Never Mind the Pollacks
Just found out the other day that author Neal Pollack and I are almost exactly the same age. It's slightly intimidating to realize that he and I have shared almost the exact same amount of time on this Earth. Not that there's much in the way of common ground with which to compare us; we simply do not share the same stock in trade. I wonder how it could come out if I started writing satirical blog entries in the style of Andrew Sullivan or Christopher Hitchens? Probably exactly the same as Pollack, except for the "side-splittingly funny" part.
In the meantime, I'm going to try and figure out what is is about Good Charlotte that makes people hate them so much. All right, it makes sense that a certain segment of the youth population is going to find something bogus about a band that dresses like the Sex Pistols but sounds like Blink-182. GC certainly aren't the first kids to discover this particular goldmine, and they're not even the worst offenders. I've long resigned myself to the cognitive dissonance in my head which expects bands that look like punk rockers to sound like punk rockers, like they did back in 19-eightysomething when I was hearing this stuff for the first time. So I won't bore you youngsters today with the details.
But I think I've figured out the problem: the lead singer's name is "Joel". Who the hell ever heard of a punk named "Joel"? It doesn't work. "C'mon, Joel, let's smash the State!" Maybe if he'd changed his name to something like "Chameleon Suicide" then he wouldn't have to work so hard to maintain his cred. I don't know; they seem like nice enough kids. Which may be part of the problem...
In the meantime, I'm going to try and figure out what is is about Good Charlotte that makes people hate them so much. All right, it makes sense that a certain segment of the youth population is going to find something bogus about a band that dresses like the Sex Pistols but sounds like Blink-182. GC certainly aren't the first kids to discover this particular goldmine, and they're not even the worst offenders. I've long resigned myself to the cognitive dissonance in my head which expects bands that look like punk rockers to sound like punk rockers, like they did back in 19-eightysomething when I was hearing this stuff for the first time. So I won't bore you youngsters today with the details.
But I think I've figured out the problem: the lead singer's name is "Joel". Who the hell ever heard of a punk named "Joel"? It doesn't work. "C'mon, Joel, let's smash the State!" Maybe if he'd changed his name to something like "Chameleon Suicide" then he wouldn't have to work so hard to maintain his cred. I don't know; they seem like nice enough kids. Which may be part of the problem...