Please go read this article, which Hillary linked to. If you were ever wondering what clap clap blog porn might look like, this is pretty close to the archetype of one variation.[1] It includes the following elements: zombies, American Idol, "subversion," anti-popism, reality TV, pop inclusionism, misguided leftism, and the phrase "24-hour zombie watch." I read it and my brain blinks these big lights in my peripheral vision labeled "MAJOR POST" but it's like it's so perfect there's nothing more for me to say. How can I explicate perhaps the most perfect allegory ever? A bunch of students have impotence[2] issues ("TV makes you powerless to resist it, but somehow we have resisted it--due no doubt to us having broken free of the shackles of civilization etc. etc.--so therefore we must have the power to dress up in zombie outfits and actually frighten people, because those people are sheep! Sheeeep!") and engage in some "street theater" of dubious effiacy (my reaction probably would've been along the lines of, "Oh, awesome, we're covering 'Thriller'!"), only to find, when they actually approach and examine the object of their critique, that it does not seek to destroy but only to embrace, and so they are embraced, and find that they like it. And who doesn't like zombies? Happy endings all around.

I also like the fact that the organizers somehow thought that by using craigslist, an extremely popular public forum, that they would "fly under the radar." Because American Idol people, they are too square to known about an element of revolutionary change like craigslist. Hee.

[1] Another variation would heavily feature bacon. Don't ask.
[2] Just since it's been a while, when I say "impotence," I don't mean erectile disfunction, I mean the feeling of being powerless. Although there's probably an interesting explication lurking there, too.
posted by Mike B. at 11:01 AM 0 comments