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04/13/2005 Archived Entry: "Moments of Naiveté"

Moments of Naiveté

  • Placement exams work
  • The nightly news tells you what really is going on
  • Alternative media is actually alternative
  • Local news is beyond advertising
  • Scandals are really the result of good journalism and not government leaks
  • Journalism is ethical (and never plagiarizes)
  • Blogging is revolutionary
  • There is such a thing as capitalism
  • There is such a thing as "professional writing"
  • There is a left or a right in this country (everyone is conservative!)
  • Imperialism is only a Western concept
  • There's such a thing as "family values"
  • We should teach "critical thinking"
  • Plagiarism is bad
  • Our students can't write
  • Agreement matters
  • Punk was important
  • Composition Studies learns from its mistakes
  • Rice is mean

    Replies: 7 comments

    As students sometimes tell me: "Whatevs."

    I get fatigued these days trying to figure out which posture is hipper--the fan, the anti-fan, or the metaman who pronounces the stupidity of everything.

    Maybe we should all go read Paul Mann's "Stupid Undergrounds."

    Anyhoo. Whatevs.

    Posted by jenny @ 04/14/2005 07:03 PM EST

    Isn't it less whether punk really matters than questioning the knee-jerk *assumption* that punk (and I think you could substitute terms like "alternative" and "indie" (film or music) in here) "matters"? The Clash's London Calling aside (and I've always thought of that more as a new wave rockabilly reggae and everything else album, anyway), I don't feel a particular loyalty to that movement musically. On the other hand, it matters to me because it's the inspiration for one of my favorite books (which jeff wrote beautifully about earlier), Lipstick Traces. If the Sex Pistols never existed, I would long for Greil Marcus to make them up (of course, you could argue in that book he did, or at least made them much more fascinating than you might imagine). I am sympathetic to challenging the notion that I *have* to care about punk (or independent film), though, just because it postures in ways that sometimes seem ideologically appealing.

    Then again, I also think one could make arguments in favor of boy bands, so...

    Posted by Brian @ 04/14/2005 06:41 PM EST

    You withdrew your kisses!

    How dare you!

    Posted by j @ 04/13/2005 08:44 PM EST

    I officially withdraw the "kisses" previously mentioned. You are so dead wrong on this one. I can't believe you'd be so dismissive. The worst part is that I think you're simply being dismissive of a "punk" that had nothing to do with the punk ethos that originated in those working class neighborhoods.

    I mean, Jesus, you ARE LIVING the punk ethos: DIY, montage, style, irony. They're your fathers, man.

    Posted by jenny @ 04/13/2005 08:13 PM EST

    Punk?
    Eh. Sex Pistols were the Backstreet Boys of the '70s.
    Boy Band.

    Posted by j @ 04/13/2005 08:10 PM EST

    p.s. Kisses.

    Posted by jenny @ 04/13/2005 08:10 PM EST

    Come on, now. Why swing the hammer like that? Sometimes barbs are necessary, but there's no reason to just crap on everything. Punk WAS important, bub. It might not be your cup 'o tea, but please don't dismiss it. Punk matters. Music matters. Anger matters. Style matters. Irony matters. Loud matters. And I would think you'd be the last person who I'd have to argue this with.

    Posted by jenny @ 04/13/2005 08:05 PM EST

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