Weekday, early morning. I hoist my two-year-old son into his booster seat, scatter some Cheerios over his tray, flip on the Today show. As I wait for the coffee to brew, I notice that the lead news story concerns Justin Bieber’s latest run-in with the law. The camera pans across a sea of teenage girls holding up signs of support as Justin is escorted out of prison.

I think, This is the top story? And where are their parents? I glance over at my son, who stuffs cereal into his face as he stares at the screen. I switch to Charlie and Lola.

But the images stay with me, and over the next week, I watch more of them pile up: Bieber gets into more trouble. Richard Sherman abrogates his ability to be articulate in favor of spitfire trash-talking. Zach Braff tweets a picture of himself seated next to Mitt Romney on a plane, noting how surprised he is that someone can disagree with him and still be “a cool dude.”

I am shocked by how obsessed our culture has become with the two-dimensional.

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