Of Hilobrow, Hinkle, and the Hat

We are thrilled to be participating yet again in another Hilobrow.com “…Your Enthusiam” guest-blogging series.

I believe the original impulse for the name of this series of series came from Curb Your Enthusiasm…they curated a bunch of pieces in praise of William Shatner in 2013, bundled as “Kirk Your Enthusiasm“. I contributed to that one and several since. The current series is “Endora Your Enthusiam”, which is getting far away from a pun indeed, to the extent that it requires explanation, which I am happy to provide. In the current series they were seeking pieces in praise of “villains who are really the heroes of their stories”.

BTW, it’s debatable who’s the hero of Bewitched — and it would be an entertaining debate to have! There are some who might make it Darren, for example, but those would be stuffed shirts. Friend Heather Quinlan, who is editing the series, says it’s Endora because she is the most charming and entertaining. This raises the question of valuation. Is it about aesthetics? Or is it about ethics? In the case of my own piece, on Professor Hinkle from Frosty the Snowman, my argument hinges on the latter. Never have hi-brow and lo-brow clashed so productively! You can read my passionate defense of Hinkle here. Then I encourage to follow the links and read the others. This is a very entertaining series!