Ignorant and proud

That would be Variety's Peter Bart, who in a single paragraph manages to blow off almost 4 million people and an economy of around $400 billion. Now that really takes some doing. The graph in question is in a column by NYT media columnist David Carr (Kevin had an earlier post at LAO). Carr discovers a disconnect between Hollywood mindlessness and the financial meltdown. Anyway, here's Bart's quote:

“It’s times like these that some of those jokes about the people in Los Angeles seem valid,” said Peter Bart, the editor in chief of Variety. “There has always been the suggestion that this city is not acutely conscious of what is going on in the rest of the world, and this is one of the times when it lives up to the reputation. There are many people here who don’t read a lot and because of that are less obsessed by what is happening back in New York.”

Now let's review: Bart concludes that we're all morons, don't read much, don't follow the news, and certainly don't care about anything that’s not related to weekend grosses. Mind you, this isn't coming from some schmucky New Yorker - the guy lives in L.A.! Bart, of course, is no stranger to such parochialisms, but this time out you have to give him credit for the succinctness of his nonsense (where's Todd Palin when we need him?). Here's how Carr finishes up.:

New Yorkers have long written off Los Angeles as a sideshow, a city where real business is not done. But for the time being, entertainment is making bets even as manufacturing, retailing, and now financial engineering tank. Americans have not demonstrated a great deal of mastery over capitalism, our gift to the world. But we still know how to put on a show.