This piece reminds me of an awesome scene from Tar . She confronts Max who proclaims he doesn’t like Bach because he can’t separate the art from the artist Lydia attacks Max ( and cancel culture ) by proclaiming
“ Don’t be so eager to be offended. The narcissim of small differences leads to the most boring conformity “
Max believes because Bach fathered 20 children he was a misogynist therefore that is a moral disqualification for taking his music seriously.
By that yardstick no one that lives or ever lived on the planet can be taken seriously
Enjoyed this take, Sam. It all seems to boil back down to like what you like and invest your energy into what you want to invest in be curious and pursue art both as a creator and a viewer because who actually decides what is "good" and "bad" taste? It's on each of us to find out what we love from a place of curiosity and honesty (on the outskirts of the deluge of outside voices).
It also reminds me of my favorite quote from Workaholics, "If you don't want to date me, that's fine. I get that. But you're wrong, and I hate you."
It’s all about balance, pushing yourself to expand your taste, and learning how to coexist with different tastes. Online communities have been great at discovering new stuff but they can also be toxic.
Imo the perception that anything an everything should be valid as well as the panopticon we live in has made having taste, especially uncommon taste, almost dangerous in some cases. I don't think most people know what they actually like vs what they think they're supposed to like, though granted there have always been people who put effort into trying to like something they don't just because they think they're supposed to. Still, it's interesting to see how the perception of games or albums that used to be considered bad or weird has changed over the decades. Simon's Quest used to be considered among the worst in the Castlevania series and now there are a bunch of games that take loads of inspiration from it. And Weezer's Pinkerton album used to be considered a red headed stepchild but is now apparently considered one of the best albums they ever made.
There's definitely a performative aspect to it. A friend of mine is going through the NYT Top 100 Films of the Past 25 Years list, and she was questioning why some movies made it on the list. I told her that they have a target audience to appeal to and a brand to maintain, so given that context, the picks make sense.
What you're getting at with Weezer is my reaction to people when they say, "You can't make X comedy anymore" and blame it on woke. Sure, that could be the case in certain areas, but most of it is that social norms change. You could say the same about minstrel shows and silent films, or Leave It to Beaver and the Brady Bunch. Nirvana's Nevermind is amazing, but part of its impact is that it was the perfect album to come out at the perfect time. I like it when the canon changes, expands, or is reevaluated. No one needs another article about why Dark Side of the Moon is amazing.
Seems to me when they do lists like that, they have to do a certain amount of reinforcing their readership's tastes, which sucks but I get it.
I don't think it's wrong to blame certain things not being able to be made anymore on changing mores especially when the change comes with a deficiency in being able to detect nuance and metaphor like the progressive zeitgeist has. A film like Blazing Saddles COULDN'T be made today because all a lot of the younger portions of the audience would come away with is "OMG HE SAID THE N-WORD!!!111!" while missing the overall message of the film.
As for silent movies, I just watched the silent Frankenstein movie a few weeks ago and it was pretty damn good, I recommend it! It's only 12 minutes long and it's on Youtube
This piece reminds me of an awesome scene from Tar . She confronts Max who proclaims he doesn’t like Bach because he can’t separate the art from the artist Lydia attacks Max ( and cancel culture ) by proclaiming
“ Don’t be so eager to be offended. The narcissim of small differences leads to the most boring conformity “
Max believes because Bach fathered 20 children he was a misogynist therefore that is a moral disqualification for taking his music seriously.
By that yardstick no one that lives or ever lived on the planet can be taken seriously
Enjoyed this take, Sam. It all seems to boil back down to like what you like and invest your energy into what you want to invest in be curious and pursue art both as a creator and a viewer because who actually decides what is "good" and "bad" taste? It's on each of us to find out what we love from a place of curiosity and honesty (on the outskirts of the deluge of outside voices).
It also reminds me of my favorite quote from Workaholics, "If you don't want to date me, that's fine. I get that. But you're wrong, and I hate you."
It’s all about balance, pushing yourself to expand your taste, and learning how to coexist with different tastes. Online communities have been great at discovering new stuff but they can also be toxic.
Agreed
Imo the perception that anything an everything should be valid as well as the panopticon we live in has made having taste, especially uncommon taste, almost dangerous in some cases. I don't think most people know what they actually like vs what they think they're supposed to like, though granted there have always been people who put effort into trying to like something they don't just because they think they're supposed to. Still, it's interesting to see how the perception of games or albums that used to be considered bad or weird has changed over the decades. Simon's Quest used to be considered among the worst in the Castlevania series and now there are a bunch of games that take loads of inspiration from it. And Weezer's Pinkerton album used to be considered a red headed stepchild but is now apparently considered one of the best albums they ever made.
There's definitely a performative aspect to it. A friend of mine is going through the NYT Top 100 Films of the Past 25 Years list, and she was questioning why some movies made it on the list. I told her that they have a target audience to appeal to and a brand to maintain, so given that context, the picks make sense.
What you're getting at with Weezer is my reaction to people when they say, "You can't make X comedy anymore" and blame it on woke. Sure, that could be the case in certain areas, but most of it is that social norms change. You could say the same about minstrel shows and silent films, or Leave It to Beaver and the Brady Bunch. Nirvana's Nevermind is amazing, but part of its impact is that it was the perfect album to come out at the perfect time. I like it when the canon changes, expands, or is reevaluated. No one needs another article about why Dark Side of the Moon is amazing.
Seems to me when they do lists like that, they have to do a certain amount of reinforcing their readership's tastes, which sucks but I get it.
I don't think it's wrong to blame certain things not being able to be made anymore on changing mores especially when the change comes with a deficiency in being able to detect nuance and metaphor like the progressive zeitgeist has. A film like Blazing Saddles COULDN'T be made today because all a lot of the younger portions of the audience would come away with is "OMG HE SAID THE N-WORD!!!111!" while missing the overall message of the film.
As for silent movies, I just watched the silent Frankenstein movie a few weeks ago and it was pretty damn good, I recommend it! It's only 12 minutes long and it's on Youtube