Why conservatives need to change the way they talk about pop culture

From Girls to rap, right-wing pundits often betray embarrassing prejudices when talking about entertainment

"Girls"
(Image credit: HBO/Jessica Miglio)

In an essay for the conservative site Breitbart, Kurt Schlichter writes that conservatives, despite their misgivings, should try to familiarize themselves with the popular television series Girls. He argues that conservatives are too closed off from the cultural fabric of American life, too absent from the office water cooler, too insulated in a "closed loop echo chamber." Any veneer of open-mindedness, however, is shattered when Schilchter describes Girls thusly:

Girls is about four young, aimless college grads living in New York. Think of Sex and the City, except Sarah Jessica Parker has doubled her weight, dresses like a potato sack, and fancies herself the voice of some undefined generation. There's sex and nudity — just not hot Homeland sex and nudity. This is the first show in the history of cable television where male viewers actively root for the heroine to keep her clothes on. [Breitbart]

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Ryu Spaeth

Ryu Spaeth is deputy editor at TheWeek.com. Follow him on Twitter.