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Bring Back Absurd Little Events in the Town Square

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Jezebel.com 

These days, you’re probably hearing a lot about the “most important election of our lifetime.” Of course, none of us will know which election that is until we’re on our deathbeds. But I can’t help but feel like I participated in history on Sunday afternoon when I attended the Timothée Chalamet lookalike contest, an applause-based democratic event that saw throngs of New Yorkers crown a winner based on Chalamet’s visual features and ineffable “rizz.” And to think, I wouldn't have even known to come out to the event were it not for viral photos of the contest’s charmingly minimalist flier.

The competition began in New York City’s Washington Square Park—until cops showed up and appeared to shut the event down, prompting a migration to Mercer Playground. (It looks like all those warnings about rising threats to democracy aren't hyperbolic!) But, several key things happened before the location change.

First, one lookalike was handcuffed and arrested after a physical struggle with NYPD officers for unspecified reasons. The arrest caused the raucous crowd to break out into chants of "Free Timmy!" and "This is fascism!" One attendee told GQ, “It almost turned into a full-on cop-versus-twink extravaganza.” (The event organizer, an enigmatic, top hat-wearing man named Anthony Po who goes by the stage mononym “Gilbert,” faced a $500 fine for holding a massive, non-permitted event, but it's still unclear why the lookalike was arrested.)

Second, Chalamet himself showed up for exactly one minute. Tragically, I didn't see him, but in a viral video, Chalamet puts his arm around one of his lookalikes, who has to do a double-take before registering that Chalamet isn’t just another lookalike and is the prophesized Lisan al-Gaib in the flesh. Then, Chalamet wished his lookalikes “good luck” and sprinted off in his Willy Wonka-esque gait. Eventually, as the chaos ever-so-slightly wound down, "Gilbert" paraded out the competitors, later auctioning off the unsuccessful lookalikes for dates with attendees. (Best of luck to the maybe-new couples!) The crowd ultimately crowned 21-year-old Staten Island resident Miles Mitchell, pictured above, the winner of the day, and in true Wonka fashion, he intends to spend his $50 earnings on candy. 

I dragged along friends including Mashable editor Anna Rose Iovine to make the trek from Bushwick to the heart of NYU’s campus to take part in history, and we're honestly still trying to make sense of what we witnessed. Questions, like whether the arrest was a coup staged by rival lookalikes to eliminate the competition, or whether the entire event was a Trap-like situation to help the NYPD detain a suspect who shares an uncanny resemblance with the Dune star, remain. Anna and I debriefed on all this and more on Monday morning, and you can enjoy or perhaps puzzle over our conversation, below. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. 

Kylie: OK, so, how did you even hear about this event?

Anna: I saw the Gothamist article a few weeks ago and also the Partiful. People also noticed these posters right away. And when I was Googling the event, I saw the New York Post had interviewed three hopefuls.

K: “Hopefuls” is so funny.

A: The Partiful also had over 2,000 people respond yes, so I was a little nervous going because I was afraid of crowd crush. Since it's New York, it just had the potential to be insane.

K: Yeah, this really could have been the theater kid equivalent of January 6. I was joking with Kat [Anna’s partner] that either a lot of people are going to be there, which would be really funny, or no one will be there, which would also be really funny. Or three people will be there, and they won't look anything like Timothée, which would still be really funny. What was the first thing you saw when we got to the park?

A: There was a crowd of people, but then we noticed people moving, seeming to follow someone in a top hat and suit, who we later learned was “Gilbert.” That was my first impression of him, and he was carrying this huge, Michael’s Arts & Crafts trophy, and people were saying, “Oh, we’re moving this to his apartment.” And we're like, Gilbert’s apartment or Timothée’s apartment? We had no idea what was happening.

K: The arrest was crazy.

A: I think it was because of how many people were in the park, and I know Gilbert was charged like $500 because, obviously, he didn’t get a permit.

K: Can you imagine if they did get a permit? Like, what would the application for it say? “Timothée Chalamet lookalike contest.”

A: It’s a cultural event.

K: Honestly, there's still this idea in my mind that whoever was arrested, because I saw the guy who was arrested, and… The winner seems like a great guy, but I do think the guy who got arrested looks more like Timmy. So, I almost feel like this was a conspiracy to get the top candidate thrown out of the competition. Or maybe it was a Trap situation where the only information the police had about the suspect is that he looks like Timothée Chalamet.

A: I think that’s a non-zero possibility. Do you think the contest was rigged?

K: Do I think that the guy who won looks the most like Timothée? I don't know if I'd say that, but I give him points for the showmanship of it, because he came dressed as Wonka, and really had that presence to him. Do I think that he looked the most like Timothée? I don't know. There also wasn't a lot of transparency in how they were being evaluated. In a future contest, there should be ballots or maybe qualified judges with clear rubrics. I don’t want to discredit the winner, but I do think we could improve the democratic process.

