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The Met Gala Recap — Part III

Shirley Jones Luke
4 min readMay 11, 2024

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The Final Review

Met Gala 2024 was filled with floral fashion. The internet had thoughts. | Mashable

The Gala’s theme was inspired explicitly by English writer J.G. Ballard’s 1962 short story of the same name. “The Garden of Time” follows a noble couple who use crystalline flowers that rewind time to prevent a mob of less fortunate people from reaching their luxurious villa. Of course, this strategy only works for long as their garden grows.

Ballard also wrote a story entitled “Why I Want to Fuck Ronald Reagan,” which would have made an exciting Met Gala theme as well.

In an unintentional parallel, “The Garden of Time” theme gained further relevance in light of nearby protests supporting Palestine. Hundreds of pro-Palestine protestors marched through New York while the Met Gala was underway, beginning around 1.2 miles away at Hunter College and traveling north toward the Metropolitan Museum of Art. While the protestors ultimately did not disrupt the Gala, the disaffected proletariat marching toward…

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Shirley Jones Luke
Shirley Jones Luke

Written by Shirley Jones Luke

Shirley is a writer. Ms. Luke enjoys books, fashion and travel. She is working on her second poetry manuscript, a collection of essays, and a fiction novel.

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