Posted 10:31 AM by Gene

A puff piece for Thompsonism, the "study" of pop culture that's the latest form of intellectual masturbation sweeping academe, yet another way to stick it to the parents and the taxpayers, a means of making six digits writing six-syllable words praising junk, forming glorified fan clubs, and erasing the classics from the curriculum -- and in the end, wasting the student's time with gut courses and ensuring the poor sap (in several senses) has a tougher time finding A JOB. This isn't to say pop culture doesn't merit serious study; I've long dreamt of a show-business reference work like Encyclopedia Britannica, and while such a venture is a tacit admission that the glories of show-biz are largely in the past, we must understand where they came from, and use the knowledge to seek the future. But serious, tough study of show-biz is impossible when you're pulling a practical joke, and especially when you're competing with the corrupt lords of the professional college sports programs and the Charlie Keatings of the endowments and the mavens of political correctness to see who can commit the biggest affront to society.

P. S. Here is another reason why we don't need news hacks: a 1,332-word article containing this thirty-four-word nugget of wisdom, which on this subject is all we need to know:

"They're so concerned with the suggestion that to write about, say, The Simpsons means you're not really smart that it causes a lot of academics to overcompensate, unintentionally making parodies of their own work."

NUF SAID.