26.10.04
Shark-Jumping Update
No link in particular, but just - Wonkette has really jumped the shark. It's always been snarky, but now it's snarky and unfunny, without anal sex jokes.
Oh, wait - this (an actually not-that-atrocious Howie Kurtz article) is the shark-jump (though the NYT Magazine blogger multi-profile is close):
Okay - Wonkette, a message to you: we liked you when you made jokes about anal sex. And bringing that whole Jessica Cutler deal to our collective attention was very awesome. But...well, the NYT profile kinda exposed you as a wanna-be "real press" sycophant:
And now pretending you're a media analyst? Um, no. I pretend I'm a media analyst, but that's my schtick (and, um, nobody believes me). You make jokes about anal sex. That's your schtick (no pun intended).
The blogs are the nerds, honey. You got popular with the nerds by talking to them about sex, and making fun of the Kool Kids to (they thought with) them. And now you decide that you're cooler than the nerds, and wanna be one of the Kool Kids. But that's the thing about the Kool Kids - they don't care about you. They're Kool. The nerds, we're nerds - we take all comers, but ya gotta play nice (yelling is okay - being a jerk is not).
Oh, wait - this (an actually not-that-atrocious Howie Kurtz article) is the shark-jump (though the NYT Magazine blogger multi-profile is close):
All of which means "the Jon Stewart backlash should start right about now," says Ana Marie Cox, also known as Web satirist Wonkette. "Stewart has pretty much painted a target on his chest with his 'Crossfire' appearance. To say his is just a comedy show is a cop-out in a way. He's gotten so much power. So many people look to him that you can't really be the kid in the back throwing spitballs."Hmmm...et tu, Wonkette? Far be it from me to snipe at...wait, no, that's what I do.
...
"It's not that young people don't like politics," says Cox, of Wonkette.com. "The way politics is talked about in the media is alienating. They're seeing Jon Stewart as a kind of hero who will lead us out of the darkness." Of course, she adds, "that's not his job."
Okay - Wonkette, a message to you: we liked you when you made jokes about anal sex. And bringing that whole Jessica Cutler deal to our collective attention was very awesome. But...well, the NYT profile kinda exposed you as a wanna-be "real press" sycophant:
The Wonkette comes off as someone who is the most ripe for backlash - laughing at your readers and ridiculing other bloggers ain't gonna make you too many friends. Not that she seems the least bit concerned about that. Better she gets her invites to the right parties...Yeah, that pretty much does it.
And now pretending you're a media analyst? Um, no. I pretend I'm a media analyst, but that's my schtick (and, um, nobody believes me). You make jokes about anal sex. That's your schtick (no pun intended).
The blogs are the nerds, honey. You got popular with the nerds by talking to them about sex, and making fun of the Kool Kids to (they thought with) them. And now you decide that you're cooler than the nerds, and wanna be one of the Kool Kids. But that's the thing about the Kool Kids - they don't care about you. They're Kool. The nerds, we're nerds - we take all comers, but ya gotta play nice (yelling is okay - being a jerk is not).
perma-linky posted by jkd : 21:03
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you sure you're not just filled with hate and bile over her 275k book deal, where she basically writes her blog as a book with more fiction and gets paid for it? 'cause i am, and i don't even have a right to be. that's a lotta K is all i'm saying.
To my way of thinking all comedy comes from a point of view (or a character/caricature). The problem with Wonkette ragging on TDS and Jon Stewart is that she's lost her humorous edge by giving up her point of view. You cannot take shots at all comers from all angles (again not a Wonkette sex joke...but could be). Changing teams midstream (a la Dennis Miller) just makes you a weak willed opportunist. So now Wonkette thinks it's funny to make fun of the bloggers. And Dennis Miller supports the stupid candidate. Should I expect Lewis Black to do a Starbucks commercial? Jeff Foxworthy can announce the incredible joy of driving the new Audi TT. Comedy has to come from somewhere and some p.o.v. if you jetison your p.o.v. you become a p.o.s.
Who knows what the actual book will look like, but I saw the proposal and it was horrible. Almost identical in style and tone to Sammy's Hill, which Cox savaged in the NYT book review, and to the shitty roman a clef that J. Cutler got just as ridiculous a sum for. Unless she somehow has a genius editor who convinces her to rewrite every single word, the book will be funnier than anything she's ever written on wonkette -- just not on purpose. If there's any justice in the world (which, today, I'm seriously doubting), she'll crash and burn as quickly as she rose to quasi-fame. So, uh, take comfort in the thin, cheap blanket of that sentiment.
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# posted by 
: 3:39 PM
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