March 11, 2017

Because of Trump, chick-lit writer Jennifer Weiner can't watch the TV show "The Bachelor" anymore.

This piece (in the NYT) would make a lot more sense if the TV show Weiner used to like to watch obsessively was "The Apprentice." What does Trump have to do with the sudden unwatchability of "The Bachelor"? I mean, you've got to begin by imagining what it would take to like "The Bachelor" in the first place....
And oh, was “The Bachelor” amusing, while being flagrantly problematic. Everyone was young and attractive. Almost everyone was white. There were bad boys and mean girls; studs and sluts. Insults were flung. Grammar was shredded (I still cringe at the memory of every “hers and my’s relationship” I heard over the years). I live-tweeted the whole thing, along with a gleeful community of other hate-watchers who’d call out the show’s icky sexual politics and double standards, then hold our breath at the proposal point, and weep along with the winners.
Oh, so she was hate-watching all along. She never liked the show. She liked hating it. Now, it begins to make sense. She's lost the feeling of superiority, the sense that her people are running the culture, that makes it fun to rag on the show.
[I]n a post-Trump world, it doesn’t feel entertaining. Or maybe it’s that I don’t think I can allow myself the luxury of escape...
I don't want to be too pedantic, but Weiner suggests that pedantry is good fun, so I just want to say that yours and my's world is not yet "post-Trump."

47 comments:

Bob Loblaw said...

[I]n a post-Trump world, it doesn’t feel entertaining. Or maybe it’s that I don’t think I can allow myself the luxury of escape...

She's literally certifiable if she can say something like that.

Michael K said...

I'm sure there are places where she will never have to think of Trump. Zimbabwe comes to mind.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

In fairness, there's lib-fantasy shows I wouldn't watch on a bet. West Wing springs to mind. Homeland has gone full Golden Shower Lib. The news program of virtually any major network...

Sebastian said...

"my's world is not yet "post-Trump."" Well, good for you. But of course, for progs, Trump = trauma. That they're dealing with some weird syndrome is one thing; that they want to impose the affliction on the rest of us is what's really disturbing. I call for resistance.

Laslo Spatula said...

"Because of Trump, chick-lit writer Jennifer Weiner can't watch the TV show "The Bachelor" anymore."

A Chick Lit writer named "Weiner."

In another world Ernest Hemingway's middle name was 'Vagina.'

I am Laslo.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mary Beth said...

Watching a "reality" show in order to feel better about yourself in comparison to the people on the show seems a bit pathetic.

Comanche Voter said...

Who gives a flying flip what this little twit thinks or feels? Don't waste my time sweetie.

pacwest said...

Ann,
Although you can be pendantic, especially on lawyerly matters, you're not a pendant, which is good. Not sure if that was pendantry though.

Ambrose said...

Mission Control to Jennifer. It is not a post-Trump world; it is Trump world and no one cares what you watch.

traditionalguy said...

Yours and my's world's has been Trump Thumped. Ante-election we all loved to watch ESPN,we respected the Police, and believed movies like The Bourne Identity's Triology were fictional.

That is all gone with the wind now. And every third sentence uttered on the Cable news and the internet is about Trump's unrepentant triumph and the horror it has caused the Globalisters.

Ann Althouse said...

"Watching a "reality" show in order to feel better about yourself in comparison to the people on the show seems a bit pathetic."

Yes, but you get your just deserts when you end up having to think that these are the people who voted that terrible man into the presidency.

Laslo Spatula said...

As far as Chick Lit goes, the only sub-genre that holds any interest is the Urban White Chick / Black Monster Cock one.

Sometimes the Black Monster Cock belongs to a professional athlete the heroine meets; sometimes it's the unassuming black office-worker down the hall who -- who knew? -- turns out to have a Black Monster Cock.

Pages of witty dialogue ensue, as she has lunch with all of her diverse urban friends and they talk about Monster Cocks.

"I don't know -- maybe our waiter has a Monster Cock."

"He's Asian, Tamara."

"Are you saying Asian men can't have a Monster Cock, Jennifer?"

"I'm sure they can. But it is probably more 'Son of Godzilla' than 'Godzilla', you know what I mean?"

