There’s a scene in Noah Baumbach’s brilliant “The Squid and the Whale” where the proudly cultured but socially inept father (Jeff Daniels) calls his rebellious son a “philistine.” He spits out the word — which refers to a person with hostility or indifference toward culture — and intends it to be an insult. But to the kid, who rejects the haughty, pretentious world of intellectuals his father inhabits, it’s a compliment. He wants to be a philistine.
The Michigan Daily: Proud Home of Philistines
And by philistines, I mean people who don't know what the word philistine means (hint: it's not someone who can't change the oil in their car). Obscenely bad writing/editing/discussion after the jump.