A: There is some hometown pride for me because [Mitchell] is from Staten Island. I don’t think he looked the most like Timothée, but I do think from his side profile, he looked very much like him. Also the hair.

K: I just felt so disoriented because there were so many people, and there were so many people who looked so much like each other.

A: I felt the same way. It was a little bit of pandemonium. I didn't like, fear for my safety. But it did take me back to college a little.

K: It was just so many theater kids, NYU kids. I’m trying to think of a lookalike contest that might draw a scary crowd.

A: Like offensive figures for sure.

K: A Donald Trump lookalike contest, I would be very afraid for my life. 

A: I wouldn’t go to that. Maybe a James Franco lookalike contest?

K: That would be so sinister. 

A: Maybe Christian Bale? 

K: What do you think really drew people to this compared to, maybe if it were in any other city, or if it were any other celebrity?

A: Well, Timothée is really popular among young people. He’s a really New York City figure with a lot of New York lore behind him. He’s also funny. He’s online.

K: It also shows people really love an absurd little event in the town square. It’s so interesting to me because it’s simultaneously this uniquely online event reflective of the digital age, where you see something funny on Twitter so you show up to it. But at the same time, it almost harkens back to this old-timey feeling of, “Something crazy is happening in the town square, let’s all unite there!” It's this very online, 21st-century moment and also this ancient human love of just getting together in a place and watching something silly happen.

A: I think it showcases the best of the internet.

K: Plus, Timothée actually showed up.

A: I really thought he was going to because he has a sense of humor. He’s not so jaded by fame yet. I could be wrong, I don’t know the guy.

K: I agree, I don’t think he’s had any particularly bad interactions with fans or paparazzi yet.

A: Like I don’t think Chappell Roan would show up to a lookalike contest and I wouldn’t blame her.

K: You’ve seen the picture of him walking by the poster smiling, right?

A: Oh my god, I didn’t see that.

K: What do you think of Club Chalamet’s reaction to all this? She was so sure Timothée wasn’t going to show up. At first, she was saying the event was offensive, but then she really came around.

A: She has a very maternal energy, like a mom or aunt vibe of wanting him to be safe because he’s the best, he’s untouchable. But I’m glad she came around; it was very wholesome. 

K: At first, I found her [obsession with him] pretty confusing. But seeing him show up and really taking him in as a star, I really got it. OK, now about this “Gilbert” figure, who was wearing a suit and trench coat, riding around on the unicycle, and yelling stuff.

A: Hold on, don’t quote me on this, but I think it was actually a penny-farthing bike, not a unicycle. 

K: Wow, let me see. [Proceeds to fact check] Yeah, he was definitely riding a penny-farthing. Wikipedia says it was popular in the 1870s and 1880s. It makes no sense because it just does not look like it's user-friendly. 

A: Yeah, I think it might be even harder than a unicycle because it requires all this balance. So, when I first saw “Gilbert,” I clicked his profile on the Partiful. I thought his avatar was a stock image with him tipping his top hat, but I realize now it was like a professional photo of him. He’s an enigma. I thought he was going to remain anonymous. I’m glad he didn’t. 

K: There was something about this moment where, at first we were like, is this a stunt? But I guess you can just throw something like this out there on the internet and it’ll get a huge reaction and crowd.

A: He's definitely a theater kid. At first, I thought maybe this is a stunt, but seeing Gilbert on his penny-farthing, I was like, no, this is real.

K: What do you think you took away from watching this happen, being a part of it?

A: I think the crowd, the amount of people who showed up. It’s also especially fun when there’s so much horror happening in the world;  I understand wanting to be part of something light and fun. It was a good time.

K: I saw this tweet that was like, “Overheard at the Timothée lookalike contest: ‘For some of these guys, this must be the biggest day of their life.’” And you know what, it would not be a bad biggest day of your life.

A: Not your wedding, not the birth of your child. No, the Timothée Chalamet lookalike contest.

K: Also, wait, I’m not saying they shouldn’t have, but why did the Associated Press have a livestream? I saw the screenshot and first thought it was a meme or Photoshop. But no, they were covering it like the election. Steve Kornacki should have been there.

A: He should have! Maybe the AP wanted to go there instead of the Trump rally [at Madison Square Garden].

K: Maybe they have some Gen Z staff who were like, “This is important,” and they’re listening to them. My takeaway is, it was really a real-life Dune: the beauty and the horror; scary and confusing but also so fun. I also think it shows the human spirit is innately communal—we want something absurd that we can show up to, whether it’s a public execution in the town square in the 1600s or the Timothée Chalamet lookalike contest in 2024. 

A: You’re right, instead of a public execution, it’s the public humiliation of the losers of the Timothée Chalamet lookalike contest. 

K: I don’t think any of them were losers! I guess in the technical sense. But it felt like everyone was having fun. That was such a participation trophy thing for me to say, but...

A: They’re not losers in our hearts.

K: Exactly.