"I think you can't say that, Jennifer."

"Sure you can. You just can't compare black men's cocks with King Kong, that's all."

"What about White Men? Who can we compare their White Monster Cocks to?"

"I don't know, but I bet all the White Monster Cocks are in Gay Porn, anyway."

"That's funny because it's true."

"You know what else is true?"

"What's that?"

"Black Men have big cocks. They REALLY do."

"Oh yeah."

"Bigger than White Men. And Asians."

"So, Jennifer: your new friend. Is it a Monster Cock, or is it a Mega-Monster-Cock?"

"Mega. AND Ultra. It's a Black Mega Ultra Monster Cock."

"You're so lucky."

"I am, I am. Except for the vaginal bleeding."

You know: dialogue like that.

I am Laslo.

Night Owl said...

"Yes, but you get your just deserts when..."

That's a funny typo, considering where you've been the past week or so.

Darrell said...

In another world Ernest Hemingway's middle name was 'Vagina.'

No, 'Hooha.'

Night Owl said...

Hate-watching, heh... So much of what these "superior" progressive people do is driven by hatred. And yet they are so quick to call Trump supporters "haters". It just backs up the expression, that leftists always accuse the opposition of what they themselves are guilty of.

Zach said...

I've never understood the hate-watching thing. If you're watching it, it's for you.

Marc in Eugene said...

Night Owl at 8:51, What typo are you referring to? I don't see any in AA's comment. [It may well be, of course, that, using the expression, she smiled, knowing that there were bound to be readers disputing the correct spelling.]

Zach said...

It's the same thing with hipsters. Why do something ironically when you can just not do it?

There seems to be an unexamined assumption in there -- you're going to watch whatever dreck they put in front of you, but you'll preserve your self image by watching it and not liking it.

Just turn off the TV and do something else.

Achilles said...

Everyone on this thread knows that we are "hate-reading" these articles right?

It would be fun to talk about how pointless an existence this woman leads but step back and look around a little.

n.n said...

Weiner lost her safe space when Trump exposed the social liberal culture. Her culture.

Anonymous said...

"You think your life is hard?

"Like the late comedian Rodney Dangerfield, novelist Jennifer Weiner just can’t get any respect. It’s become her shtick as an author.

"The Princeton grad and perennial best-selling author is complaining once again . . ."

I didn't say it, the Puffington Host said it:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lev-raphael/jennifer-weiner-is-writin_b_10415246.html

Sebastian said...

They're not just hate-watching trashy shows, they're hate-watching us, just as O hate-governed us.

Ken B said...

Nice catch AA.
Instapundit mentions "status anxiety " a lot. That really does seem to be part of the continuing leftie tantrums.
After all, what kind of world is it where a plumber gets the same vote I do??

Ken B said...

This is fascinating. Rarely have I seen a better example of what is wrong with our political culture than some rich woman bragging about her like-minded "community " gleefully sharing hate-tweets about people from a lower class.

Dickens could not have written a sharper caricature, nor Bierce a fiercer one, and she puts it out there herself, demanding applause!

Night Owl said...

@Marc Puckett
I thought "just deserts" was a typo, but it looks like it is one of those "most people are saying it wrong" expressions. And I am in the group "most people"!

(I actually thought it was funny, and was not trying to poke fun or be snarky.)

Night Owl said...

@Marc Puckett
BTW Thank you for pointing it out, or I never would've known. And a sincere apology to our hostess.

Marc in Eugene said...

Night Owl, I understood that you were in the 'just desserts' camp & did think you were being amusing, sure; was trying to be amusing myself, although looking at my comment again I see how my facetious tone didn't survive the transit from mind to keyboard.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

What a loser. So few hours on earth and she spends it "hate-watching" garbage TV. Goddamn. Read a book, bake a cake, volunteer, arrange flowers, mentor an at-risk kid, meditate--whatever; anything would be a better use of time than that shite.

SukieTawdry said...

Anything I know about reality TV comes from the ads promoting it. I can't imagine actually watching it.

buwaya said...

I suggest that this person has a professional interest
("chick-lit writer") in that show. It sounds like research to me.

