A lot of people don’t understand that even within particular ethnic populations, many people don’t have access to the artifacts or participation in particular rituals. Elites get to play gatekeeper. Culture isn’t shared by everyone.

I kinda see both spaces as places for squares to talk through ideas that have been traditionally on the margins but now coming into the focus of mainstreams audiences. Unfortunately, these ideas are co-opted to fit the conservative window of the mainstream (thus, their relevance as a method to progressive ends has…

You’re totally right! I think that goes back to the problem of trying to establish status through authenticity (and that seems to be the root of a lot of problem here: creating power through status). There are some very fundamental problems with pop culture and its consumption. It doesn’t seem like any of the staff…

I sorta feel both places are awful and largely conservative. Lots of pop-movement infighting and bad politics abound.

I read Jezebel for all its problems and I think this piece is stupid.

It’s just as bad as the original.

You know when dudes sit around and shred through a ripping guitar solo that might be difficult to play but incredibly difficult to listen to? That’s what I hear when I listen to singers who people will call “talented.” None of this is really interesting. It’s like getting the chills while looking at airbrushed…

I really want to like this break down but it’s kinda incoherent.

Sadly, I haven’t noticed a difference.

Aren’t podcasts just the DIY version of talk shows? I’m not sure how you’re making a distinction here.

I think the celebrity articles here are extremely toxic. The writers and a lot of the comments really don’t want to examine or take responsibility for what they are advocating. This controversy with Taylor Swift, the conspiracies and superficial analysis, is really interesting but it sadly exposes, again, the…

Usually the hive mind around here has really bad taste.

Nocturnal Animals was amazing.

Oh, come on. The Jezebel staff is awful at this stuff. They are at the top of the class for superficial commentary tinged with upper-middle class biases.

I don’t get lumping Ghost in the Shell into this since the theme of the story is transhumanism.

I’m not sure Lena Dunham has ever stopped to think about economic inequality outside of getting paid just as any male costar and who cares about everyone else.

Do you think Taylor will ever make any of you examine the jingoistic identity politics behind celebrity gossip activist camps and their complete absence of positions that address economic inequality?

I think more along the lines of the bad pop culture analysis by Clover Hope and Bobby Fingers.

I think it’s a matter of using these celebrities as avatars for individual authenticity/projection of values. It’s like weirdos who are atavistic about American flags.

Adult critics who have the cultural depth of teens.