Editor's Introduction

摘要

In the week I write this editor's introduction, three great outbursts dominate the mediascape: Joe Wilson's infamous "You lie" shout to President Barack Obama during his speech to the joint session of Congress, Serena Williams's profane threat to the lineswoman in the 2009 U.S. Open, and Kanye West's immature tirade at MTV's Video Music Award (VMA) by jumping onstage and interrupting Taylor Swift's acceptance speech. As I watch journalists (As I watch journalists and cultural critics) rush to diagnose what these outbursts say about our culture with fascination-diagnoses diverse as a culture of narcissism, a culture of incivility, a culture of self-promotion, and a culture of mistrust of authority and cynicism fueled by the Glenn Becks of today-1 can't help but think of the meaning of criticism.