A friend has a blog elsewhere, and he had made a comment about a particular TV show becoming banal over the years. Someone piped up with the comment "Read a book!"
He politely declined, indicating that not everything being broadcast is junk, just as not everything being published is gold.
This interested me for several reasons. First, being out in the dating world you tend to find a really strong dichotomy--people who watch NO television and look down on those who do vs. people whose entire cultural relevance is centered around what they've watched on the tube. There are other similar dichotomies--art lovers vs. sports fanatics, "cinema" enthusiasts vs. the-guy-who'll-watch-any-movie-playing, outdoorsy types vs. cloistered types. It's like gray doesn't exist anymore--it's either/or, baby, so get used to it.
Also, I am a bookworm. I love a book, magazine, blog--something that engages me with the written word. But there are some amazing TV shows and movies, and I would never tell someone to chuck one for the other.
I guess what bothers me is that while it's fine to have preferences, what makes us think it's fine to judge others for their preferences? The condescending tone ("Oh, I don't own a TV!") gets to me after a while. Granted, as a nation, we're a bit too lethargic in general, but this particular friend is quite active and doesn't waste every spare moment being passively entertained.
So does the fact that I don't like the snobbish attitude make me an anti-snob snob?
2 comments:
"cinema" enthusiasts vs. the-guy-who'll-watch-any-movie-playing
I like to think I embody both of those descriptions.
In the critical field, where we HAVE to watch a bit of everything, there's rarely such a dichotomy. Even the snobbiest critic usually has at least ONE lowbrow pleasure (I refuse to say "guilty" pleasure, because generally we're unashamed)
Yeah, I wasn't thinking so much about somebody who, as a profession, watches movies. I just know that I've encountered it in dating--it actually ended a budding relationship when the guy got incredibly snotty about the "trashy" movies that "some" people like, and some of my favorites were on his list.
You, sir, tend to be an enigma in a lot of ways! And I think you're right not to call it a 'guilty' pleasure, since that implies there is something wrong with it. Whether critics are shameless or not would be your call, as you're the only one I know.
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