#21: Spiritual Gangster

A “gangster” is defined as “a member of a gang of violent criminals.” So what is a “Spiritual Gangster?” On this episode of General Snobbery, we discuss just that. It turns out that “Spiritual Gangster” is a brand of clothing that sells spiritual values that speak to an ever-growing subsect of Western culture. They are interested in taking quotes from ancient sages, printing them in trendy fonts onto tank tops, hoodies, and shirts, and selling that clothing for a whole lot of money. A great business model! 

They also have  quite the Instagram page (@spiritualgangster). We recommend you check it out if you are interested in seeing pictures of aesthetically pleasing white yogis doing postures in exotic locations. Hey, if you scroll through the comments, you might even find one provided by the General himself! 

Come snob with us as we take a tour de force through the capitalist echelons of this company that seeks to fuse ancient wisdom with contemporary culture. Cause hey, who says that snobbery has to be directed at film?  

And if you would be so kind, do check out our Facebook page, Twitter page, or even our Instagram, where you will find many more photos like the ones on this page to come. If you find us amusing, you might even offer us the great treat of subscribing to us on iTunes. We assure you, we are committed to sending as much delightful snobbery your way as we possibly can. 

Fare thee well, Listener. 

#20: Roland Emmerich Liked Our Tweet

At seven twenty-five PM, on Tuesday, the eleventh of October in the year two thousand and sixteen, Roland Emmerich "liked" one of General Snobbery's tweets. 

@BillyPullman, the King of New York

If you have been following General Snobbery throughout these twenty episodes, you will know that we have launched a campaign to #LetUsWriteID3. Essentially, we think that, due to our heightened understanding of Roland Emmerich's intentions, as well as our limitless appreciation for Independence Day: Resurgence (most notably the character of Dikembe Umbutu), we are the most qualified people to help Roland write the script for Independence Day 3. Indeed, as Andy Dufresne wrote a letter every day to receive books in the Shawshank library, so we have tweeted @ Roland every day since launching our campaign. 

Why, you may wonder, did Roland suddenly decide to grace our evening with a like? Certainly he'd noticed the previous 60-70 tweets we had sent at him? We believe the sudden liking can mean only one thing: he has finally decided to give us a chance. He has finally decided to #LetUsWrite ID3. 

In the immediate aftermath of the Twitter notification, we scrapped all previously-held plans for our monumental twentieth episode and instantly began recording this episode that now greets your sacred ears. In this excited conversation, we showcase our passion for our new devoted listener, Roland Emmerich. We offer up some teasers for ID3. We propose our meeting place in LA, offering even to foot the bill for the meal and use our Southwest Points to fly out there. 

It's all an exuberant appreciation for the unexpected delights of life. We thank you, listener, for joining us. When the moment comes that Roland sends us a DM with the plan, know that that DM is coming not only to us, but also to you. In the end, we will all be writing the script for ID3, and as we do, we will all be snobbing the whole way home. 

#19: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Carl Jung, and the Power of Images

Indiana Jones, looking yoked at the film's climax.

It's become common knowledge that it's best to avoid Indian Death Cults. This knowledge has come largely in thanks to Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the second of four IJ films, and the first in the series' chronology. The film portrays Indian Death Cults as pretty bad things, activities that probably should not be practiced on a regular basis, lest you become like the guy in the picture below, wearing large horns and a shrunken head as a hat.

This film is dark. Extremely dark, in fact. So dark that Steven Spielberg, great director of Empire of the Sun, The Adventures of Tin-Tin, and The Terminal, has all but disavowed it. Nevertheless, we at General Snobbery greatly appreciate its darkness, darkness that does not exclude depicting the tearing out of human hearts and a fat man's consumption of live, slimy snakes. Thus, we give to you a lengthy consideration of the merits of this second Indiana Jones film, as well as an explication of how its horror depicted has had lasting impact on the development of our psyches. 

Just to be sure we got sufficiently pretentious, we entreat considerations of Carl Gustav Jung, Swiss psychologist/sage, explicating his theories on the power of images. We are certain that Jung, plagued by dark images as he was during his years of writing the Liber Novus, would have appreciated this film. We hope that you appreciate it as well, listener, and we thank you, as always, for joining us on this snobbing journey.

Malo Ram, wielding the heart of the poor human sacrifice in the background.