OK, so this is probably not going to be seen since this article is, like, a million years old in internet time, but I still felt compelled to respond to it since nobody has said what I want to say.
Gabe, I REALLY LOVE Videogum, and I think you're a super smart dude, and some of your writing has actually challenged me to think in new ways blah blah blah, I'm sure you get it, I dig this site.
But I think you're kinda off-base with this one. The problem IS NOT in your idea that Honey Boo Boo isn't some measuring stick by which we can gauge our culture (it ain't, obviously). The problem is sort of in your implied idea that "Pop Culture" doesn't matter, because we've got bigger problems to worry about.
Well, yeah, in a sense, you're kinda right. It's an idea that pervades this blog, where the idea that the Kristen Stewarts cheating on the Rob Pattinsons is somehow important is rightly mocked.
But when it comes to the idea that TV doesn't matter... well, how can you say that? Sure there are BIG PROBLEMS in the world, but can't you see that television can be both a reflection of those problems AND a means of addressing those problems? Can you see how ideas introduced through our TV boxes can pervade their way into the culture at large? How, let's say, misogynist ideas can seep through the screen and have an impact on the audience. If TV doesn't matter, then NO MEDIA matters--not books or magazines or comedy show jokes about rape.
And let's just put aside the argument that since something is MORE BAD we should ignore the thing that is LESS BAD.
Our media AFFECTS US. You can't really get around it. And this is a long and pretty dumb argument to make on a post about "Honey Boo Boo" which, honestly, like you say, doesn't really matter. But it sorta sounds like you're dismissing the importance that "Pop Culture" has on American Life, which I would argue is NOT INSIGNIFICANT.
I mean, I like to think that pointing out the connections between Pop Culture and society at large is something this blog does well. But this post is way off.
I thought the same thing when a saw the trailer for Season of the Witch (that Nic Cage movie) several months ago. Uh, how are you not going to play Donovan during the trailer for that movie? It confused the hell outta me.
This reminds me of some commercial I saw a few weeks ago. It was this soldier opening up a Christmas present from his daughters, and it was a book, but when he started to read the book there was a recording of his daughters reading the book and struggling through the words. I couldn't even imagine that - the idea that you're missing out on this fundamental part of your kids life and then some book lets you sort of almost get to experience it, not to mention that you get to hear your kid's voice!
I know it was a stupid commercial you guys but I straight up almost cried (read: cried).
Downton Abbey Season 2 and Louie Season 2 (I've only seen the episode that everyblog has told me to, "Duckling").
And of course the obligatory viewing of It's a Wonderful Life with my Dad, to celebrate the annual "Weeping of the Grown-Ass Men."
Be careful, parents! Don't you know that cat is only putting that baby to sleep so it can suck out it's soul!? (My grandma very firmly believes this to be true. Only she says that cats try to "take a baby's breath.")
Sometimes you realize that, no matter how good or bad a movie turns out to be, maybe you just kind of wanted to go back and see some place again, and see a little more of it.
I know the umbrella trick! And you weren't supposed to give away the secret, Kelly!
Actually, the way I play it, it's called the Hat Game, and you play by doing different stuff with a hat and then put it on your head and say, "OK, Hat Game, Hat Game, I can play the Hat Game," and if you say "OK," you CAN play the Hat Game. Everybody thinks it has to do with the way you put on the hat, but they've been fooled (my friends hate the Hat Game).
HOLY MOLY!
Guys, as one of the for realz "new" commenters, I can't tell you how awesome it is to have been so graciously and eagerly welcomed into the Videogum community. It gets said all the time, but this place is honestly very great, and I'm excited to be a part of it.
Kelly said it a long time ago, but I'll say it again: getting things just slightly wrong is one of the funniest things there is. Saying "Billy Crystals" is hilarious. TBS very funny stuff right here.
It's always bummed me out that I've never been smart enough for Veterinary school. I mean, there are folks who get to hang out all day with a gorilla that just wants to be tickled, and that's their JOB? Come on.
Some people just got it right. They got it figured out.
I am somehow MORE intimidated and nervous in this new environment. This is like when you transfer to a new school, and the teacher makes you stand up in front of the whole class, and you have to mumble a few sentences about what it's like being from the South, and the teacher tells you to speak up...
Wait, what were we talking about? Oh, yeah, Brett Ratner. Yeah, he's the worst.
Something that struck me while watching was, first, how the "Cherokee Rose" scene between Daryl and Sophia's mom was actually kinda good. Like, I could totally believe that Daryl, while not having any delusions about Sophia's chances, would still take a brief second to comfort her mom in the way he knew how.
And then I thought about Grimes giving the same speech, and realized what THAT would have been like. Can you guys imagine? It would have been the same empty, growl-whisper speech we've heard a million times!
But Daryl made it bearable.
When you give up any hope that these characters will be behave in anything even resembling a rational way, this show can be VERY entertaining. No joke. I had a great time watching last night. OF COURSE they haphazardly tied Glenn to a rusty pipe and dropped him into a death trap. OF COURSE the Doctor said "No guns." OF COURSE Glenn and Maggie just dropped everything to fuck in the middle of a pharmacy.
OF COURSE The Walking Dead. OF COURSE.
So, having grown up pretty religious, I actually read these books in Middle School. I only read the first few, and from what I can remember, it's actually about how a group of people accept the Christian faith after the rapture, and... go around telling other people what's happening? It gets fuzzy.
There are a couple (more than a couple) problems here though. First off, if the rapture happens, there probably aren't going to be a lot of folks scratchin' their heads while the moon turns to blood. It's gonna be pretty obvious. "Huh, I wonder where all the Christians went all at once?" - Nobody, after the Rapture.
Second, if you make a Rapture movie with conversion as the goal, all discussion of "God's love" goes out the window. The religion a Rapture movie proposes is a religion based only on fear. Nothing else. You become a Christian because you are scared of an angry God.
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