Night Owl said...

@Marc Puckett
"was trying to be amusing myself, although looking at my comment again I see how my facetious tone didn't survive the transit from mind to keyboard. "

Heh, I bet that happens to a lot people who are just trying to be light-hearted in their comments. I tend to read very fast-- often just skimming through comments -- and am guilty of missing nuance sometimes.

Years ago I blew up at someone on line, and an hour or so later it dawned on me that the person was making a joke that I didn't get at the time (I was slow on the update, you might say). Red-faced, I went back and apologized! The incident cured me of being quick to anger at people's comments.

Guildofcannonballs said...

The Apprentice was the culture upstream of politics allowing a Trump triumph. For a long time conservatives have tried to create their own or significantly alter the culture to be less bigoted and hateful against traditional American values, with modest success.

Then came Trump.

Trump was the Apprentice, America (well maybe foreign markets too like The Mighty Russians control) was the decider in chief.

Imagine the stuck-fighting-the-last-war folks in 1960 thinking how somebody looks on TV wasn't a consideration toward assembling electoral victory.

Yancey Ward said...

It is literally impossible to parody this. Impossible.

Earnest Prole said...

I haven't owned a television since 1999. What's your excuse?

rehajm said...

In another world Ernest Hemingway's middle name was 'Vagina.'

In 'The Bachelor' world his middle name is Vageeen

George M. Spencer said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
MayBee said...

The Bachelorette is going to be black, for the first time ever. So Weiner can blame Trump and tell herself she isn't racist, but it sure sounds to me like racism is why she's giving it up.

tim in vermont said...

Wait until she sees that in Two Weeks Notice, Hugh Grant's character is sort of based on Donald Trump, who even makes an appearance. No more Hugh Grant movies! No matter how dreamy he is!

Bill Peschel said...

I will not, ever, never, argue that someone is "wasting their life" doing anything. In a world of uncertainty, who am I to judge?

Take hate-watching. I hate-read newspaper comics, and participate in the Comic Curmudgeon group. We have a fine time picking apart comics and coming up with the alternative realities and theories they exist in. "Shylock Fox," for example, is set in a post-human world where animals acquire human sentience. The main plotline in "Beetle Bailey" is the doomed relationship between Sarge and Beetle, and the depictions of Gen. Halftrack's miserable marriage is worthy of John Cheever during his worst alcoholic binges.

As for Jennifer Weiner:

1. If you want her to hate you, call her a "chick-lit" writer. This whole thread would give her an aneurysm, although I have no idea how she'd reaction to Monster Black Cocks.

2. She is the perfect example of Susan Orlean's observation that we don't have a class system based on money, but on aspirations. Weiner grew up in a family thrown into poverty after her father abandoned them. She was in Princeton at the time, taking writing courses from people like Joyce Carol Oates. She still bears a lot of resentment over his rejection, and being dumped by a longtime boyfriend led to "In Her Shoes," her first best-seller.

3. Unlike most chick-lit writers, she mines her life for her works, and agonizes over their composition. She's also resentful that the NYT doesn't review the work of women very much.

I see this has devolved into no point so I'll end it here.

madAsHell said...

Her name in Weiner?

Maybe we should call the whaaaambulance?

Will there be dick pix?

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

The party of freedom:

House Republicans back bill allowing companies to threaten employees with higher insurance payments if they don't agree to genetic testing

tim in vermont said...

Hemingway wrote some brutally honest shit about women, therefore he was a misogynist to be drummed from the canon. To be fair, he wrote a lot of brutally host shit about men too, but that's fine, men can take it and don't take it personally.

tim in vermont said...

ARM attempts another thread-jacking with the latest Democrat Party talking point straight off the wire.

Rosa Marie Yoder said...

Can't you just hear the sound of eyes-rolling as Althouse readers react? (I can imagine that with enough folks rolling their eyes at the same time it must make some kind of sound.)

kentuckyliz said...

GINA (2008) https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/genetic.cfm

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

You must have been away for awhile, ARM. For the last 20 years I've listened to Democrats push the idea that those who engage in unhealthy behavior should be taxed more heavily by the state to compensate for health care costs. How is this different?