ThomasLitchford

I’m a little afraid that this — or perhaps this (notice a trend?) — represents the peak of what our culture is capable of producing.

When everything is permissible, when everything has been deconstructed, mocked, shown to be unreliable and/or hypocritical, what is there left for writers to do?

Pervasive irony is the result of a civilization that has lost its sense of mystery. Television and the internet provide all the info most of us could ever need/want. So, in the absence of anything really new and exciting, irony provides the shock of the unexpected in an artificial way. Irony is a tool, not a mode of expression.

Beyond irony is absurdity: Chuck Palahniuk, South Park, almost all sitcoms. Absurdity doesn’t reflect reality in any meaningful way. It doesn’t teach us anything about our condition. Absurdity just flaunts the meaninglessness of it all. And Samuel Beckett has that covered.

So, to reiterate, what is there left for writers to do?

To be continued…