I won’t see “I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell”
25 Sep

The movie about Duke’s most infamous student is being released today, and I won’t be buying a ticket. I don’t want to give a sliver of support to Tucker Max, the douchey former Duke Law student, and self-described asshole who apparently has no issue treating women like smut.
The movie is based on a story from Tucker’s book with the same title. Released in 2006, the book of anecdotes somehow managed to make the New York Times Bestseller list for three years. I’ve never read it. For all I know I would love it (doubt it). I’ve read reviews (you can read some for yourself here) and it’s not the excessive drinking, the frat boy humor and the bodily fluids that bother me. It’s the way he purportedly treats women.
A reporter for the The Indy went to a screening of the flick at N.C. State a few weeks ago. In describing the plot, he wrote:
“He lies to his friends and nearly ruins a marriage, all for the opportunity to sleep with a stripper with dwarfism. He is cruel to his amorous pursuits—he calls the little person “Grumpy” and remarks on her “tiny little sausage fingers” before sleeping with her.”
Whether this actually happened to Tucker doesn’t matter to me. Women do not deserve to be taken advantage of, and they certainly do not deserve to have assholes put them down in the heat of the moment.
There’s more. There are rape allegations too. Students who protested the screening at N.C. State passed out fliers saying some of Tucker’s bedroom escapades meet North Carolina’s legal definitions of rape. Want to know Tucker’s response to the allegations? Read the words from his own mouth, thanks to the Indy:
“One audience member asked about the rape allegations. Max slipped into legalese.
“The discussion about consent needs to be had, but this is not the place to do it,” he said. Another asked what his parents think about his career choice.
“They think I’m a rapist,” he said, to scattered laughter. He paused. “If you put that in the fucking paper, I’ll beat your ass.”"
So, maybe it’s unfair to base my opinion on something I haven’t even read or seen. But, I think I’ve read enough. I can think of better ways to spend 105 minutes of my life.



So what happens when two famous political analysts (one who’s conservative, the other a liberal) come together to talk about the presidential campaign in front of an audience filled with Tar Heels? You get some laughs, some claps and maybe a boo or two.
*Brooks (the conservative): At the end of four years Sen. Joe Biden will still be the right pick for Obama. But with regards to McCain choosing Palin: “To be honest, I don’t know. I frankly don’t know if she’s going to be good or not. I’ve never met her I don’t know the character of the woman.”
*Dionne (the liberal): “Sarah Palin is clearly the most qualified person ever chosen for vice president,” he said, resulting in laughter from the audience and then adding “your laughter is my point.” He takes issue with: the lack of media interviews the campaign has granted so far and that McCain only met her (once or twice) before choosing her. He also is concerned about her lack of foreign policy experience. He said liberals will make a big mistake, however, if they “make a culture war” out of her selection by touting her as a small town American who shoots guns.
Brooks complained that technology (namely the ability to record video with small cameras and the use of blogs) actually make campaigns less transparent. He recalled the days when journalists used to rub elbows with candidates and chat informally on the campaign buses.
My heart melted a little bit this morning, and I thought you might want yours to do the same. I watched the video Duke University’s news service produced to introduce the world to Ichabod, an aye-aye.