I Wear the Black Hat by Bethany Blinsky

68 Book Review >>> Bethany Blinsky I Wear the Black Hat

Klosterman, Chuck New York: Scribner, 2014. 242 pp.

Society has a deep fascination with the dark mind of the villain. In I Wear the Black Hat, Chuck Klosterman explores this attraction. He ponders how we determine one to be an antihero, analyzing the calculation that occurs in our minds. Ultimately his thesis is such that a villain is “is the person who knows the most but cares the least (14).” Klosterman applies the thesis to as many people, real or fake, that he can. From Joe Paterno, to Batman, to Kanye West, and even the rock band The Eagles, Klosterman is on a mission to discuss the villainy in everything. I Wear the Black Hat reads like a series of essays that are entwined through the one thread of the thesis. If the villain is the person who knows the most but cares the least, then it appears that this could be applied to any person, and thus one could simply deduct if they are evil or not. But if you are Klosterman, that is not exactly the case. Not because his thesis gets more in depth, but because its application is confusing. One chapter consists of Klosterman discussing why he likes Kanye West but he wants him to fail - and why he dislikes Lebron James but wants him to succeed. One might be slightly perplexed by what this has to do with villainy. That confusion is justified. Klosterman’s intention in these random subject analyses is anything but clear. Therefore the ultimate conclusion of the entire book is equally as hazy. Some chapters were far easier to understand, while some felt as if he was reaching too far with an argument that wasn’t quite strong enough. One chapter discussed Seinfeld. Klosterman decided to elaborate on the common view that Seinfeld is essentially a show in which nothing actually occurs. However, he twisted it a little. He argues that Seinfeld’s humor is dark and this is why it is funny. Yet, that does not really seem surprising. If anything most people would probably agree that a lot of comedy has a dark mocking tone, and this may actually be why it is so amusing. He attempts to illustrate his point by bringing up a specific joke Seinfeld made - the humor being that Seinfeld could not date a woman because she was excessively nice and it bothered him. Klosterman analyzed this, “Because he’s so candid about this distaste, it feels like a traditional joke. But it’s not a traditional joke. It’s an omnipresent worldview that informs everything else, and it’s what made audiences feel like they were watching the most sinister (and the most authentic) versions of themselves (171).” Klosterman ultimately concludes that Seinfeld normalized psychopathy, writing “They sat in a coffee shop and casually discussed how civilization was awful and existence is meaningless, and twenty two million people watched it every week. It opened a window while pulling down the shades, and we can’t go back (173).” Klosterman concludes that Seinfeld’s humor serves as a deeper look into the disturbed parts of our own minds.

So we understand that Seinfeld probably had some sincerely inappropriate and dark humor. But does that mean Seinfeld is a villain? Are we, in turn, the villains for laughing at it? Klosterman does not say. Further,how his thesis fits into his analyses is confusing. It is consistently hard to determine whether Klosterman is trying to state that someone is a villain or not. But despite the fact that he is not always clear on how his thesis applies to his cases, I Wear the Black Hat is enjoyable to read. Klosterman maintains a witty and casual tone throughout the book. His ability to write his cases in this manner makes up for his lack of clarity in some ways, as it almost feels like one is having a semi philosophical conversation with an intelligent friend. Klosterman has an uncanny way of making his analyses of The Eagles, Kanye West, and OJ Simpson remarkably interesting. But ultimately Klosterman does not thoroughly explain how all these individual cases support his thesis. I Wear the Black Hat is both baffling and amusing. If the reader is attempting to critically assess Klosterman’s ability to construct a sound argument and explain it, the book will be perplexing. But if one is reading for mere pleasure the book will seem more like a string of comical and engaging tales. I Wear the Black Hat is an analysis of the dark side of pop stars, music icons, and political figures of both the past and present. The thesis gets lost in the many ideas and cases Klosterman presents – but the ultimate theme of villainy is present in every chapter. In essence, I Wear the Black Hat does not exactly provide the explanation to the big questions Klosterman asks - but it is an interesting, entertaining, tangent on the dark side of our minds.