We both laughed. Ice-breakers are getting harder to come by. https://www.avclub.com/clooney-flowbees-has-flowbeed-for-years-1845778320
Well, I know that’s not true. AV Club commenters don’t have friends.
Anyone who can’t get by on a simple couple of tin cans and string are dogshit as far as I’m concerned.
“I don’t have a smart phone” seems like the modern version of “I don’t even own a TV”
“The cretins browsing & tweeting…”
i_understood_that_reference dot jpeg
What’s that a reference to?
Which is pretty impressive, actually.
Competing with “I don’t subscribe to streaming platforms” (which is still an issue even if you don’t have a TV as many people just stream from their computers or tablets)
And the “I don’t own a TV people” do own computers that they streamed shows on. lol Just like the I don’t own a phone people spend all day on their computers.
In some senses, it’s akin to saying “I only like to bareback” with how some tech updates improve protection from scams and such which you can’t easily do on a feature phone.
Well that’s embarrassing.
I genuinely wish my life was easy enough to not have a smart phone around constantly. Snark aside, it sounds like something that is only doable if there is a third-party to pick up the slack in your life (business manager, assistant, publicists, agents, etc). Instead, if my phone breaks I might as well no-show to my scheduled jobs since the entire world is smart-phoneapp dependent. Seriously, last year I had a customer refuse to accept that I was me because I wasn’t calling from the pre-confirmed cell phone.My friends wife brags about how everyone on her team has a smartphone but her and my (silent) reaction is that it is telling about her contributions. It is not hard to undertstand why people hear this and it resonantes a deep tone of resentment.
Texts have gotten out of control. It’s like someone constantly grabbing your shoulder and spinning you around.
Counterpoint: no, it’s not, it’s awesome and convenient to not have to actually speak to others.
I’m not saying they have their place, it’s another tool, it’s just they’re being used for way more than they should, and in ways that detract from the intended communication. I use test way more than voice. Nearly every time. However my phone is my work, and every text is potentially important, so my big grief is the “liked” reply. It comes at an unknown time, and I must find my phone and unlock it to read… a thumbs up emoji. Honestly SMS is delivered 99% of the time. There’s no need to acknowledge any text. It’s been received.
This conversation has made me start to think that maybe different people have different needs
I can ignore text messages until I am in a position to pay attention to them. Phone calls are annoying, antiquated nonsense.They require two (or more) parties to be available at the same time in a position where you can hear and be heard. That was fine when phones were bolted to the kitchen wall (or the office desk) but annoying today.Text messages (email too) convey information without wasting my time. That is a win.
“I can ignore text messages until I am in a position to pay attention to them.”Ugh I wish I could. Any text could be a client so I need to look at every one ASAP.
Huh.So anyway…that was a red light you just blew through.
damn it stop sending messages I’m getting a rimjob
Getting a rimjob is the perfect time to catch up on correspondence.Giving a rimjob…whole other story.
To some degree. Texts have their uses as basically short emails, but what I don’t get is when people want to have an actual back-and-forth conversation over text. Like I get “Mike and I are planning to go to the bar around 7 if you want to join us” as a text, but not “How was your weekend? What did you do?” and then you type your response, and then they immediately respond with further questions. How is this anything but a vastly inferior replacement for an actual phone call?
So my childhood pen pal and I never succeeded in communicating? Bummer.Phone calls are for narcissists who revel in wasting your time. The more you think about it the clearer it becomes (well…unless you’re the narcissist.)
Letter writing is different — letters are designed to be asynchronous because the writer knows they won’t get an answer for weeks or even months. And I don’t have a problem with texts that are also written with that concept in mind (even if the case of texts the time to answer is generally expected to be within several hours). But when somebody asks you a question by text, you answer, and then they immediately respond, this is every bit as “narcissisic” as a phone call. Worse, because typing is far more work than talking.
Thank you for proving how various means of communication can be really exhausting.
no, because he is not attractive enough. he put on the beard to deal with the no chin.
Should one encounter him, would it be morally justifiable to punch Michael Cera in the face?
This story makes no sense. Texting is a feature that has been around way before smart phones.
SMS (Short Message Service) is old school text messaging. 160 characters and not much else. Michael Cera’s phone is capable of performing these minimal feats.Many modern features (gifs, emojis, photo sharing, large group chats) require a data plan and more processing power.It requires a smart phone.
It’s been awhile, but I’m pretty sure that flip phones never had a “group text” function. Plus it was probably on Whatsapp, unless they’re all iphone users.
Mi? Michael *who*?! I DON’T KNOW HER!
are we really filling up a comment section giving our opinions on Michael Cera not having a smartphone? Just to steer the topic to something I can relate to, Michael Cera is getting hotter with age.
That might be true, but where could he have gone but up? He spent at least two decades looking like a Victorian child mysteriously transported to the future and astonished by the modern world. In fact, he still plays that in this movie
This is exactly the kind of tryhard contrarian Luddite nonsense I’d expect from someone who seemingly stopped developing during their 2000s “indie” hipster phase.