I was browsing through the latest NYLON magazine, mostly because I was waiting for someone and it happened to be on her table. The thing that I noticed immediately(besides the fact that NYLON is directed at girls who can only afford to wear shit fashion that makes them look like every other goddamn girl who lives and breathes the Olsen Twins for some reason) was the bald appropriation of J.D. Salinger's words. There were two sections called, "To Sir, with love" and "In Love and Squalor". When did this happen? It wasn't so terrible to note - it was a strange moment to see references that clearly were not going to be picked up by the majority of people that read NYLON. I'm not really saying anything terrible about the magazine, just the people that read it, which is fairly deserved.
However, this morning I was perusing the new Atlantic online, reading comments about Obama's newest speech(and feeling bemused about Britney being on the cover, especially given comments from the editors of THE ECONOMIST that were certainly relevant) when I saw another pseudo-intellectual reference. In this case, "Good Lieutenant" is clearly a reference to the harshly modern film "Bad Lieutenant" starring Harvey Keitel. I am omitting the glaringly obvious reference to pop culture with "The Clinton Supremacy", because it is pop culture...and who really cares about pop culture?
It does however make me wonder about what we are doing with our intellectualism. It feels like being educated is now just another way to feel "better" than other people - it brings about the starkly competitive nature of every aspect of our lives. How can we, as a people, hope to do more, do better for everyone when the only satisfaction we draw from any action is an intensely personal one? Being educated means that you have more experience to draw upon, and yet that simple fact has become, instead of a motivator to help others learn, a fetish. The best example being any sort of "snob" - music snobs, wine snobs, etc. I would go on but my point is made, I think.
P.S. The NYLON references are all contained within the Salinger short story, "To Esme, with love and squalor". I recommend the read, if you are curious to see just how much the story is NOT related to new spring fashion for men and women in the middle class income bracket.
-Rich
I can't wait to see you again
However, this morning I was perusing the new Atlantic online, reading comments about Obama's newest speech(and feeling bemused about Britney being on the cover, especially given comments from the editors of THE ECONOMIST that were certainly relevant) when I saw another pseudo-intellectual reference. In this case, "Good Lieutenant" is clearly a reference to the harshly modern film "Bad Lieutenant" starring Harvey Keitel. I am omitting the glaringly obvious reference to pop culture with "The Clinton Supremacy", because it is pop culture...and who really cares about pop culture?
It does however make me wonder about what we are doing with our intellectualism. It feels like being educated is now just another way to feel "better" than other people - it brings about the starkly competitive nature of every aspect of our lives. How can we, as a people, hope to do more, do better for everyone when the only satisfaction we draw from any action is an intensely personal one? Being educated means that you have more experience to draw upon, and yet that simple fact has become, instead of a motivator to help others learn, a fetish. The best example being any sort of "snob" - music snobs, wine snobs, etc. I would go on but my point is made, I think.
P.S. The NYLON references are all contained within the Salinger short story, "To Esme, with love and squalor". I recommend the read, if you are curious to see just how much the story is NOT related to new spring fashion for men and women in the middle class income bracket.
-Rich
I can't wait to see you again
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