Real Pretentious On Real Time
Princeton prof and author Cornel West was violently pretentious last night on Real Time With Bill Maher; actually decrying Oprah's all-audience car giveaway to people in need as a..."fetishizing of commodities"!
He also had the nerve -- and what a vulgar, pretentious snob! -- to denigrate those in Oprah's audience who cried when they learned they'd gotten a free vehicle. Hmm, let's say you're a single mother who's fallen on hard times, and somebody gives you bright, shiny, new, free transportation, meaning you don't have to drag your ass to the bus stop in the freezing cold at 5am. "Fetishizing of commodities"? Damn straight. Lucky for him, I wasn't near the keyboard earlier, when he mumbled some mumbo-jumbo about assault weapons as a signifier of our cultural "phallo-centricism." I kid you not.
You know, at around age 21, I stopped feeling the need to be multi-syllabically obtuse in hopes of impressing people with my grand vocabulary and searching intellect. These days, I'm thrilled when I use my grammar-check on my computer, and the stats say I'm communicating for people who read at a 6th grade level (not often enough...but I'm working on the simplicity and clarity thing). And lucky me, I've topped my self-esteem off with enough psychological spinach that my favorite reader letters now are the ones that start "Dear Dumb Bitch," or with something equally respectful and laudatory.
How old, exactly, is Cornell Woolrich? When, exactly, will he start feeling secure enough to start actually communicating? Cast your prediction below!
"Fetishizing of commodities" is the sort of horseshit you get from clever people whose bedrock financial mechanism is tenure. Fuck 'em.
Crid at September 19, 2004 10:07 AM
It's hard to believe that anybody still talks like that. West has become such a weirdo, with that wizened, craggy voice he's using now. I heard him talk at a bookstore in SF about 10 years ago, and it was terrific. Now he's just an embarrassment.
Lena at September 19, 2004 11:29 AM
Way to go "Cute Gal w/Brains"!
I don't watch much of Real Time .. but I happen to catch that part. In fact, it seemed that all of what I did watch was poor attempts at what I hoped was humor.
Keep up the good work.
Norm
Norm at September 20, 2004 1:10 PM
Eh, I just figured he was trying to impress the Delpster.
Paul Hrissikopoulos at September 21, 2004 5:37 PM
I enjoyed his book in the early 90s that introduced me to the role of senior citizens in the black community.
Two Dishes at September 22, 2004 3:52 PM