I'm a big fan of pop-culture studies. Back in my grad school days, I spent countless hours reading endless (and I do mean endless) essays on everything from queer porn to the various manifestations of Madonna (which are, in certain ways, kinda the same thing). For the most part these sorts of papers were written by academic hipsters--people with a good sense of humor out to enlighten and entertain. They were also, quite often, very good writers.
How sad is it then that the new academic examination of The Simpsons looks so dreafully bad? I mean, how could you go wrong? And yet, they apparently do.
