Chuck Klosterman - Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs

Nine Inch Nails

Nirvana

No Depression (Uncle Tupelo)

Nolan, Christopher

Nuzum, Eric

Nylon Curtain, The (Joel)

Oasis

Odd Couple

OK Computer (Radiohead)

Oklahoma City bombing

Omega Code, The

“One in a Million” (Guns N’ Roses)

OutKast

“Paradise by the Dashboard Light”(Meat Loaf)

Paradise City

“Paradise City” (Guns N’ Roses)

Pareles, Jon

Parental Advisory (Nuzum)

Parish, Robert

“Patience” (Guns N’ Roses)

patriotism

Pearl Jam

Phair, Liz

Philadelphia 76ers

“Piano Man” (Joel)

Pirner, Dave

Pohlman, Rob

Pornograffiti (Extreme)

pornography

Portland Trail Blazers

postmodernism

Premonition

“Pressure” (Joel)

Pretty Hate Machine (Nine Inch Nails)

Pulp Fiction

race issues: Lakers-Celtics rivalry; rap music; The Real World and

Radiohead

Rambis, Kurt

Ramirez, Richard “Night Stalker,”

Rapture, The

reality: movies and; TV and

Reality Bites

Reed, Lou

Reeves, Keanu

relationships: conversation, male vs. female; conversation vs. silence in; dating, discussions; fake love; friends; Harry-Met-Sally situation; introductory questions; “Just the Way You Are” and; lies; music and stereotypical feelings; Odd Couple ; perfect girlfriend, overture; as power struggle; romance and media; roommates; television as model

religion:; athletes; born-again Christians; Catholicism; children and; ethics; Left Behind

R.E.M.

Remini, Leah

Return of the Jedi

Reynolds, Simon

Richards, Denise

Riley, Pat

River of Dreams (Joel)

Rock, Kid

Rocky

Rodman, Dennis

Rolling Stones

Rollins, Henry

Rollins, Tree

Rome, Jim

Rose, W. Axl

Rosenbaum, Ron

Roth, David Lee

“Runnin’ with the Devil” (Van Halen)

Rushkoff, Douglas

Russell, Jane

Ryan, Bob

Ryder, Winona

Sacramento Kings

St. Elmo’s Fire

St. Louis Rams

Sampson, Ralph

Sandler, Adam

Sanneh, Kelefa

Sarin, Victor

Saturday Night Fever

Saved by the Bell

Say Anything

“Scenes from an Italian Restaurant”(Joel)

Schauer, Mike

Scott, Byron

“Screen Door” (Uncle Tupelo)

Seidel, Martie

Seinfeld

self-actualization

self-awareness

serial killers; classifications

sex: Celtics-Lakers and; cold cereal and; cultural icons; double standard; on Happy Days ; live erotica; men’s magazines; pornography; 2/3 body ratio; video games and

Sex and the City

Seymour, Craig

“She’s in Love with the Boy” (Year-wood)

Sheedy, Ally

Sichting, Jerry

Sign of Four, The (Conan Doyle)

Silver Jews

Simpson, O. J.

Sims, The

Singles

Siskel, Gene

Slacker

Slash

“Sleeping with the Television On”(Joel)

Smith, Kevin

“So It Goes” (Joel) soccer

solipsism, ix

Solondz, Todd

Soul Asylum

Soundgarden

Spelling, Tori

Spielberg, Steven

sports: baseball; baseball, youth; basketball; born-again athletes; cultural icons; football; game vs.; Intimidation Culture; reporters; soccer; superstar dating

Springsteen, Bruce

“Stairway to Heaven” (Led Zeppelin)

Standing Hampton, (Hagar)

Star Trek

Star Wars

Star Wars: Episode I— The Phantom Menace

Steely Dan

Stewart, Rod

Stipe, Michael

Stone Temple Pilots

Storytelling

Stradlin, Izzy

Stranger, The (Joel)

