By Chongchen Saelee

The cable FX TV show “Louie” is played by comedian Louis CK, in a pseudo-biographical series. He’s a middle-aged white man, divorced from a black wife, and raising his “white-looking” daughters on his own. Most of the gags involve his fallible nature and quirks on how he sees life. And most of it is quite surreal.

But that’s not my problem. We need to come back to reality. Much like the movie “Sideways” when it was released during my days in college, I don’t understand what the possible appeal could be for young, starry-eyed single people to idolize these depressed, broken, middle-aged losers. If Americans are the “me” culture, then why do they respect someone that doesn’t look or act or do “cool” things that they do?

And most of the people who enjoy Louie seem to be younger white men. These white men probably haven’t experienced what the Louie character has gone through. Or maybe that’s not important? They just want to empathize with him? Or does he remind them of their fathers? Or a type of father figure they wished they had? Because CLEARLY, Louie isn’t friend archetype. He’s no Owen Wilson. So it makes no sense for young men to idolize this guy.

And if they are reading into the universal themes of his teachings, how come they aren’t going out there and practicing it? If they really need that kind of soul-searching medicine, and Louis CK is providing it, then are they taking it all for granted?

Now, granted, I’ve never watched the Louie series in its entirety. I’ve seen enough clips and Louis CK’s on-stage performances to get a really good idea of the schtick. Maybe, just maybe, if I had control over the show, and the viewers were taking it for granted and not living up to the love, then the show should end with Louie going on a shooting spree.

If “Louie” represents all things white, white-man’s burden, I find it darkly humorous and fitting for it to end that way. It would be quite fucked up… but it’s an understanding in modern American culture how fucked up white man is. You’d be left questioning why Louie did what he did. And what’s sad, in reality, is that the white audiences would probably find it incredibly entertaining.

NOTE: “Psycho Dad” already existed in context in the highly popular “Married With Children”, so it’s not a new gag