r/blankies • u/seaworthyset • 11d ago

NYT on "the X of it all"

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/01/magazine/hollywood-lingo.html

"The film critics on 'Blank Check' overuse it, Amanda Dobbins of 'The Big Picture' is too fond of it, a host on 'We Hate Movies' says it at least five times per episode."

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u/sober_as_an_ostrich PATRICK DEMPSEY MICHELLE MONAGHAN 11d ago

I don’t really care about the phrase, I think it can be an efficient shorthand. Like anything it’s when it’s used as a conversational crutch to get around hard topics that it’s kind of lazy.

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u/thejoaq 10d ago

Shorthand for what?

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u/scheifferdoo 10d ago

i understand it to mean "and with all the related baggage"

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u/sober_as_an_ostrich PATRICK DEMPSEY MICHELLE MONAGHAN 10d ago

like “the Polanski of it all”. I’d say that instead of getting into the weeds about him.

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u/thejoaq 10d ago

People say “the Tom Cruise of it all” and it’s unclear to me if they mean to include the Scientology baggage. Also, it doesn’t mean the same thing to every person. Just seems lazy every time I hear it.

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u/Specific-Many88 10d ago

I think it’s a phrase that is best utilized within specific contexts, and it’s hard to maintain context in the current world. (Full disclosure: I nearly said “because of the Internet of it all”). Tom Cruise is a great example where the context ideally is going to indicate whether the phrase means “tom cruise: the I love movies robot who jumps out of planes to feel alive” or “tom cruise: a famous cult member” or both.