MAY DAY! MAY DAY! MAY DAY!
American culture is in distress.
It's been captured by the aristocrats, the Spirit of 1776 reversed.
S.O.S.! S.O.S.!
The latest manifestation of this is the cover story by privileged brat ex-Philadelphian Jessica Pressler about the hyper-privileged brats of the TV show, "Gossip Girl" (based on the book series) in the April 28 issue of the magazine which celebrates New York hyper-wealth, New York. (Note all the plastic surgery ads throughout the mag-- a good clue to its audience.)
The loathsome article itself is at
www.nymag.com/arts/tv/features/46225/
What does it mean?
It means the overpriced island of exclusivity has further disconnected itself from the nation. They chatter through their bistros, their million-dollar lofts, their chi-chi parties, as their island slips farther into the Atlantic. They're in love with all things European anyway. We best see them off at the dock.
A horn sounds. Streamers and confetti everyplace. The gangplank rises, the rich and the insulated all aboard. The snobby island of fools and fops begins sailing into the deep blue.
"Yummy hors d'ouevres!" is the last distant sound heard from them.
(See more May Day posts at www.happyamericaliterature.blogspot.com)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
If it's disconnected itself from the nation, why do the Gossip Girl books and TV show reach millions and millions of people? You rail against literary fiction, which reaches nobody, and against pop culture, which reaches everybody, and mainstream fiction, which reaches a number somewhere in between. Seems like anything but your own writing and a (shrinking) handful of your pals is worthy of any respect.
Let's see if we can come up with an explanation:
Huge sums of money are spent shoving this garbage down people's throats?
Will that work?
It's clear to me that the monopoly which New York City has on our print media needs to be broken.
You seem to disagree.
p.s. Notice how David turns logic on its head.
I and my pals are shut out by the system. We're SHOWN no respect.
"Gossip Girl" and similar books- unredeemable junk-- can be found in every chain bookstore in America. The hosannas to privilege and hyper-wealth are everywhere-- shown EVERY respect, as New York's cover story shows.
Hey! Some guy in Detroit is speaking out against this!
He's showing us no respect!
Us! We great people who control print culture.
Well, david, this just can't be tolerated.
next someone might want to publish books illustrating the true story of America; maybe talking-- gulp!-- about the vast 1789-like divide that's expaning by the moment.
The rich are getting richer and ever more arrogant, demanding worship. The poor are more downtrodden.
Shoot the messenger-- it's all my fault!
Jason Shinder died last Friday. It's Karl's fault.Bad Karl.You kill one more writer before his time and you get your nose hit with a rolled up paper.A New York Observer no less.
I'll be posting next week about Mr. Shinder, likely at my Happy Lit blog.
Post a Comment