My Cat Cohen Renaissance

Earlier this year, Netflix released Catherine Cohen’s special The Twist…? She’s Gorgeous, and I believe it chemically altered something in my brain. Maybe it was just the right place at the right time, but I will never be the same after watching that special and it was over 6 months ago. I remember it like it was yesterday and truly have not stopped thinking about it since. It’s been out for a while so this isn’t new information, but I think I finally have the words to put how this special makes me feel.

Cat’s special came out March 15, 2022. I ended up watching it a week after its release at the recommendation of Julie (this is a glorified way of saying Julie changed my life) on March 22nd. Not to get vulnerable readers, but my birthday happens to be the next day! Every birthday, I try to do a review of my life and myself. I love the idea that I still haven’t reached my full form and that a new age sparks a new identity I could try and create and mold. This usually means I make a promise to myself to stop talking literally all the time, get a better wardrobe, and stop obsessing over what I look like. Even though doing this ritual could seem childish or pointless, I can’t help it and will probably be doing it for the rest of time. With all of that being said, when I decided to watch her special that night, I truly believe it changed me.

The special starts with Cat coming on stage to a crowd applauding her. She’s hiding her face, smiling, and says, “Stop… I’m shy!” I was hooked. She gets it! For the next hour, as I watched, I realized Catherine Cohen had stolen my innermost thoughts and was now prancing around stage singing them to an entire audience. It was the perfect combination of singing vulnerable thoughts with a catchy tune and a comedic tone that made me feel truly understood. In the first song in her special “Look At Me,” she sings, “Boys never wanted to kiss me, so I need everyone to look at me. Look at me. Look at me. Look at me. Look at me.” I saw a version of myself, and what I could be, if I embraced the parts of myself I try to pick apart and hide. As someone who flirts with the idea of hating attention, but wanting to be heard and recognized, I see Cat as someone who knows herself and does not apologize or change versions of herself when walking into a room. At one point, she sings a song about struggling with constantly thinking about her size and how she can’t help but fixate on it. “Society made me this way and I’ll never change cause I’m tired. Society made me this way and I’ll never change cause it’s hard to change,” she sings while dancing around the stage. After watching her special, I decided that I would try to embrace the more outgoing parts of myself and allow myself to take up space.

Some could say there was no change and that I’m the same person I have always been. I don’t really feel like that though. Yes, I still get nervous and overthink most interactions I have, but that will never change. I worry that I share too much so I push myself to the side in conversations so that others feel comfortable. However, I am starting to allow myself to take up more space and not feel bad for doing so. I’ve begun accepting that I desire to be noticed or even crave recognition. I sound insane, but I truly believe this wouldn’t have happened without watching Cat Cohen’s Netflix special.

I realize believing a comedy special has brain altering powers could be considered a bit much. However, I do not care! Catherine is so talented and the special is truly so much fun there's no way not to fall in love with it. I’m now a forever fan of her and grateful that this special exists.