What More Can The Times Say About James Franco's Academic Life?

New York Times Metro reporter Lisa W. Foderaro takes on an enigma—the academic life of James Franco, Yale doctoral student. The timing of a still-breathlessly-impressed ("James Franco, movie star, had rushed back on the red-eye to play his other big role") profile of Mr. Franco's enthusiasms is curious, given the widely criticized lack of enthusiasm the student brought to his Academy Awards hosting last weekend. The world is finally beginning to get over Mr. Franco, it would seem!

Surprisingly, Mr. Franco, whom the article calls "self-promoting—and often self-mocking" declined comment for the article. Perhaps he'd exhausted all he had to say on graduate school in a September 2010 Times profile by Melena Ryzik, which featured a quote from his program director at Warren Wilson, just as today's article quotes Yale's English department chair. Ms. Foderaro's observation that Mr. Franco is "self-promoting" when it comes to social media and artistic endeavors may stop short of noting that Mr. Franco's genuine intellectual curiosity is married with a knowledge that stories like his—actor goes to college, again and again—will get coverage, again and again.

ddaddario@observer.com :: @DPD_