This reminds me of that horrible reality TV show where people who sang very badly were duped into thinking they were winning a talent competition while all the time the viewers knew that it was all done in mockery. It was heartbreaking to watch those poor participants who kept singing in complete earnestness their off-key songs and making perfect fools of themselves.
Why is this poor young woman being exhibited like a circus freak? It’s not her fault she’s cognitively challenged. This is painful to watch.
Clarissa's Blog 
She’s the country’s first National Youth Poet Laureate (back in 2017 when she was at Harvard). I am nobody’s poet, nor a judge of poetry by any measure, but I read the poem and it seemed all right (as I suspected, she meant “hallowed,” not “hollowed”).
I’m a big fan of poetry as performance (Vachel Lindsay is a personal favorite), though I’m no judge of that either. I think it fits with the whole “joy” and “vibes” atmosphere the DNC has going for it–yes, very short on substance, but I think we all knew that going in. And I’m having fun with the music and some of the trash talk (Michelle O.’s dig about “Black jobs” and Barack O.’s gleefully crude “crowd sizes” joke were highlights, as was Coach Walz’s pep talk).
What’s next? I might make another (very small) monetary contribution or two. And I’ll vote. Meanwhile, I’ve got some popcorn and some Coke Zero–probably just enough to ride on the joy train a little while longer.
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This… is not poetry. I don’t know what it is but there’s zero artistic merit to it. It saddens me deeply that, with so many talented poets in the country, this vulgarity is being promoted.
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Again, not arguing on artistic merit:
It’s kind of like a slowed down rap performance. The way the lyrics are constructed and the rhymes reminds me very much of that. It would have been better if she hadn’t paused artificially for applause.
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“…so many talented poets in the country…”
Are there? Well, I hope they get a chance to be heard, too. I have an old college friend who won the Stephen Meats Poetry prize, and she’s been nominated for a Pushcart (I understand those distinctions are pretty cool).
For what it’s worth, Time Magazine asked Ms. Gorman if she’d consider reading at the inauguration if Harris and Walz get in. She said she’d rather see Joy Harjo get the spot. It seems she’s possessed of some generosity and humility, at least.
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She’s possessed of something, that’s for certain.
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You missed the best part. This brain genuis doesn’t understand the difference between hallowed and hollowed.
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Well, it has been hollowed out by the empty rhetoric of these phony leaders, so there’s that.
On a serious note, it’s a repetition of the French Olympics. Aggressively ugliness and vulgarity that, we are insistently told, are actually beautiful if you know how to look.
Well, I know how to look. I have dedicated my life to the study of art. And this definitely isn’t it.
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You’ve made me watch recite her poem at the DNC to comment on this post.
I’m not a fan of poetry, especially modern poetry. But what specifically about it makes you think she is cognitively challenged or exhibited like a circus freak?
Amanda Gorman read a poem at Biden’s inauguration. You could say that her fame has gone to her head, that she hasn’t engaged with literary criticism of her work, that she spouts cliches and platitudes. This would be true about countless artists in a variety of fields.
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I’m sorry but explaining why something has no artistic value is akin to explaining what an orgasm is to an woman suffering from anorgasmy.
If you see this and you don’t feel very embarrassed for this young woman – what can I say other than, I’m very sorry.
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I agree that this has no artistic value. That’s not what I was asking about.
As for feeling embarrassed, well, I’m an adult who controls my emotions, and I’d rather not feel it on someone’s behalf if I can avoid it.
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OK, I’m pretty sure you’re taking the piss now. We all know about opinions and subjectivity, and likes and dislikes being personal and often Idiosyncratic. Heck, I remember you saying something about loving the movie “Mrs. Doubtfire,” which I found utterly laugh-free and lacking in anything resembling fun. Sure, we can have criteria and use them to judge and evaluate, and sometimes we get very emotionally invested in our evaluations. But as the Dude says in “The Big Lebowski,” “Yeah? Well, you know, that’s just like, uh, your opinion, man.”
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No, my friend, this is way beyond subjectivity. What this woman is doing is terrible, terrible drivel. Somebody needs to tell her because this wouldn’t be cute even if she were 5. If my kid came out with “cherish perish… Earth in our country”, I’d gently dissuade her from sharing it in public and then spend some time taking her to museums.
My kid is 8, not 28, like this poor woman.
This is the second day in a row that we are coming across the idea here on the blog that everything is subjective, nothing can be defined, how can anybody possibly know for sure what a poem is or who counts as an American. This way of thinking doesn’t lead anywhere good, so let’s abandon it.
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I wrote better poetry when I was going through a Goth phase in high school, her poem from the inauguration was terrible and this sucked worse. I get that a teenager going through a Goth phase where they hate their parents will write sucky poetry, it’s another to recite this doggerel on live TV
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And we are all supposed to sit here and pretend that it’s all relative, and there’s a way this ugliness can look beautiful to some people because there is no objective reality and no truth. Everything is open to questioning.
Yeah, right.
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Sad to say, the only reason people thought Ms. Gorman’s poem was great is because she’s an African American woman and a Democrat. If a white guy who was a Republican recited such a poem, he’d be laughed at and the poem would be seen as crap, and rightfully so. Unfortunately people seem to think that if a woman or person of color creates art, then it’s brilliant no matter how crappy it actually is. People should be all held to the same standards in the arts, one shouldn’t get away with making crap because they belong to a minority.
