I promised myself I wouldn't do it again...

...But I just had to see what global warming agnostic Camille Paglia had to say this month. To the tape!

About the deaths of Ingmar Bergman and Michelangelo Antoniono, she says, that nothing of equal philosophical weight equal to "The Seventh Seal" or "Blowup". In fact,

"Perhaps only George Lucas' multilayered, six-film "Star Wars" epic can genuinely claim classic status."

I was scrounging for some kind of cultural analog to Paglia contra-intuitive pop cultural observations, and what comes closest, in my mind, is the dean in Michael Chabon's Wonder Boys who writes "a critical exploration of the union of Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe and its function in American poetics, tentatively titled 'The Last American Marriage'."

Leave it to academia to fetishize utter trash. But I do have to say, at least Paglia transcends poor taste; hers is spectacularly, unbelievably shitty. Remember, she referred to Anna Nicole Smith as someone on par with one of Warhol's superstars.

Then, there was this: "Rock will be spectacularly reborn by a faithful return to roots."

Because lately we've completely ignored '60s rock. And anyways, isn't this what Elvis impersonators and Beatles tribute bands are supposed to do?

And then... well, just read, if you must.

In general, aspiring young performers emerging from the bland white middle class in America seem to be having trouble expressing or controlling emotion, with its myriad of subtle gradations. Unless they hail from the gospel-rich South, they lack direct experience of the vocal authority and operatic dynamics that most young African-Americans automatically absorb from church.

Another nice thing I can say about Paglia, she's made an art form of the vast, sweeping generalization. I remember saying to myself when I first heard "Staring at the Sun" by TV on the Radio, these guys have trouble expressing themselves. There's just no subtle emotional gradation I tell you, none!