Rolling Stone Reality Show on MTV? Now They’ve Really Gone and Done It
January 21, 2007
Man- oh man. If there’s anything I don’t want to hear (besides Carlotta Gall being detained, beaten and intellectually stolen from, see below) it’s that Rolling Stone magazine, already the homogenized rag that it is, is now working with MTV to produce a reality show where contestants compete for a contibuting editor position at the magazine. The 1/22 issue of The New Yorker has an interesting article by Tad Friend on the subject. He details the amatuerish subjects and questions why Rolling Stone would ever hire any of them, as if Rolling Stone ever hires anyone these days. He details the poor writing of each contestant, and shows why the best writer of them all, “Russell,” will probably not make the cut. “The process of prose composition is fairly boring to watch, and shows like this prize drama and charisma- the old high school values.”
Aha! So if I can bring “drama” and “charisma” to my daily dealings, I can make it? Yet again, an example of American popular culture telling the young that it’s not tough out there- if you’ve got the ‘tude. Work for something? Never….
As one girl, Krishtine, says, “I’m trying to, like, make myself known on the scene as Rolling Stone’s hip-hop celebrity.” What scene? Does this girl care about music criticism? Friend concludes, “She won’t get the job, but she couldn’t care less.”
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If dear old Hunter S. Thompson were still alive, he’d set Jann Wenner on fire and throw him out of the window of his corporate office.
It’s a disgrace to see Rolling Stone following trends instead of setting them. Especially when teaming up with a nightmare entity like MTV, who have done everything possible to kill music. We’re in some fierce fucking shambles.
I wonder what DeCurtis thinks about all of this?
I know you haven’t seen the show, but the contestants – not interns – were horrendous from top to bottom. You could hire a monkey with a pencil in his mouth and he’d produce better stories than these somewhat-photogenic dipshits.
Mahalo!