Post #561721 by aquarj on Tue, Oct 26, 2010 5:35 PM

In case you don't get the author's leaning from the column title, the abbreviated tag in the scrolling topic list makes it even more clear:

Tonga Room Just Won't Die

The author's first response in the comments takes the same tone:

I contribute to historic preservation organizations, and do generally support historic preservation. That said, I am afraid that whatever makes the Tonga Room special is lost on me. I have been to the venue on a handful of occasions, and I simply found it to be an over-priced, kitschy bar, and not a particularly unique one at that (the Tiki-theme has certainly been done elsewhere). I wouldn't bat an eyelash if it were torn down, and I don't think that any of the qualities which truly make San Francisco special would be diminished in the least if it were demolished. Even with its new historic designation, its future is far from certain, and I will leave it at that.

I don't think this guy Roberts really goes to Trad'r Sam's either, and I don't think he really cares if the tiki theme survives elsewhere. If he did, he would understand the significance of the Tonga Room. More likely, he probably only researched the subject enough to ape his SFWeekly peers, who set the earlier precedent of being too cool for "kitsch." Like in this column, another SFWeekly "opinion-maker" places considerable weight on the comments of an old guy he found who doesn't care if the Tonga Room vanishes. Roberts is reusing not only the photo, but also the point of view from this and other SFWeekly columns. He was probably just expecting a pat on the back for sticking to the SFWeekly's prevailing winds, before going back to his "snitch" columns about pot.

-Randy