Up in Ontario

Leah McLaren Redux

Having noticed in previous columns here that Canadians reactions to Leah McLaren's columns in the Saturday The Globe and Mail are strong, to say the least, I am pleasantly surprised to find that someone has done something about it. No, No, No Leah describes itself as "a blog dedicated to getting Globe and Mail columnist Leah McLaren to write good columns!"

And then the other shoe drops: there are tons of folks out there knocking around Leah McLaren's writing.

• Leah McLaren: Canadian Asshole
  
• Public displays of annoyance
  
• How did she get this job? (PDF)
  
• Another blogger, so demoralized about Leah, he/she is moving to the USA!
  
• Is it love or loathing?
  
• Leah quits smoking
  
• The Environmental Illness Society of Canada
  
• A Book is Sold
  
• Leah McLaren's High School Confidential

So why has one mediocre columnist elicited such a wide and strong response? Well, when you're supposed to represent the voice of a generation (her column is offensively titled Generation Why?) in the newspaper of the Canadian establishment, expectations are high. And when the generation you're supposed to represent has a form of participatory journalism, many small soapboxes are stood on to rebutt.

In truth I feel some guilt for writing about McLaren's column since it just serves to raise its profile further. It also aligns me with something that begins to feel like the tall poppy syndrome. And the reactions seem personal for many people. They call her Leah though they may never have met her. The self-referential stink of her column seems like a personal afront to them. It's almost as if people think that writing is a zero-sum gig and because McLaren gets so many column inches and such a prominent platform to represent a generation that other voices that could be interesting from that same generation don't get a chance to be heard. Oh wait, that is pretty much how it is.

So, to clarify our position here at Up in Ontario, sorority girls with small noses doing well professionally: good. Lousy writing getting more attention than it deserves: hard to swallow. Perhaps there is better writing to come from Leah McLaren in her novel.