Hmm, haven't been here for a while... bah.
I went to a public speaking competition the other day, only watching, and one of the topics was about high art and low art and what defines each, and this got me thinking.
Yes, before you ask, it hurt.
I'll use books and music as an example, and possibly Grease too. What makes a song or a book good? Working in a bookshop, some people assume that I know the answer to the latter, but I ain't got a clue. A good plot? Likeable characters? Or for music, a catchy tune? Slamming bass?
God knows. I hear a lot of snobbery at work, not only with books and films, but most other art forms as well. Dance hasn't had much of a mention except when Caroline started tap dancing to keep warm, but that was about it. I was scared to take in any CD's for weeks in case I was told that they were rubbish. When I mentioned to someone that Vaugh Williams wouldn't be too bad, I was looked at in disgust. It's the same with books: before giving my opinion on a book I'd read, I always waited for the other person's opinion.
As of Saturday 24th January 2004 though, my faith in music has been restored, and I no longer feel worried to voice my opinions on something.
Which is handy.
We were at Music Tek for the metal fest, and five bands played. The first band, I thought, were so awful that I managed to forget their name (but they used to be in a band with some of the members of
Inserenity, who, I think, have potential and an amusing bassist). Some people would have liked it, but not my thing. The
second band, who I've seen several times before, were okay to listen to but for headbanging, they lacked bite. I could do housework while listening to them, which isn't a bad thing but I was disappointed as last time they were quite good. The third band, whose name I think is
Gore, took a while to get started, and I was dubious at first, but then wham! bam! National Anthem of Goruguay! Fallen Down the Stairs Again! The Handwich! And, my favourite of all, Shattered to Pieces by Falling Faeces. Classic. And their lead guitarist had the best eyebrows since Ashley did a Patrick Moore impression. I liked, they fun. I even parted with my hard-earned cash to buy their CD.
Descent were lucky in that the crowd were bubbling when they got there. We rocked pretty hard, and then headbanged to some
Gutworm, who rounded off the evening nicely. Then we went and sat down.
"That was shit."
Ah well. Considering this person hadn't really been up watching the bands, I thought they had no real right to say that. These are performance bands, you have to experience it when it's live, you can't have it as background music really. Cd's you can, but not when there's a sweaty group of beer-filled musicians thrashing about.
But do I have the right to say that? Well, yeah I do, but it's whether I'm right or not that's the issue. I thought some of them were quite good, some were really good and some were crap, but at least I bothered to get up and listen. That's what I was driving at! Don't judge things before you experience them!
Book snobbery comes from not reading other genres of books. I like some crime books, but I hate Kathy Reiches, who is supposed to be quite good. Well, in my opinion, no she isn't. But that's my opinion! I read one of her books to find that out, I didn't just go with the trend.
Westlife. I'll never forgive them for butchering 'More than Words', but I can see why people like them. The thought of them brings bile up in my throat, but Marylin Manson has the same effect on my Westlife-loving friends. People ridicule comics for having pictures, but have these people ever sat down and read 'Watchmen' by Allan Moore? I doubt it. And don't call it a graphic novel, that's just trying to compensate for their snobbery by giving them a poncy name.
My point is that judging things before you really know what you're talking about is blatant ignorance. Going on other people's opinions is weakness. I will defend 'Jack the Giant Killer' to the hilt if someone who hasn't seen it says it's crap. The fact that I only love it because I have a warped sense of humour is neither here nor there, but it's a matter of knowledge and experience. Experience something, and then you really know it. Find out as much about something as you can before passing verdict. Open mindedness in this self-centred world is a marvellous thing, you'd be amazed what you learn.
And as for Grease? Let's face it, the story's rubbish, but no school disco would be complete without everyone screeching 'Summer ni-iGHTS' out of tune at the end of that ultimate musical number.
