October 27th, 2010 / 1:26 pm
Author Spotlight & Mean

Tortoise and the Hair

Malcolm Gladwell

Getting really tired of Malcolm Gladwell’s “genius” hair, that intentional stylization, or at least neglect, of the intellectually consumed. His 1999 appearance on Charlie Rose is proof that he understands what normal hair is (no comment on the tie). In 2008, on the same show, he looks either high on meth or himself. Gladwell has made a career of being a provocative thinker, and while I do find him pleasantly curious at times, his constantly enthralled persona is exhausting. One more cappuccino on the per-diem en route to The New Yorker offices and he’s gonna have an epiphany about foam. (What the tale don’t tell you is that a fast rabbit is running away from itself.) True, everyone is a poster child of their own cause; I’m just weary of the cause.

Tags:

22 Comments

  1. Blake Butler—

      from David Justice + rogaine to Sideshow Bob

  2. Richard Thomas—

      Sideshow Bob…ha, good one

  3. Sean—

      You people think bloggers are formed when they blog, but you’re wrong. It’s because they had 10,000 hours of access to blogs and also were born not in Kentucky. It’s chance that appears to be logic, but is actually a series of coincidences involving childhood head injuries. That’s what makes bloggers. Ta-da!

  4. Monch—
  5. deadgod—

      Weariness wearies the wearily weary wearisomely.

  6. Guest—

      michael jackson disease

  7. Guest—

      So his new tv show happened AFTER his lighter skin thing happened? If I’ve learned anything from Malcom Gladwell, it’s that correlation=causation, so is David Duke running HBO or what? I feel like if I had his palm-tree haircut, my wife would touch my head more often, gently.

  8. Anonymous—

      actually jimmy, the way i read that is: gladwell changes his appearance to market himself towards different racial demographics.

      1999 no black president

      2008 black president

      interesting changes in 10 years

  9. Alexis—

      “normal” hair? so long natural black hair (afros, etc.) is abnormal? give me a break.

  10. Amy—

      Hey, you should submit this post to your editor at the New Yorker. Oh wait.

  11. amyrhoda—
  12. Jimmy Chen—

      jesus, people are talking about race

  13. Jimmy Chen—

      give me a crowbar and i’ll give you a break bitch

  14. Monch—

      He looked like Tavis Smiley in 1999

  15. Jimmy Chen—
  16. deadgod—

      you despise african-americans for being lazy and stupid

      tim celebrates african-americans for being creative and sporty

      you guys could date – why not?

  17. jereme_dean—

      actually jimmy, the way i read that is: gladwell changes his appearance to market himself towards different racial demographics.

      1999 no black president

      2008 black president

      interesting changes in 10 years

  18. Justin RM—

      Poor old Robert H.

  19. Malcolm—

      this is truly hilarious! but i’m afraid the real explanation is a bit boring. in the 70’s and 80’s, I wore my hair long because people with afro’s wore their hair long in those days. in the 90’s, i wore my hair short because people with afro’s wore their hair short in those days. in the 2000’s, I have worn my hair long again because people with afro’s are wearing their hair long again. just trying to fit in, i’m afraid!

  20. deadgod—

      how many african-american players did you call over off the court and run that witticism by, “Justin RM”?

  21. Guest—

      damn

      is this for real

      bleak

  22. Guest—

      Super cool info nuggets. What does it mean.