2018's Best Documentary Is This Instagram Story of Fergie Having the Time of Her Life on the NYC Subway
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On Tuesday evening, a storm rolled into New York City that was so powerful that it downed trees and water towers, leading to major delays on the area’s roads and commuter trains. This meant that one of the safest places to be—not to mention one of the most reliable ways to get around—was the city’s rickety old subway system. It was moving at a crawl during rush hour on Tuesday evening, but at least it was moving.
So, when she needed to travel roughly six miles from Columbus Circle to The Paley Honors gala down on Wall Street, Fergie did what most New Yorkers do when they need to get somewhere: she went underground. Fortunately for us, the Double Dutchess : Seeing Double // The Visual Experience songstress documented the whole journey in a charming Instagram story that has been described as a “film trailer that will rock the nation” and reminiscent of “every gay freshman their first week at NYU.”
“So we’re taking the subway because a tropical storm hit New York,” she says in one clip. “And then we had to get from Columbus Circle [author note: this is actually a subway stop] to Cipriani Wall Street [author note: this is not] in a full white suit, check it out, August Getty. And uh, yeah, through the rain! And we’re gonna go to the Paley Honors, and I’m the first presenter, so here we go!”
Throughout the 1:15-long short film, we see Ms. Licious surrounded by assistants and bodyguards who hold multiple umbrellas over her head, taking boomerang videos of her shoes (from her own line! shop now!), and shouting like the matriarch of a large tourist family when it’s time to get off and make a transfer. (Fergie makes her transfer in slo-mo, using a tunnel in the Chambers St. stop as her own personal runway. And, like true New Yorkers, she’s seen walking away from the 9/11 memorial.)
In the best scene, she leans down and mouths along as a commuter plays “Glamorous” from their cellphone speakers. “Oh my gosh,” exclaims one observer, as nearly everyone else on board either fails to notice the former Black Eyed Peas member mugging for the camera or decides they simply do not care.
Though the subways are in disrepair (and only getting worse), Fergie somehow beat the odds and made it just in time to walk the red carpet. She looked great.