Quote Originally Posted by P_R View Post

He represents a strong anti-intellectualism, a bane of Tamil public discourse. Not only do they represent a lack of knowledge but the audacity to ridicule it. He is a posterboy for the 'arrogance of the ignorant'.
I disagree here completely. I don't see any indications of this behavior in his pattimandrams.

On the lack of debate, this is a general problem for even veterans due to the same topics getting repeated all the time. This has given way to programs like Neeya Naana. Even there, people get bored over a point. Once in a while, you would see a good debate on a nice topic. I have seen Leoni balancing both the sides during the debate similar to how others like Sathyaseelan, Papaiya have done over the years. I haven't seen him favoring one side because they have strong points to argue. Again, I would blame this to the quality of the topic taken for discussion and the quality of the speakers. Even in Paapaya pattimandrams, if you ignora Raja you wouldn't really see a debate.

He democritized pattimandrams the same way T20 democritized cricket - by keeping the trappings and completely removing the essence. By descending to the lowest common denominator and ensuring they stay s. By assuring them that ignorance is nothing to be ashamed about. That knowledge and intellectual effort is to be mocked and derided at.
Again, I disagree. I haven't seen Leoni or his speakers taking a shot at the intellectual effort. Infact, the popular speaker in Leoni's debates is from the "Murpokku ezuthalar sangam". I have seen him debating with points that even Papayya's pattimandrams don't touch.

He gives the illusion to the listener that he has also participated in some though exercise. Can you imagine the mind that seriously considers ANY of the debater's points as persuasive arguments leading to somewhere.
CAn you please throw more light on this? I don't get it at all.

He was funny - adhu vERa department. He was funny in the late 90s. Used to devour his tapes. But IMO he has largely lost it.
I agree that he was more funny and he is slowly losing it. However, it is not that bad. Still I am able to listen to the entire debate.

His popularity is symptomatic of our celebration of philistinism. idhellAm Charu Nivedhita sariyA dhaan thitturaapla-nu solluvEn.
Onnum puriyala. Ithellam ethukku inga varuthunnu therla