I am reluctant to intellectualise Vern’s achievement too much since he is himself in part parodying academicism, just point some eyes at the book title or the footnotes that intermittently appear. But Seagalogy remains a sublime triumph for those concerned with the political shades of culture, with how the very hierarchisation of culture is a site of class struggle and needs to be fought against. Vern’s combination of diligent analysis, sardonic humour and welcoming prose make for a great addition to an attempt to stomp out cultural snobbishness. People are not dumb, they happily embrace the dual characteristics of Seagal’s filmic history, at one moment buzzing off the energy emitted off the fighting scenes, at another laughing at the corniness of it all. Vern puts it perfectly at the end of the book when he reviews Seagal’s gig in Seattle on the Mojo Priest tour: ruminating on the fans in the crowd, the ecstatic worshippers of Seagal, he writes: “A lot of them knew it was funny what they were seeing but they were genuinely appreciative of Seagal.” It’s funny but we love it, Seagal and Seagalogy alike.