Style and design newsletter Blackbird Spyplane has “a dope and profound essay” about the demise of the Honda Fit, a “true subcompact slapper” and “handsome, non-b*tchmade, compact whip.” In it, Jonah Weiner and Erin Wylie also examine the rise of “personal freedom machines” in the form of giant trucks and SUVs.
American pathologies are, ultimately, at the heart of this entire topic. These pathologies beget their own internally coherent rationales: contemporary life is marked by a sense of ceaseless zero-sum competition, so why wouldn’t you want your car to be “bigger than the next guy’s” — not only because you think you’ll look more pimp & baller than him but also because if you’re in a small car and he’s in a big car you literally can’t see as much of the road as he can, you’ll be more likely to die in a collision with him, etc.
[www.blackbirdspyplane.com]