Slightly off topic, but my younger brother is a huge fan of Breaking Bad and one of the episodes is called Ozymandias. I showed him the poem by Shelley and he loved it, he thought it really described the episode and Walter’s character arc. It says a lot that a young guy can read Ozymandias and get blown away and that Ms. Gorman’s doggerel is just agitprop garbage, Shelley still wows people today
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My students invariably love Don Quijote, even though the 17-th-century Spanish isn’t easy for them. Juan Ramon Jimenez and García Lorca are invariably popular. Everybody has a deep-seated need for beauty. It’s very normal, very human. Knowing how to make non-utilitarian beauty is one of the things that makes us people and not animals.
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The crowd loved her. That’s the main point.
And aren’t you not on the left anymore? Why do you expect anything from them then? It’s going to be cheap, vulgar, perverted, etc.
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I refuse to believe that any human being sincerely liked “the race we face”. It’s too misanthropic even for me.
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Anyone asking you to explain why this is bad poetry is operating in bad faith and simply wants to waste your time.
Related, have you seen Michelle Obama’s Princeton thesis? lol
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Wow, that poem was worse than the inauguration one 😳 This looks like she used a rhyming dictionary and it’s not even grammatically correct, this is worse than the crap I wrote in high school.
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Honors and recognition
2014: Chosen as inaugural youth poet laureate of Los Angeles[88]
2017: Chosen as National Youth Poet Laureate[89]
2017: Ozy Genius Award[90]
2018: Named one of Glamour magazine’s College Women of the Year[91]
2018: Presented a poem at the inauguration of President of Harvard University Lawrence Bacow[92]
2019: Named on The Root’s “Young Futurists” list[93]
2021: Selected to read at the inauguration of Joe Biden, becoming the youngest poet ever to read at a US presidential inauguration
2021: Highlighted by Time magazine in their Time100 Next list, under the category of “Phenoms”[3]
2021: Winner Goodreads Choice Awards – Best Poetry for The Hill We Climb [94]
2022: A new species of alga in central New York was named Gormaniella terricola.[95][96]
2022: Winner Goodreads Choice Awards – Best Poetry for Call Us What We Carry [97]
2022: Winner Children’s and Family Emmy Award for Outstanding Short Form Program – We the People
2023: Nominated for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards for Call Us What We Carry.[98]
2023: Elected to membership in the American Antiquarian Society.[99]
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OK, Gormaniella terrícola is genuinely funny. Whoever came up with that has more potential than this hapless “poet”.
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It’s so funny to imagine the cognitive dissonance from the lefties here pretending that there was nothing wrong with the poem, that it’s all subjective blah blah. Even they know that it’s shit but they have to pretend otherwise. Debasing themselves and for what? Like, if you’re being paid by the kamala campaign then great, keep doing this. But willingly outing yourself as a person with no taste, like, what’s in it for you?
Reminds me of the title of the famous Melvins album: “Shit sandwich, and you just took a bite”
lol stop biting on shit sandwiches, it’s not good for you!
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This all seems to be more about body language and the confident and cadence delivery of what she’s saying in a first draft that needs revision. She acts as if each line is a banger — but it doesn’t quite work.
The performance sits awkwardly between bumper stickers lines, song lyrics and speech applause lines.
The crowd seems to love it. Beautiful gown though!
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Agree with Anonymous, including about the gown. Confidence can go a long way–I’m reminded of the heyday of Andrew Dice Clay as he recited dirty nursery rhymes to enthusiastic crowds. And ShadowsCollide has it right–it is indeed agitprop, which is often effective in the moment. Ms. Gorman could have recited something like “Fuck Trump, fuck the Trumpster/He’s a fire started in a dumpster” and I’m sure it would have worked as well.
And I don’t think any of this is necessarily bad. Those of us who would like to see Mr. Trump spend the rest of his life in jail can have the kind of fun one might have at a raucous comedy show or rock concert, but it doesn’t hurt to hear and see things clearly. For example, I can still enjoy this part of the convention while seeing a similarity between the “Thank you, Joe!” chant and the “Thank You Very Much” song from the musical “Scrooge” where all the Londoners who owe Scrooge money thank him for dying.
Too long, didn’t read version: one can have fun and keep a clear head at the same time. And still like “Ozymandias.” Look on my works, ye mighty…
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My father always spoke about how the promotion of vulgarity as “culture” in the USSR was a great aid in maintaining the totalitarian regime. He didn’t allow me to to enjoy any of the Soviet pop culture for this reason.
I do now. And that’s taking into the account that even Soviet ideologues didn’t despise us enough to inflict a Gorman on us in lieu of culture.
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That’s interesting you mention the vulgarity of pop culture in the Soviet Union, the satirical film Idiocracy the people have become so stupid that the most popular film is just a farting butt and it won an Oscar. Was Soviet culture just dumb and garish or outright vulgar, too sexual and with lots of swear words and fart jokes? The latter is what I think of when I hear about vulgar culture, or the sort of rap songs that just have swearing and racial slurs
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We weren’t allowed to do sexual. But garish, dumb, with “cherish-perish” kind of rhymes – that was all there. Ugly architecture, primitive poems, hideous paintings and sculpture. We were surrounded by ugliness. And it all had a purpose which was to render the human soul as primitive and pedestrian as its surroundings.
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That sounds par for the course, totalitarian regimes have awful taste. That’s why it’s appalling to see how many of my fellow Americans have awful taste, there’s so much great art, music, film, literature and other things that consuming junk isn’t necessarily. Then again, as a substitute teacher, I’ve seen so many young people who think poetry, literature or music that isn’t rap or pop is “retarded” and irrelevant because they’re so used to junk. With streaming, there’s access to all kinds of wonderful things
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That’s exactly it. People have so many choices. I’m discovering wonderful books on a regular basis. We could literally drown in great art. But that means accepting that some things aren’t art. And that would hurt somebody’s feelings, so we pretend that graffiti has the same value as da Vinci’s paintings.
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