Popular Culture and Its Discontents

I was channel surfing while reading the Sunday papers this evening. It’s hard to say which was more depressing. The Nick & Jessica Variety Hour featured Jessica Simpson singing duets with Jewel and Kenny Rogers. In both cases the facial expressions of Simpson’s partners were a study. Jewel was a snaggle-toothed mood ring: boredom, alarm, self-loathing and irritation came and went from her face as Simpson emoted her way through “Who Will Save Your Soul.” Kenny Rogers watched Simpson perform with the bemused expression of one humoring a not terribly precocious niece who’s wandered on stage.
Then there’s the ABC series Alias, which features Jennifer Garner as a CIA officer. It is absolutely unwatchable for two reasons: Every time I see Garner I think drag queen; and I’ve caught her on two talk show appearances, during which she took herself so seriously that you’d think she actually disarmed nuclear weapons for a living. In a particularly bad spasm of self importance she told Conan O’Brien: “Snuck isn’t a word. You went to Harvard, Conan! You should know that.” When the Late Night host produced a dictionary after the break, Garner’s expression was one of naked loathing.