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March 19, 2009

Students Against James Franco

thumbnail icon: Students Against James Franco

TMZ is reporting that a group of UCLA seniors have created a Facebook group to protest the selection of James Franco as their commencement address speaker. So it turns out that UCLA has selected James Franco as this year's commencement address speaker. Ha. Says the Facebook group:

Clearly, this is ridiculous. Anyone who has been in his classes knows he is an average student at UCLA. This is an accomplishment while working in his industry, but he is our academic peer, which makes him an inappropriate choice for a keynote speaker. His academic experiences are too limited thus far to provide him with the wisdom and perspective such a speaker is meant to provide to graduates.

NARC School, school full of NARCs! The students clarify:

CLARIFICATION: We are not attacking James Franco: he is a very talented actor, and clearly did well enough at UCLA to get into Columbia. We merely protest that he is not an appropriate choice for our graduation speaker.

HE'S ALSO A DREAMBOAT. Clarify that.

James Franco, commencement speaker, is ridiculous, but to be fair, my commencement speaker, back in 1932, was the famed journalist David Halberstam (RIP), who spent most of the time boringly talking about how the commencement speech at his graduation was really boring, because ))><(( and hakuna matata. My point is that there isn't really such a thing as inspirational or useful commencement speeches. It's all just the stuff you have to listen to before you go get drunk at a backyard bbq in front of your friends' parents. So why NOT hear what it was like on the set of Nights in Rodanthe? AND THEN THEY FLEW!

Posted by Gabe at 4:00 PM in
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26 Comments

"...did well enough at UCLA to get into Columbia." I can't tell if that's an insult or a compliment to them....regardless I'm going to start saying "At least you got into Columbia" from now on.

Posted by: Carrie profile link at 03/19/09 4:18 PM  | Reply
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*))>((

Posted by: briewer profile link at 03/19/09 4:23 PM  | Reply
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What does that mean?

Posted by: Darren87 profile link  in reply to  briewer's comment at 03/19/09 5:49 PM  | Reply
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Since when is being a graduation speaker important? Shouldn't these kids be studying instead of making ineffective facebook groups? Or at least too drunk to care?

Posted by: freckle profile link at 03/19/09 4:24 PM  | Reply
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Remember, It's California they do things different.

Posted by: sarcasticmeow profile link  in reply to  freckle's comment at 03/19/09 4:31 PM  | Reply
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You lost me at the GQ photo.

What was the point again?

Posted by: Blondie profile link at 03/19/09 4:53 PM  | Reply
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"My point is that there isn't really such a thing as inspirational or useful commencement speeches." Not true. David Foster Wallace at Kenyon College in 2005, for your pleasure:

http://www.marginalia.org/dfw_kenyon_commencement.html

Posted by: Leonard profile link at 03/19/09 4:58 PM  | Reply
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Why didn't you go with the shirtless pics from the same shoot? No seriously, they'd help your point more.

Posted by: Calliwell profile link at 03/19/09 4:59 PM  | Reply
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Wow, holy crap I actually read through the whole david foster wallace thing - truly awesome. But the whole time I couldn't help but think... he's killed himself and how weird it is to know that in that moment in his life he had no idea what was to come... or something like that.

GO JAMES FRANCO. They should feel so lucky. Most speeches, aside from aforementioned, are definitely bori-zzzzzzzzzzz

Posted by: Priya at 03/19/09 5:35 PM  | Reply
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The good news is now he's got more killer short story material.

Posted by: TS profile link at 03/19/09 5:39 PM  | Reply
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Thanks to you, I just sat down and watched that movie.

Posted by: Calliwell profile link  in reply to  blinky's comment at 03/20/09 1:35 AM  | Reply
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Can Paul Rudd give my commencement speech?

Posted by: CarolineA profile link at 03/19/09 6:11 PM  | Reply
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i hope he tells me to "wear sunscreen."





and then i hope he takes off his shirt and rubs banana boat all over his chest.

Posted by: hard liquor, soft holes profile link at 03/19/09 6:38 PM  | Reply
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Gays For James Franco will have way more members.
God that man is the sexiest thing around these days.

Posted by: lookie-here profile link at 03/19/09 6:39 PM  | Reply
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Are the pissed because he's an actor or not a good enough one?

Posted by: any four word phrase profile link at 03/19/09 6:54 PM  | Reply
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I want to know why these kids give a shit. (yes I'll call them kids)

Posted by: alex at 03/19/09 8:09 PM  | Reply
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my mom STILL talks about the genius of Alan Alda's 1980 Connecticut College speech.

Posted by: jacob at 03/19/09 9:43 PM  | Reply
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we're in a recession guys, take what you can get you little snobby bastards.

Posted by: Mandy profile link at 03/20/09 1:51 AM  | Reply
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My first time on this site, drawn to it by James Franco (swoon!), who looks a whole lot like my fiance (awww yeah!).

ANYHOW - Really just wanted to give Mandy kudos on using Rhet's dance from Teen Witch - TOP THAT! Lame that I immediately recognized it, but I'm proud to say that I loved that movie when I was 9, and I love it now. ;) Oh, didja know they're remaking it? With Ashley Tisdale.... Sad.

Posted by: Em at 03/20/09 11:56 AM  | Reply
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Um, isn't he at NYU?

Posted by: Don at 03/20/09 12:13 PM  | Reply
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Seems like Kenyon has had its share of great speakers . . . I also loved Bill Watterson's (creator of Calvin & Hobbes) address from 1990: http://bit.ly/RnNS

Posted by: rachel at 03/20/09 12:23 PM  | Reply
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To 'any four word phrase':

i don't think it has anything to do with them being upset an actor (of any caliber) is their keynote speaker, as they said this: "...he is our academic peer, which makes him an inappropriate choice for a keynote speaker. His academic experiences are too limited thus far to provide him with the wisdom and perspective such a speaker is meant to provide to graduates."

Posted by: Me at 03/20/09 12:31 PM  | Reply
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these people are doing college all wrong.

Posted by: ms. peas profile link at 03/20/09 1:24 PM  | Reply
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I don't want this guy giving the commencement speech. Last year Clinton was scheduled. This year Franco. Give me a break. What pearls of wisdom can this guy give ? and for some out there who called this FB group kids or snobs-- there's no reason to call us names. We just feel like there could have been a better speaker.

Posted by: claudiathrbruin at 03/21/09 12:38 AM  | Reply
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Geesh, I'd take James Franco.

Posted by: parasitic profile link at 03/22/09 6:56 PM  | Reply
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