Burning Out On Pop Culture

Pop culture is, by definition, fun. It’s fun to keep up with celebrities, fun to gossip with friends about the latest fashions, albums, movies, etc. But these days, there’s just so much pop culture to soak in that keeping oneself on the cutting edge is almost a full time job. “How [can] anyone find time to update their LiveJournals, finish reading the new Sheila Heti novel, or get tickets for the just announced M.I.A./LCD Soundsystem show in May? They had to stay up to the wee hours just to kill a few more soldiers in the new Splinter Cell or druggies in Narc. And who had time to wait for the perfect iPod Shuffle moment to magically appear?” Welcome to the phenomenon known as ‘hipster burnout.’