Super Bad

News surfaced yesterday that the University of Arizona, within which I'm posting from now, enrolls roughly a thousand fewer international students today than it did prior to the September 11th attacks; down from 3011 in the autumn semester of 2002, to 2164 for this semester. Less surprisingly, the Middle-Eastern undergraduate enrollment has fallen by 64%. So the question arises, is it really due to 9/11 or is there more to it? Well, I have a feeling there is an element of 'isolationism' to American Zeitgeist that somewhat denies foreign prospective students the appeal that the culture provides. Obviously, interest in the Ivy League Schools is unlikely to diminish, and I speak as an exception to this trend, but my case was only bolstered by the film I foolishly watched yesterday: Superbad. In the timeless words of the good Doctor Kermode, "the review is in the title". Why didn't I listen? Good question. After watching two quiet classics, A History of Violence and This is England, this film stood out like a sore thumb as a banal attempt at holding a mirror to US High School psychology: everyone has to get drunk and get laid. It was misogynistic, infantile, vindictive, and depressing - not only did this film hold the US Box Office No.1 for 4 weeks, but the audience were doubling over in fits of laughter at every childish line of crass dialogue. I was left distinctly saddened by the state of American pop-culture at present. What society have I immersed myself in where people laugh at period blood. From yesterday onward, I've concluded that these are the reasons deterring international students; the poisonous sub-art that has infected our mainstream consciousness. Yesterday, I was repulsed. More tomorrow.