Academic

New York Times Weddings Go Video. Wish They Hadn't.

By Dan Filler

Lots of folks who attended school in New York, or the Northeast more generally, periodically read (tense depends on your age) the New York Times wedding pages.  These terse announcements offer minimal detail other than biographical information.  Mostly, they seem designed to reify existing status structures, give limited access to new high status players, and function a bit like the "Class of" pages from your favorite alumni magazine.

In a few select cases, the Times does a more in-depth story on the couple and their wedding.  These stories are richer and more whimsical.  If there is goo, there is usually also some arty-ness (and maybe a wink for the reader.)  Somehow, I've managed to miss the newest iteration of this product: the Times wedding video.  Until this weekend, that is.  

For no apparent reason (procrastination?), I watched a Times wedding video for the first time.  And all I could think was: really?  Did someone think that this is what readers had been seeking all these years?  Comparing the feel of the video to the in-depth stories (and their accompanying pictures), I was left wondering if those winks I'd seen had all been in my head.

This parody made me feel much better.

Full post as published by The Faculty Lounge on April 19, 2010 (boomark / email).