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GO AWAY SNOBS
Well, this is the grossest article I've read in a while (not to mention: really, really poorly argued. And short). It reminds me of peope who when you ask them what shows they watch say, "Oh, I don't waaaaatch TV." And when you ask why, they don't have a good reason (like: I don't have the time because I'm busy raising kids/working three jobs/with school/whatever -or- I can't afford a TV -or- I'm a neo-Luddite -or- something like that) but instead smirk and say something about how how all TV is awful, LIKE I AM SUPPOSED TO THINK THAT YOU ARE SUPERIOR TO EVERYONE ELSE BECAUSE YOU DON'T WATCH FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS OR THE WIRE OR JUSTIFIED OR THE HOUR OR SOMETHING. YOU DO REALIZE THAT NOT EVERYTHING ON TELEVISION IS JERSEY SHORE, RIGHT? LIKE, YOU ARE NOT SO STUPID AS TO THINK THAT THERE IS SOMETHING INHERENTLY INFERIOR ABOUT THIS MEDIUM, RIGHT? I really, really hate people who think some mediums have more value than others. Like, I do not like comic books/graphic novels, okay? I have the world's hardest time investing in them. But I will die on this hill: they can be art just like anything else. Just because they don't speak to me doesn't mean that Maus or Persepolis or something isn't genius. GTFO with your snobbery.
Whenever someone says something like that, I always think of one of the most ubiquitous phrases in our house growing up: "Why not? Think you're too good?" Maybe I should start asking people that.
Ugh. If you genuinely enjoy reading Pynchon more than you do Hunger Games, that is cool with me! And if you want to argue that Shakespeare has contributed more to humanity than Stephanie Meyer, again: cool! And if the latest hipster-approved band moves your soul more than ABBA or something: that is FINE. But do not think you are superior because of your tastes and please take the time to acknowledge that there are people out there who don't just blindly follow trends but who actually connect to something in the art that you find disposable. I am not going to stand here and argue that everything I love is objectively good, because some of it is not. Some of it is poorly written or overproduced or otherwise fails from more "objective" standards. But I have reasons for loving all of the things I love, and if reason knows them not, that's okay.
I feel that I can say all of this because I used to be a snob and now I am not. When someone likes something that I find worthless, you know what I do? I ask them why they like it! And usually they have a reason for it! They saw something in a character that they identify with and that they don't normally see portrayed. Or they connect emotionally to a situation that they've been through, too. Or a relationship reminds them of someone precious in their lives. THESE ARE PERFECTLY LEGITIMATE REASONS TO LOVE SOMETHING. It doesn't all have to be about objective quality. Reason is not automatically better than emotions. Guess what? We need both in order to be human. And a lot of our problems come when we prize one over the other, sure. But we need both.
Ugh. Sorry for the word-vomit. I just have a lot of feelings.
[eta] Someone left this quote in the comments:
"When I became a man I put away childish things, such as the fear of childishness and the desire to be terribly grown up." - C. S. Lewis.
Gah. I just love that man so much. He always has the best quotes.
Whenever someone says something like that, I always think of one of the most ubiquitous phrases in our house growing up: "Why not? Think you're too good?" Maybe I should start asking people that.
Ugh. If you genuinely enjoy reading Pynchon more than you do Hunger Games, that is cool with me! And if you want to argue that Shakespeare has contributed more to humanity than Stephanie Meyer, again: cool! And if the latest hipster-approved band moves your soul more than ABBA or something: that is FINE. But do not think you are superior because of your tastes and please take the time to acknowledge that there are people out there who don't just blindly follow trends but who actually connect to something in the art that you find disposable. I am not going to stand here and argue that everything I love is objectively good, because some of it is not. Some of it is poorly written or overproduced or otherwise fails from more "objective" standards. But I have reasons for loving all of the things I love, and if reason knows them not, that's okay.
I feel that I can say all of this because I used to be a snob and now I am not. When someone likes something that I find worthless, you know what I do? I ask them why they like it! And usually they have a reason for it! They saw something in a character that they identify with and that they don't normally see portrayed. Or they connect emotionally to a situation that they've been through, too. Or a relationship reminds them of someone precious in their lives. THESE ARE PERFECTLY LEGITIMATE REASONS TO LOVE SOMETHING. It doesn't all have to be about objective quality. Reason is not automatically better than emotions. Guess what? We need both in order to be human. And a lot of our problems come when we prize one over the other, sure. But we need both.
Ugh. Sorry for the word-vomit. I just have a lot of feelings.
[eta] Someone left this quote in the comments:
"When I became a man I put away childish things, such as the fear of childishness and the desire to be terribly grown up." - C. S. Lewis.
Gah. I just love that man so much. He always has the best quotes.
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If his entire argument wasn't clearly ridiculous from word one, Stein would have entirely lost me at the point where he implied fucking Pixar movies are a silly thing for adults to watch. WHAT. And then again in the next sentence where he seems to imply the movies AS A FORM OF MEDIA "don’t require much of your brains" whereas "books are one of our few chances to learn."
What. WHAT. What.
Like you say, I get really annoyed at anyone who dismisses an entire medium or genre -- particularly when they use it to prop up another. As if there aren't "adult" books that are far more inane than your typical YA book. As if somehow one category is inherently better than the other. Bullshit.
And don't even get me started on the whole ~I don't watch TV~ thing. As someone who literally builds my life around TV, it just makes me roll my eyes. Like, what, I'm supposed to think you're cool for dismissing out of hand a medium that's in the middle of an incredible creative renaissance right now? I'm supposed to think you're somehow bettering yourself by purposefully missing out on some of the most expansive narratives, thoughtful small stories/episodes, hilarious comedies, and astounding performances that can be found in any medium, period? Yeah, no.
People are dumb, and snobbery makes me roll my eyes.