Survivor

Sweet, Matthew

Swiss, Thomas

T.Rex

Tastee Freeze

Taylor, Elizabeth

Taylor, James

television: archetypes; college students and; criticism of; cultural impact; music groups and; postmodernism; print media response; reality and; reality shows; relationships shaped by; Saved by the Bell ; See also specific TV shows

terrorism

“There’s Your Trouble” (Dixie Chicks)

Thiessen, Tiffani-Amber

Thompson, David

Titanic

Tolkin, Michael

Toney, Andrew

Toronto Raptors

Trask, Randy

Twain, Shania

Tweedy, Jeff

Uncle Tupelo

“Underwhelmed” (Sloan)

Van Halen

Vanilla Sky

Vertigo

video games; The Sims; violence and; virtual mentality of kids and

Voorhies, Lark

Wainwright, Rufus

Waking Life

Walton, Bill

“Wanted Dead or Alive” (Bon Jovi)

Warner, Kurt

Waterfield, Bob

“We Didn’t Start the Fire” (Joel)

Webber, Chris

Weber, Elizabeth

Weinstein, Deena

Weisbard, Eric

Welcome to the Dollhouse

When Harry Met Sally

“Where’s the Orchestra?” (Joel)

White Album, The (Beatles)

White Stripes

“Whole Lotta Love” (Led Zeppelin)

Wilkes, Jamaal

Williams, Buck

Williams, Lucinda

Williamson, John

Winningham, Mare

WMMS (Cleveland)

Wolk, Douglas

Wonder, Stevie

Wonder Years, The

Worthy, James

Wrath of Khan, The

Wright, Will

X-Files, The

Yearwood, Trisha

“You May Be Right” (Joel)

“You’re in My Heart” (Stewart)

Young, Bobby

Young, Neil

youth (teen) culture: moviess, 1980s; The Real World virtual mentality; See computers; movies; television

Zamora, Pedro

Zander, Robin

Zodiac killer

Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural Nörth Daköta

1230 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10020

Copyright © 2003 by Chuck Klosterman

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

“33” was previously published in a different form in GQ. “Appetite for Replication” was previously published in a different form in The New York Times Magazine

SCRIBNER and design are trademarks of Macmillan Library Reference USA, Inc., used under license by Simon & Schuster, the publisher of this work.

DESIGNED BY ERICH HOBBING

Text set in Electra

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Klosterman, Chuck.

Sex, drugs, and cocoa puffs : a low culture manifesto / Chuck Klosterman.

p. cm.

1. Popular culture—United States. 2. United States—Civilization—1970—. I. Title.

E169.12.K56 2003

306’.0973—dc21

2003045535

ISBN-13: 978-0-7432-5824-1

ISBN-10: 0-7432-5824-X

Visit us on the World Wide Web:

http://www.SimonSays.com

1. Hopefully Charlie Rose, if he’s still alive.

2. The notable exceptions being Vertigo (where the softhearted Barbara Bel Geddes gets jammed by sexpot Kim Novak) and My So-Called Life (where poor Brian Krakow never got any play, even though Jordan Catalano couldn’t fucking read).

3. “Sometimes” meaning “during college.”

4. Here’s one example I tend to deploy on second dates, and it’s rewarded with an endearing guffaw at least 90 percent of the time: I ask the woman what religion she is. Inevitably, she will say something like, “Oh, I’m sort of Catholic, but I’m pretty lapsed in my participation,” or “Oh, I’m kind of Jewish, but I don’t really practice anymore.” Virtually everyone under the age of thirty will answer that question in this manner. I then respond by saying, “Yeah, it seems like everybody I meet describes themselves as ‘sort of Catholic’ or ‘sort of Jewish’ or ‘sort of Methodist.’ Do you think all religions have this problem? I mean, do you think there are twenty-five-year-old Amish people who say, ‘Well, I’m sort of Amish. I currently work as a computer programmer, but I still believe pants with metal zippers are the work of Satan.’”