Larryville's Diversity Is Called Into Question! / The Boys Consider Frat Boy Culture

Nothing upsets local progressives more than questioning the city's devotion to diversity. Well, brace yourselves, folks, because a panel from the American Institute of Architects recently completed a study here which concluded that Larryville has a “ 'paucity of celebration and nurturing of diversity' ” and what cultural assets the community does have are 'disconnected'" (LJ-World).

To prove them wrong, the city has organized a "Festival of Cultures" to be held on Sept. 27 and feature 50 different booths representing the city's various racial and ethnic groups.

Local NAACP president Robbie Derritt says in the LJ-World: “I think one of the issues has been that there are different cultures that you really don’t see out and about. They are not really showing their true numbers. It is a problem when you have people staying indoors and not getting out in the community.”

Chip: "I agree. Although we have an Indian College here, it's rare to see an Indian in downtown Larryville. And I'm pretty sure they're allowed in the bars, so it isn't that we deliberately exclude them. I guess maybe they just prefer the comforts of their homes, or wigwams, as they call them."

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KC rapper Mac Lethal's new video (check it out in our sidebar) offers a fun satirical look at frat-boy culture, but it has also made the boys realize that they actually know very little about said culture beyond the basic facts such as: frat boys love the songs of Dave Matthews and the mellow vibe of Jack Johnson; frat boys enjoy the comedy of Dane Cook; frat boys hang out at It's Brothers; frat boys get a lot of pussy.

But apparently they read books as well, specifically Tucker Max's bestseller called I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, which is now a major motion picture which screened in Larryville last night to a sold-out crowd at Liberty Hall (which is odd, given that the place is staffed entirely by liberal townies who detest frat-boy culture, as you can see from the site's tweets yesterday: "Liberty Hall is Douche Bag Headquarters! Beware! #tuckermax" and "Tucker Max and I are not going to get along. Broadzilla.".

For those unfamiliar with Max, a recent LA-Times piece offers a rundown. In Max's "fratire," as it's been termed, he "rates women on a scale from "common-stock pig" to "super hottie" and declares himself a "professional at humiliating and 'debasing' people." His book "has sold a million copies. It famously remained on the New York Times bestseller list for more than 100 weeks and earned the writer a spot on Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People list for 2009."

According to the LA Times piece, the continuing sold-out screenings in university towns are typically accompanied by protests from women's groups, with the leader of one such group in North Carolina quoted as saying: "Films and books like his disguise disrespect, objectification and abusive behavior toward women as comedy and try to make it culturally acceptable."

While this blog has, at least once, been accused of similar charges, we want to distance ourselves from the work of the likes of Tucker Max simply because, as near as we can tell, it's simply unfunny.

Chip: "But I suppose I might end up checking out the film anyway, if it has a lot of titties in it."