Los Angeles Times staff writer Christian Berthelsen, in a piece of writing I can't quite classify (was it a news story? commentary? satire?), titled “OC how far they'll go to be hip,” somehow worked nearly every tired text messaging joke from those AT&T wireless commercials into a barely concealed hostile barrage of smug assholery against our fair county and its arguably misguided branding attempts to make everything “OC.”
Get your bucket, (keep in mind, this ran on the front page of the Orange County edition) here's an example of Berthlesen's acerbic wit:
OMG!
Seeking to capitalize on its TV fame as America's quintessential suburb, Orange County moved to rename its government functions Tuesday with slicked-up, simplified names to remind everyone of exactly where they are: The OC!
. . .
Whatev! Supervisors voted 4 to 1, with Bates opposed, to keep it OC Parks. Guess they won't be BFFs 4-eva.
Har-dy, har har. The reporter decided that the best way to rip into Orange County's notorious pop-culture whoredom was by comparing us to a bunch of txt messaging 12-year-olds.
WTF?
Just like every other self-righteous prick who tries to reduce Orange County into one monotonous 3 million person suburb of Hollywood, using the much maligned Beverly Hills 90210 knock-off known as “The OC” as evidence, Berthelsen has his head so far up his own ass that he fails to see that simplifying the words Orange and County to OC is not only rad, but also gnarly.
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I doubt this article would have raised my hackles if it cleverly skewered our incredulously weird, but beloved county in a way that was actually funny. After all, don't get me wrong, I'm as self-deprecating as the next guy. Every one knows that being able to laugh at yourself is great way to win friends and disarm chicks (especially against pepper spray).
My problem is with Berthelsen. In wasting my time and money with his lame critique, he also missed a great opportunity to take a meaningful angle on the story, such as, how much will this dumbass, unnecessary re-branding cost me: Joe Taxpayer.
