The first time I watched this scene, Ruth walked in just as
it was happening to ask me a question about William James. To be clear, Ruth
and I do not typically sit around and discuss philosophy. Mostly we talk
about the dogs and the bills and what to do for dinner and all the other stuff
married people talk about. But in this moment Ruth wanted to interrupt my
viewing of Jersey Shore to discuss
the father of American Pragmatism.
Reader, I shushed her. I want to be clear that I do not
frequently shush my wife. I’m not claiming any special degree of wokeness; I
just happen not be the shushing type. But in that moment, I shushed her. In my
defense, the quintessential television scene of our epoch was unfolding before
my very eyes.
Behold the power of steroids, cocaine, and human folly:
It’s tempting to say that an angry white man willfully
slamming his head into a concrete wall is a perfect metaphor for America in the
2010’s. But at the same time, I don’t want to over-read this scene. Let the moment
be all vehicle, no tenor. It is what it is. It’s a ridiculous man smashing his
head into a wall. Hard.
I relish the fact that this happened in a foreign country,
since it no doubt allowed the Italian medical professionals to openly mock The Situation
while treating him. I’m sure that provided them with a measure of comfort.
Jwoww later asserts that “this isn’t funny anymore.” I disagree.
Based on recent seasons of Jersey Shore (yeah, I’m still watching), it appears that Michael
Sorrentino has changed his life for the better. We're grading on a curve here--he did spend the better part of 2019 in federal prison--but still, rehab seems to have helped, and I hope that it is not just the editing room making it look like he has
learned to be a bit more chill in middle age.
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