Monthly Archives: November 2013
Don’t Speak For We
Jeremy Gordon examines the reliance on the collective pronoun in making an argument:
Over time, the “royal we” has made its way from the mouths of Queen Victoria and Margaret Thatcher into our writing. At best, it seems a crutch, while at worst it’s an assumed arrogance. Here’s but one example from The New Yorker’s Sasha Frere-Jones, writing a jeremiad against Jay-Z:
However thick the darkness, we drag ourselves into arguments, up to lecterns, because we have not let go of each other yet. We still think we can fix a thing that shows no sign of ever being fixed.
… [I]t’s clear this isn’t a literal case of the royal “we.” (It’s hard to imagine any music writer being that arrogant.) Instead, it’s a rhetorical trick to make the reader say “I guess I do drag myself into the argument despite the thickness of the darkness!” Because with…
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The Addams Family: The most well-adjusted family on television?
I was watching an interview today with the four remaining members of the original Addams Family. It was very entertaining, and I especially liked the comment made by John Astin (who played the original Gomez Addams) that at the time, the Addams Family were probably the best role models on television. When I thought about it, I realised that he was right. In the age of the Brady Bunch, the Beverly Hilbillies and Lost in Space, the Addams’ clan provided more positive family messages than most programs at the time. Don’t believe me? Read on…
Gomez and Morticia
Gomez and Morticia Addams have always been portrayed as a loving, romantic couple. They spend a great deal of time alone with one another, and aren’t afraid to show their affection. John Astin passed comment that Gomez and Morticia were the only couple on TV at the…
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