Noreen Plabutong is Caught Red-Handed

The New Yorker staffer on Mission Impossible, Fruity Pebbles, and Singles Inferno.

Welcome to Caught Red-Handed, a new Uncultured interview series where high-brows and hipsters pull back the curtain on the prole, gauche, and low-brow guilty pleasures they’d normally cringe at copping to.

Starting things off is my longtime friend and current roommate — who has already been mentioned in this newsletter more times than hours James Franco’s arm was stuck between those boulders — Noreen Plabutong.

Nor might have come from humble beginnings in Quincy, Massachusetts, but her resume skews much closer to nepo baby than it does The Town. From a Fulbright fellowship in Korea to protesting with Malala in Stockholm to her new gig at The New Yorker, at this point clout runs through her veins.

So without further ado, let’s hang onto our Shein bucket hats and dive in!

What show are you embarrassed to tell your friends you’re watching right now? 

Should I be ashamed to admit how much MasterChef: Junior I watch? I’ve seen maybe, like, five of the eight seasons available on Hulu.

There’s nothing wrong with a little reality TV in the rotation! If you were forced to be a contestant on a reality show, which would it be and why? And don’t say The Amazing Race, which we all know is the classiest reality show. 

Super unfair because you know my pick is absolutely The Amazing Race as I would have a killer partner for it. But I’ll play along and pick a different reality show that you would approve of.

I think it would be fun and challenging to take on Survivor, even though I would almost certainly be blindsided at tribal council. Not because I was a strategic or physical threat, but because I was foolishly too trusting of my alliance, who took advantage of that and aligned on me as an easy oust.

But seeing as I am a single gal, maybe I should be forced onto a reality dating show? I guess Are You the One? doesn’t sound horrible — I could hang out at a resort in Hawaii. I wish I could pick Singles Inferno, but the level of hotness on that show is too insane.

We can definitely look into that for you. When you do find yourself out on dates, what artist do you typically omit from your inevitable answer about your music taste?

I’ll omit mention of the Lorne Balfe Mission Impossible: Fallout score I listen to when I actually decide to go for a run once every six months. That, and any mention of K-pop, so they don’t think I’m a Koreaboo.

Speaking of Koreaboos, I know you learned a lot about skincare during your Fulbright in Seoul. But when you’re not using designer skincare, do you have any drugstore go-tos?

I always pick up Neutrogena’s Makeup Remover Cleansing Wipes from Walgreens. They’re solid and reliable.

Okay, that kind of sounds like a no. Switching gears, what was your latest beach read? 

I haven’t spent substantial time at a beach since I visited our mutual friend and fellow Emerson alumnus, actor Connor Wolff, in his bougie rental home in Malibu, California. And, unsurprisingly, there was more napping and driving in circles than there was reading between the two of us.

But maybe next time I hit the beach, I’ll be reading The Flight Portfolio by Julie Orringer. A special shout-out to Betsy Johnson for the well-informed recommendation!

If that came from my mom, a noted librarian in her field, I’m going to wager a guess it’s not low-brow. But we need to move on.

If your Letterboxd Top 4 was true to your heart versus a performative curation, what would it be? 

Bold of you to assume that my Letterboxd Top 4 is not already very true to my heart. But in the spirit of guilty pleasures, I’ll give you Paddington 2, Jurassic Park, Say Anything…, and The Parent Trap. 

Is there anything in your house that you pretend is from CB2, but you really got off Amazon Home? 

As your housemate, most of our wares are actually from Amazon, procured from Facebook Marketplace, or are hand-me-downs from your much wealthier friends.

I will say that our new couch is an incredible addition to our living room space and is actually from a CB2-adjacent brand, so you could say we’re on the up and up.

What about clothes? Do you have a cardigan that passes for Ralph Lauren but is actually a little more H&M?

One of my wardrobe staples is a forest green sweater vest that very much enhances my #GrandpaCore aesthetic. But when someone asks me who makes it, “I forget,” is a much better answer than “Marshall’s.”

Lastly, Goop Goddess Gwyneth Paltrow went viral last week for her dieting regimen that consists mainly of bone broth and vegetables. Which of your pantry essentials would most likely send Gwen into anaphylactic shock?

Definitely the gummy bears. I crave gummy bears all the time. Not Haribo gummies — the consistency and texture aren’t right. I crave Black Forest gummy bears specifically (and in the case that there are no bears available, I will gladly eat worms).

I have also been into Fruity Pebbles cereal recently, which I'm sure GP would find disturbing. But a man in the elevator did stop me the other day to chat about the multiple boxes of Fruity Pebbles in my arms, so at least I have GenPop on my side.

You can find more from Nor at her Letterboxd @nplabutong, and look out for her subtle yet artful copyediting at The New Yorker.

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