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December 8, 2004

Oh So Impressed with the Unimpressive

Listen to the sweet sound of the crack of James Lileks' bat:

If you believe that puddle-deep self-obsessed people engaged in two-backed beast construction is somehow the most illustrative example of the human condition, I suppose the movie will strike you as high art, but the notion that trivial people screw a lot and argue afterwards is as illuminating as the fact that dogs don't get married after they knock paws.

Periodically, you'll hear an artsy (yet well paid!) type try to spin his/her wares as a commentary about the superficiality put on display. I've stopped buying the spin; sheer volume has made it all too clear that the artistes are mining triviality for lessons — or perhaps excuses — beyond "don't be like this."

(It doesn't help that one rarely learns that the authors and producers of the supposed cultural commentary live in such a way as to suggest a critical perspective on their material.)

Posted by Justin Katz at December 8, 2004 4:34 PM
Culture
Comments

Is it just me, or is Justin the only one who has any idea what this post is about -- even after reading Lileks stream-of-conciousness mutterings?

What did i miss? And what is a two-backed beast?

Posted by: Marty at December 8, 2004 7:02 PM

Marty: If you read yesterday's Bleat, you'll find out that it's a review of "Closer," the new movie by Mike Nichols; a man determined to prove that he had one good movie in him--and only one.

Posted by: someguy at December 9, 2004 2:01 AM

The two-backed beast is a couple engaged in intercourse. And the point of the post is that when Hollywood thinks it is being 'deep', it's not.

This quote from Entertainment Weekly was great, too:

"Network TV keeps groping to win over an America it despises – a viewing public it seems as a blurry, fat, brainless blob of uninsured, Hemi-powered, God-fearing Wal-Mart clerks. I’m paid to entertain them.”

[Lileks]"And now you know why sitcoms suck."

Posted by: Mike S. at December 9, 2004 1:58 PM

Can anyone explain what "Hemi-powered" means?

Posted by: Ben Bateman at December 9, 2004 4:16 PM

Ben,

I think it's short for "hemispherically shaped combustion chambers."

Posted by: Justin Katz at December 9, 2004 4:27 PM

Ben, take this gear-head's word for it... Justin is correct in that answer. Hemi-powered 4x4 trucks abound in Jesus-land, replete with loud pipes, off-road suspension, etc. All that equipment is necessary to get you to your local NASCAR or Drag Strip event. The yuppie equivalent would be a turbo-charged Beemer.

Posted by: smmtheory at December 9, 2004 4:53 PM