Life weighs in…

… The End of Irony. Or Not. – Lingua Franca - Blogs - The Chronicle of Higher Education. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

And that brings me to Vonnegut’s fellow Hoosier David Letterman, whose final television broadcast aired last night. Think of Letterman mouthing the words “television broadcast” — or “beverage” or “ladies and gentlemen” or even introducing himself as “Dave” Letterman — and you get a sense that he was working similar effects, in the realm of the television broadcast. The opposite of irony is sincerity, and sincerity has for a long time been debased by TV talkers, with their sympathetic nods, creased brows, and phony concern. For years and years, Letterman was palpably not sincere in a single syllable he uttered.

Letterman never did anything for me. I think people laughed, not because anything he said was especially funny, but because by laughing they signaled that they were hip, they got it, even if they didn't, even if there really wasn't anything to get, which was usually the case.