A small item from this month’s Esquire magazine. In a piece about a potential scandal on television’s “The Price is Right,” the author Chris Jones describes some of the show’s changes. He writes:

“Even when Drew Carey replaced Bob Barker — the show’s own version of Vatican II — he rocked a similar skinny microphone.”

Curious that the copyeditors at Esquire — a magazine that is devoted to “beautiful women, men’s fashion, best music, and drink recipes” — let this one slide. I wonder how many of its readers understood the reference. Let’s face it: even some Catholics are vague on the details of Vatican II. So what’s next? Articles about “Mad Men” that reference the Land O’ Lakes statement? Or maybe the editors can work in a mention of Humanae Vitae in their next interview with Megan Fox.    

Michael O’Loughlin

 

Michael J. O’Loughlin is the executive editor and C.E.O. of National Catholic Reporter. Previously he was the national correspondent at America. He is also the author of Hidden Mercy: AIDS, Catholics, and the Untold Stories of Compassion in the Face of Fear.