A lot of loose threads are blowing around in the wake of the Inauguration.
The Zombie Girls of Brooklyn by Heather Wilhelm critiques the cultural bubble foisting nihilism to us through popular entertainment in the form of the HBO slime, "Girls." I haven't seen the show, and probably never will. In the course of delivering a withering critique of the show, Ms. Wilhelm makes the larger point about how it is a vivid example of the way bad ideas are foisted upon the culture whether we want them or not. The 2nd season premier of the show garnered 1/10th the audience of Downton Abby. Nevertheless, "Girls" received 2 Golden Globes and a raft of buzz from the New York media. "It’s about how the national media and chattering classes slowly, effectively shape American culture, transmitting social mores and nihilism from a bubble that doesn’t represent most of the real world -- yet."
And so it goes.
Ms. Wilhelm's explication of Lena Dunham and the context of the show's production reminded me of FDR's Four Freedoms and Brave New World. The thread is there. Freedom from Fear, Want, etc. begets freedom from personal responsibility and loss of individual freedom entirely. We are free to do whatever we want, except think for ourselves and determine our own destiny which leaves us very little worth doing.
"This is why “Girls,” a showcase of vulgarity for vulgarity’s sake, is praised as “bold,” and why a solipsistic life, unmoored from morals or meaning, is presented as “normal” and “representative.” Unfortunately, many young people might buy it.
"With its self-referential feedback loop, casual nihilism, and refusal to take anything of value seriously, the show perfectly packages and delivers the secular, “no rules” worldview that many in the media want to sell."
Hi Ho.
The Zombie Girls of Brooklyn by Heather Wilhelm critiques the cultural bubble foisting nihilism to us through popular entertainment in the form of the HBO slime, "Girls." I haven't seen the show, and probably never will. In the course of delivering a withering critique of the show, Ms. Wilhelm makes the larger point about how it is a vivid example of the way bad ideas are foisted upon the culture whether we want them or not. The 2nd season premier of the show garnered 1/10th the audience of Downton Abby. Nevertheless, "Girls" received 2 Golden Globes and a raft of buzz from the New York media. "It’s about how the national media and chattering classes slowly, effectively shape American culture, transmitting social mores and nihilism from a bubble that doesn’t represent most of the real world -- yet."
And so it goes.
Ms. Wilhelm's explication of Lena Dunham and the context of the show's production reminded me of FDR's Four Freedoms and Brave New World. The thread is there. Freedom from Fear, Want, etc. begets freedom from personal responsibility and loss of individual freedom entirely. We are free to do whatever we want, except think for ourselves and determine our own destiny which leaves us very little worth doing.
"This is why “Girls,” a showcase of vulgarity for vulgarity’s sake, is praised as “bold,” and why a solipsistic life, unmoored from morals or meaning, is presented as “normal” and “representative.” Unfortunately, many young people might buy it.
"With its self-referential feedback loop, casual nihilism, and refusal to take anything of value seriously, the show perfectly packages and delivers the secular, “no rules” worldview that many in the media want to sell."
Hi Ho.
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