What's up with George Will? I used to respect him as a thinking man's conservative columnist, sort of a Charles Krauthammer with neocortical implants. But now he's gone off over, believe it or not, denim. George Will thinks denim is a problem. After calling demin an "infantile uniform" he offers this fashion advice:
This is not complicated. For men, sartorial good taste can be reduced to one rule: If Fred Astaire would not have worn it, don't wear it. For women, substitute Grace Kelly.
Come on George. Are you really so priggish as that?
Apparently he's steaming because denim is rightfully worn only by the working class, and for others it's a foolish pretense, trying to look like a laborer. He does let loose one comment that shows he's not only an elitist about clothes, he bemoans the fact that:
Seventy-five percent of American "gamers" -- people who play video games -- are older than 18 and nevertheless are allowed to vote.
Presumably the problem is that gamers vote wrong.
After being in the news recently for his zero credibility stance that global warming is a media myth, George must be ready to come out of the closet and just declare as a poor loser.
Here's my advice to Mr. Will...try to loosen up a bit, you might have a bit of fun now and then. Kick up your heels and actually try wearing a pair of jeans now and then, maybe in the safety and comfort of your own home. Who knows where it might lead, George, maybe you'll even re-discover your inner Boy.
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4 comments:
At first I thought I could care less. But I clicked through and read the column whole. For much of it, he's actaully quoting some other twoddling dolt, no doubt another upper class twit with droopy cheeks, a hanging neck waddle, and Thurston Howell (from Gilligan's Island) accent. But you Will's (and that other writer's) sentiment exactly right. They decry the attempt of the middle (and heavens, even the upper middle) classes attempt to look agrarian or something like that. Because as we all know, us middle-classers are always thinking about such things.
The bottom line is that these guys belong to class of individuals whose conservatism is of the strain that denies modernity in a simple but atavistic way. They refuse to accpet a simple adage of truth that "times change."
The reason there are "cartoons for adults" and why ghastly number of grown-ups play video games is that those things became popular when those aduts were kids, and unlike Will and his ilk, we saw no reason to give those things up if they coudl become more sophisticated for us as we aged.
As so did "jeans" become popular for our generation of adults (and every one since. Mainly because they were the cheapest, most durable clothes available for us when we were kids, and our folks didn't have a bunch of dough to dress us up like Fred or Ginger.
It wouldn't have been smart to do so anyway; we typically played outside in the woods or vacant lots near our homes after school. Rather than in the lounges, parlours, or libraries of our parents' mansions (because our parent didn't actually own mansions).
It would be easy to right off the priggish aesthetic of teh George Wills as the result of his being "OLD." But I refues to disrespect merely because of age as I age myself. My guess is that people holding views like Akgst and Will prefer the order of a fully classicist society, where there are clear "have and have nots" and where you can tell the difference between them. Because then you can build gated communities for the very few actaul haves and the police have something to go on when keeping the have-nots out of those gated communities.
Now I think I'll go throw on my wetsuit and have a paddle on Puget Sound on my paddleboard. Ooops, lest I think I am coming off as a "wanna be" scuba diver.
Best, David
Ugh, with the typos. Sorry, Mark. This class bullshit gets me worked up if you couldn't tell.
Nice! That turn you took at the end was rather witty. Now I'm off to put on overalls or jumpsuit or something.
Strange blog indeed... however I somewhat agree with Will's stance on Denim... especially for the typical American's complete lack of knowledge when it comes to anything fashionable. Another day of seeing men in "jorts" (jean shorts) and women in "mom jeans" showing their "muffin tops" (fat rolling over), very dreadful. In reality you can pretty much where anything as long you can do it with style, proper fit and perhaps holding yourself with class... P.S. Class isn't decided on how much money you make... I'm proudly at the extreme low end of middle class... but you'd never know it.
Besides the denim, Will seems to lack any sense of reality when it comes to Environmental Issues. Good news though, the majority of conservatives stuck in the "good old days" and consumed with denial are indeed old themselves and dieing off. Times do indeed CHANGE
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