February 18, 2014

"But it all ties into Generation Wuss and its wussy influence on social media to a degree; if you have a snarky opinion about anything, you’re a douche."

"To me, that’s problematic. It limits discourse. If you just like everything, what are we going to talk about? How great everything is? How often I’ve pushed the Like button on my Facebook page? Is it BuzzFeed who said they’re not going to run any negative reviews any more? Really, guys? What’s going to happen to culture then? What’s going to happen to conversation? It’s going to die."

Something Bret Easton Ellis said right after saying that "David Foster Wallace is a complete fraud" who by committing suicide has acquired "a very sentimental narrative."

Much more at the link, including a photo of Bret, lounging on his bed. He's barefoot and propped up with pillows and has Kleenex and a cell phone nearby. I don't think he was in that pose at exactly the moment when he denounced Generation Wuss and its wussy influence, but it's funny to think that.

19 comments:

Ron said...

If I gave an Atomic Rats Powered Ass what Ellis thinks, I would be Lord God Emperor Douche of Douchonia! Nuff' said!

David said...

Kleenex and a cell phone.

Ohhh boy.

Fen said...

"if you have a snarky opinion about anything, you're a douche"

No, its just that snark is the last refuge of nihilist sissies.

Less Woody Allen, more John Wayne please.

Brian said...

"You have to understand that I’m coming to these things as a member of the most pessimistic and ironic generation that has ever roamed the earth."

Ellis, disproving his own claim that Millenials are unique in their weakness and narcissism.

Michael said...

Boy is he ever right about three name!

madAsHell said...

I think there's been a mistake. That photo was intended for his Craigslist account under the men-seeking-men category.

Matt Sablan said...

I read a great essay "The Disapproval Inherent in Silence," or something, in a leadership course. It basically said: If you get known for only giving good criticism, silence on your part is very telling.

KCFleming said...

Last year, Ellis called it the 'Reign of the Gay Magical Elves.'

Now it's Generation Wuss (i.e., not just for gays).

Trying to get something to go viral.
So to speak.

mccullough said...

One of the things I really like about DFW's writing is that it tries to get past irony. It's post-ironic. Irony, though still enjoyable when done well, is really naive and limiting after awhile.



Foobarista said...

Snark jumped the shark long ago...

Foobarista said...

Snark jumped the shark long ago...

The Crack Emcee said...

"if you have a snarky opinion about anything, you're a douche"

Haven't I been talking about white boys insisting on being cute, trying to be clever? They're so into that, they can't think.

Wallace was pretty worthless, though. Throwing a lot of words and keen observations around a bad idea - and his suicide confirms it was a bad idea - doesn't redeem anything.

His was explosive claptrap from the first moment I read it,...

Ignorance is Bliss said...

...if you have a snarky opinion about anything, you’re a douche.

Hey, I'm a douche whether I have a snarky opinion about something or not.

Sigivald said...

"Snarky" and "negative" are not synonyms, is the core problem with his analysis.

tim maguire said...

Is that what snark means? To voice a negative opinion?

No, I don't think Mr. Ellis quite has it right. I follow the lead of Jon Stewart, the King of Snark, who clearly uses it to belittle claims and arguments without the messy bother of addressing the substance of said claims and arguments.

john said...

I appreciate him giving me a bit of cover now on criticizing DFW.

Valentine Smith said...

Each generation anchored to the prior one by huge resentments. Boomers provide comfort and ease, soften 'em up, remove all the strife of survival and become despised by your progeny for their own weaknesses. Just as they despised the depression era folks. Excess follows want. Hubris! Do your own thing!, up until your thing does you.

Older generations seethe at their own irrelevance. Ellis hollow writer composing hollow narratives about a hollow culture doesn't even rank as a poseur, his gayness a PR prop for social media.

Anonymous said...

Except, even to his own GenX, Bret Easton Ellis has always been infamously douchey - so it's hard to say.

RazorSharpSundries said...

I agree with him on his opinion vis David Foster Wallace but otherwise Bret himself is an vastly overrated writer himself who has promulgated just as much wrongheaded pseudo-intellectual garbage as the dearly departed David Foster.