Is Beavis and Butt-Head too intelligent?

 Has popular culture degraded to such a stage of stupidity that the satirical humor of Beavis and Butt-Head is no longer widely appreciated?

This is the question posed by the article Has American pop culture become too dumb for Beavis and Butt-Head? by Rex W. Huppke and published in the Chicago Tribune .

Beavis and Butt-Head, the 90's metal head duo who has been heckling and belittling society on MTV throughout the 90s, made a return to television but didn't quite have the same flare. The show had seemed to have "Gone flat" and lost the "Edginess" that has so worried parents and conservatives when it had first come out.

Why was that? Well culture had changed since the show had been on the air. Focus had shifted from more intellectual entertainment to the reality tv shows of the Kardashians or the latest celebrity meltdown. While Beavis and Butt-Head may on the surface seem unintelligent and crass but when given a chance it proves to be  quite the social commentary, with satire of popular culture and the mainstream. These days we are too focused on the ridiculousness of politics or the silly antic of celebrities to really pay any attention to the duo who used to bring shock to many viewers. The level of stupidity and profanity that people are used to has increased so that Beavis and Butt-Head are no longer surprising. People seem to prefer the flavor of overly processed and fake reality than a clever satire.

Is Rex right? Has popular culture become too stupid?

That is truly hard to say, for people throughout time always seem to think that society is constantly devolving into unintelligent waves of violent profanity. They have a fondness for the culture of their youth, preferring that to the drivel of the present. The lack of intellectual elements in reality tv in undeniable, as is its prevalence throughout the channels of cable. But that doesn't mean that television in general is getting more unintelligent. In fact over the past few years show have gotten more complicated and writers have been working hard to keep expecting audiences on their toes. So sure, some tv may have gotten stupider, but really not much has changed.