{"id":55761,"date":"2014-11-07T16:39:47","date_gmt":"2014-11-07T23:39:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?p=55761"},"modified":"2014-12-28T19:46:53","modified_gmt":"2014-12-29T02:46:53","slug":"how-the-chronically-dumb-lena-dunham-was-packaged-and-marketed-by-our-manufacturers-of-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2014\/11\/how-the-chronically-dumb-lena-dunham-was-packaged-and-marketed-by-our-manufacturers-of-culture.html","title":{"rendered":"How the Chronically Dumb Lena Dunham was Packaged and Marketed by Our Manufacturers of Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

A really terrific takedown of this embarrassing cultural phenom from James Wolcott at the New Republic<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Such is the critical protection racket for the Lena Dunham legend that even Daum\u2019s comparison of her subject to Woody Allen and J.\u2009D. Salinger was found not flattering, but mildly deflating. \u201cComparing Lena Dunham to Woody Allen Is Unfair<\/span>\u2014<\/span>To Lena Dunham,\u201d contended\u00a0<\/span>a headline<\/a>\u00a0at the Indiewire site, assuming a contrarian stance. \u201cLikening the \u2018Girls\u2019 Auteur to Allen and Salinger predictably raises hackles,\u201d the subhead read, \u201cbut what had they done at her age?\u201d The author, critic, and hackles-tamer Sam Adams, wrote, \u201cIt\u2019s worth pointing out that at 28, which is Dunham\u2019s age now, Woody Allen was a successful but not widely known comedy writer and standup comic who had yet to release his first album, and J.\u2009D. Salinger was still four years away from publishing\u00a0<\/span>The Catcher in the Rye.<\/em>\u201d The article neglects to note that perhaps the reason Salinger didn\u2019t match Dunham\u2019s precocious output was because his early twenties were interrupted by something known as World War II (it was in all the papers), during which the future novelist was drafted, landed ashore at Utah Beach on D-Day, took part in the Battle of the Bulge and the Battle of Hurtgen Forest, interrogated prisoners of war as a member of the counter-intelligence division, and bore witness to one of the newly liberated concentration camps, a sub-camp of Dachau; after the war, Salinger entered a mental hospital, suffering from what today would be designated post-traumatic stress disorder. So the guy was busy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Meanwhile, Rod Dreher chronicles the baleful influence this spoiled, rich, self-involved dimwitted has on our culture<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A really terrific takedown of this embarrassing cultural phenom from James Wolcott at the New Republic: Such is the critical protection racket for the Lena Dunham legend that even Daum\u2019s comparison of her subject to Woody Allen and J.\u2009D. Salinger was found not flattering, but mildly deflating. \u201cComparing Lena Dunham to Woody Allen Is Unfair\u2014To […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[217],"class_list":["post-55761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-manufacturing-consent"],"yoast_head":"\nHow the Chronically Dumb Lena Dunham was Packaged and Marketed by Our Manufacturers of Culture<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A really terrific takedown of this embarrassing cultural phenom from James Wolcott at the New Republic: Such is the critical protection racket for the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2014\/11\/how-the-chronically-dumb-lena-dunham-was-packaged-and-marketed-by-our-manufacturers-of-culture.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How the Chronically Dumb Lena Dunham was Packaged and Marketed by Our Manufacturers of Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A really terrific takedown of this embarrassing cultural phenom from James Wolcott at the New Republic: Such is the critical protection racket for the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2014\/11\/how-the-chronically-dumb-lena-dunham-was-packaged-and-marketed-by-our-manufacturers-of-culture.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Catholic and Enjoying It!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-11-07T23:39:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-12-29T02:46:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark Shea\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Shea\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2014\/11\/how-the-chronically-dumb-lena-dunham-was-packaged-and-marketed-by-our-manufacturers-of-culture.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2014\/11\/how-the-chronically-dumb-lena-dunham-was-packaged-and-marketed-by-our-manufacturers-of-culture.html\",\"name\":\"How the Chronically Dumb Lena Dunham was Packaged and Marketed by Our Manufacturers of Culture\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-11-07T23:39:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-12-29T02:46:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5\"},\"description\":\"A really terrific takedown of this embarrassing cultural phenom from James Wolcott at the New Republic: Such is the critical protection racket for the\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2014\/11\/how-the-chronically-dumb-lena-dunham-was-packaged-and-marketed-by-our-manufacturers-of-culture.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2014\/11\/how-the-chronically-dumb-lena-dunham-was-packaged-and-marketed-by-our-manufacturers-of-culture.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2014\/11\/how-the-chronically-dumb-lena-dunham-was-packaged-and-marketed-by-our-manufacturers-of-culture.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How the Chronically Dumb Lena Dunham was Packaged and Marketed by Our Manufacturers of Culture\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/\",\"name\":\"Catholic and Enjoying It!\",\"description\":\"Mark Shea's Blog: So That No Thought of Mine, No Matter How Stupid, Should Ever Go Unpublished Again!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5\",\"name\":\"Mark Shea\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mark Shea\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/author\/markshea\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How the Chronically Dumb Lena Dunham was Packaged and Marketed by Our Manufacturers of Culture","description":"A really terrific takedown of this embarrassing cultural phenom from James Wolcott at the New Republic: Such is the critical protection racket for the","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2014\/11\/how-the-chronically-dumb-lena-dunham-was-packaged-and-marketed-by-our-manufacturers-of-culture.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How the Chronically Dumb Lena Dunham was Packaged and Marketed by Our Manufacturers of Culture","og_description":"A really terrific takedown of this embarrassing cultural phenom from James Wolcott at the New Republic: Such is the critical protection racket for the","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2014\/11\/how-the-chronically-dumb-lena-dunham-was-packaged-and-marketed-by-our-manufacturers-of-culture.html","og_site_name":"Catholic and Enjoying It!","article_published_time":"2014-11-07T23:39:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-12-29T02:46:53+00:00","author":"Mark Shea","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark Shea","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2014\/11\/how-the-chronically-dumb-lena-dunham-was-packaged-and-marketed-by-our-manufacturers-of-culture.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2014\/11\/how-the-chronically-dumb-lena-dunham-was-packaged-and-marketed-by-our-manufacturers-of-culture.html","name":"How the Chronically Dumb Lena Dunham was Packaged and Marketed by Our Manufacturers of Culture","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-11-07T23:39:47+00:00","dateModified":"2014-12-29T02:46:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5"},"description":"A really terrific takedown of this embarrassing cultural phenom from James Wolcott at the New Republic: Such is the critical protection racket for the","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2014\/11\/how-the-chronically-dumb-lena-dunham-was-packaged-and-marketed-by-our-manufacturers-of-culture.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2014\/11\/how-the-chronically-dumb-lena-dunham-was-packaged-and-marketed-by-our-manufacturers-of-culture.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2014\/11\/how-the-chronically-dumb-lena-dunham-was-packaged-and-marketed-by-our-manufacturers-of-culture.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How the Chronically Dumb Lena Dunham was Packaged and Marketed by Our Manufacturers of Culture"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/","name":"Catholic and Enjoying It!","description":"Mark Shea's Blog: So That No Thought of Mine, No Matter How Stupid, Should Ever Go Unpublished Again!","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/c1a9ac1e557d3c626974fd6692818ad5","name":"Mark Shea","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f287911f45adc932ad24ddbae3597ed5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mark Shea"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/author\/markshea"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55761\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}