Must I care about all this?

Does it seem to anyone else like we are living in some kind of age that we’re almost expected to have some kind of response to every single pop culture thing that happens? That we not only have to have an opinion on everything but that it has to be so totally extreme? I can’t do it. I know this will sound pretty rich coming from someone who has shared many, many opinions on trivial nonsense for many, many years, but I just can’t summon a hot take on everything.

Take the recent example of Lady Gaga singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl. It was a good performance but I didn’t need to read a 1,000-word exegesis of it, labeling it a watershed moment for … I guess sparkly red pantsuits (I await the two-volume set on Whitney Houston’s two-minute, 15-second Super Bowl national anthem). Lady Gaga’s song was fine. It was “The Star-Spangled Banner” and she sang it. When it was over, the game started. That’s pretty much my feeling.

From the same Super Bowl, take Cam Newton’s attitude after losing. I can see either side of this: That someone who mugs for the camera when he wins shouldn’t duck the camera when he loses or that people are allowed to be upset when they lose a big game. But I just can’t summon up any fire for either position.

Then there was the Grammys and am I supposed to be completely outraged about who won or who lost or Taylor Swift saying something about Kanye West or whatever grabbed headlines?

Oh God, I can’t care enough even to finish this entry. Sometimes I think we were better off when only a certain amount of commentary fit on a printed page so only the most cogent stuff made it in. Now the space is unlimited online and so are the scorching hot takes about whatever stupid bullshit we’ll forget about in 20 minutes.