Paula Mejia

Los Angeles

LA Contributing Culture Editor at SFGate

🇨🇴 Writer/editor for hire | Contributing LA culture @sfgate, words @GQMagazine @TheAtlantic others | adjunct @uscannenberg | Past @latimes @TexasMonthly

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Articles

One of the last remaining movie palaces in LA is one of its weirdest

1 week ago | sfgate.com | Paula Mejia

On a bustling commercial stretch in East Los Angeles, barbershops, tuxedo rentals and bakeries flank big-name banks and phone carriers. But one business in this unincorporated community east of downtown Los Angeles has unwittingly become an unusual local icon, given the sheer weirdness of its existence: the resident CVS Pharmacy. In some ways, this CVS is ordinary. It has all the fixings of a chain pharmacy, including fluorescent overhead lighting and shelves jammed with goods.
At the 'Cowboy Carter' tour kickoff, Beyoncé reminded LA who's in charge

2 weeks ago | sfgate.com | Paula Mejia

When Beyoncé released her country-inflected opus “Cowboy Carter” last year, the album’s cover image depicted the megastar in rodeo-ready regalia, riding side saddle on a white steed while hoisting a U.S. flag high into the air. Her use of all-American iconography prompted fresh rounds of discourse, with the flag-bearing a particular sticking point.
The Real Discomfort of ‘Adolescence’

4 weeks ago | theatlantic.com | Paula Mejia

The show’s portrayal of a troubled teen asks viewers to stay engulfed in his mindset—for longer than many might want. The manosphere is mentioned explicitly for only a few minutes in Adolescence, the wildly popular Netflix show about a 13-year-old boy accused of murdering his female classmate, Katie. Its influence on the withdrawn protagonist, Jamie (played by Owen Cooper), is largely implied.
The best and worst of Coachella 2025

1 month ago | sfgate.com | Timothy Karoff |Paula Mejia

Charli XCX’s superfamous friends love her so muchAt his midnight set on Friday, the superstar producer dug into his bottomless bag of rap hits, bringing a revolving door of guest talent onto his stage: YG, Ella Mai, Big Sean, Tyga, Roddy Ricch and 2 Chainz, whose performance of “I’m Different” was a highlight. Right up until the end, Mustard pulled out all the stops.
Calif. punk stalwarts call for an 'army of Luigis' during brash Coachella set

1 month ago | sfgate.com | Paula Mejia

Shortly after ending a blistering rendition of “Coup D’Etat” during their Coachella set, Circle Jerks frontman Keith Morris made a clarification to the moshing crowd. Although that last song ended with the words “kill all,” he made a point to say that the band does not condone what it describes, including kidnapping government leaders for ransom and leading a coup. “That song, that last line, ends with ‘kill all.’ That’s a pretty f—king ugly statement,” Morris said. “In ugly times.
'First for all of us': Coachella's orchestral experiment stuns daytime crowd

1 month ago | sfgate.com | Paula Mejia

As a heavy-hitting orchestra rife with stars of the classical music world, the Los Angeles Philharmonic has an impressive home to match. The orchestra’s headquarters is downtown’s Walt Disney Concert Hall, an immaculate-sounding room designed by architect Frank Gehry. During the summer season, when they’re not performing around the globe, the orchestra decamps to the Hollywood Bowl, an outdoor amphitheater gem.
'Weird Al' crashes Coachella's strangest set

1 month ago | sfgate.com | Paula Mejia

The crowd ballooned far outside of the covered stage’s confines, spilling out into the surrounding field. Onlookers screamed and screamed, craning their heads to grab a closer look at the costumed performers currently leading this Coachella audience in a sing-along earworm: “There’s a party in my tummy / So yummy.” Every time the performers goofily danced in lock-step or trounced around the stage, the crowd lost it once again.
Green Day singer makes surprise Coachella appearance with punk legends

1 month ago | sfgate.com | Paula Mejia

“There’s No Business Like Show Business,” the vampy musical theater standard made famous by actor Ethel Merman in the 1950s, famously probes the glitzy artifice of entertainment industries like Hollywood, Broadway, and the music industry. This famous show tune played as the Go-Go's emerged onto Coachella’s Outdoor Stage on a boiling Friday evening.
Coachella billboard vandalized with profanity

1 month ago | sfgate.com | Paula Mejia

Gazing at the inventive Coachella billboards lining Interstate 10 from Cabazon to Indio, California, is as much a Coachella tradition as attending the desert festival itself. Last year, highlights included a self-deprecating Lana Del Rey billboard and a call to action from Tyler, the Creator for fans to put down their phones. But this year, one billboard notably sticks out because of its profanity — which was an unofficial overnight addition to the ad.
The most eye-catching Coachella billboard is a 'Got Milk?' parody

1 month ago | sfgate.com | Paula Mejia

Billboards leading up to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival are an art form unto themselves, with musicians’ record labels spending tens of thousands of dollars to put up cheeky, eye-catching ads to get their clients’ names on people’s minds before they trudge to the fest. Festivalgoers have already spotted artist billboards peppering the eastward-bound stretch of Interstate 10 from Riverside County to Indio.