Pop music superstar Taylor Swift just won Best Album at the 2024 Grammy’s for the fourth time. This is the most Album of the Year wins for any artist. Ever. She is undeniably popular — perhaps more popular and financially successful and influential than any artist ever. According to Evan Gardner who wrote
As a music journalist, I'm revolted by watching highbrow critics intellectualize Taylor Swift and project all of this capital-I Importance onto her. I also find it hilarious, too. But there's something really gross -- even disturbing -- about an entire cadre of culture commentators deciding as one to anoint a specific artist. It's so hollow and stupid and revealing about the priorities of the chattering classes. It shows how DESPERATE they are to fit-in to regular life, but how incapable they are of speaking about "middlebrow" things the way regular people speak about them. They're too busy trying to drench everything with capital-M Meaning and it's so clunky and awkward.
Nobody who's ever written for The New Yorker or The New York Times has the first fucking clue how everyday people talk to each other. So we get this bizarre filtering effect where the self-appointed high priests of art and culture try to sell pop culture back to the masses when the masses have >already< bought-in. It's the masses who made this stuff popular to begin with. Why do they need critics who posture as public intellectuals to give it meaning >for< them? (Spoiler: they don't!) It's patronizing and condescending, but it's also delicious to watch these people awkwardly fumble as they try to sound relatable.
These are the same people who sell us a bill of goods when it comes to race, gender, politics, health policy, etc. They constrain the bounds of how we're supposed to talk about those things and then turn their noses up when anyone dares push back. They take it for granted that they set the barometer for the rest of the country. That's not only despicable, but it's also dangerous.
I won't watch Poor Things or an other movie with Mark Ruffalo in it. Wearing a pin of the bloody hand of an Israeli lynching victim at the Oscars is beyond disgusting. https://tinyl.io/ATKO To say nothing about his tirade on the red carpet.
I loved American Fiction but the "prize submission discussion" scene you rightly pointed out stuck in my craw too. In my opinion, it would have been delicious if she shared to him privately that she wrote her book for the exact same reason as Monk did so they that both of them were in on this cosmic joke. And also, I thought they should've kept the sister and killed off the brother. He was a bad cliche of a gay man or drug addict or whatever they were trying to prove in that character. And the sister was hilarious. I was sorry to see her go.
I'm so glad you used The Lovely Bones as an example here. I too was gobsmacked by how icky and stupid that book was, and could not understand why so many people liked and praised it. Bandwagons are strange things. I guess I am immune to their appeal - I like to think for myself. It's odd that is as unique as it seems to be. And it's scary that so much of our politics is bandwagon politics, including many truly intelligent people who support whatever their team is doing and don't use their critical facilities to evaluate at all. Anyway, back to Taylor - she's a great pop artist, great at crafting catchy songs that tug at your heart in various ways. I like her older stuff which was more obvious about what it was, and I'm puzzled at my friends who feel she has evolved into some sort of philosopher or something in her later work. It's still just catchy pop music, that's all. Middlebrow, yep!
I thought that Poor Things was quirky and cool and beautiful and ugly and original. Definitely above middle brow in my opinion. Totally agree with you that most pop music is sugarcoated candy, and not fine cuisine! I do warn people before they watch that movie that it’s got some ugly scenes in a whore house! Not for everybody.
Remember to cut Ms Stone a bit of slack as she was in a strange place due to the upset win. The tension between wanting to accept the award and knowing that most people thought someone else deserved it could create some emotional drama.
Taylor is the Wizard of Oz of American culture. No matter if there isn’t really anything behind the flim flam except, well, flim flam. Back to December!
In my opinion this was all written in stone when adults caved to rock n roll. This occurred early 90's, imho. I'm 45. When I was a kid my Boomer parents liked rock. But it was still....embarassing to do so. The WW2 generation, the generation that heard Elvis and said "Hmm. I dont care for that noise one bit. How do you listen to that?," was still actively engaged in the world. In offices, in stores, as public officials, as President. So if you were a Boomer executive, yeah, sure you could like the Stones. But you couldn't play them for your boss who'd say "turn that crap off".
I still remember it was kind of a big deal when the big corporate/political/societal events (like the political party conventions) started playing rock as incidental background music. As I recall the Dems went first, of course. The GOP I think moved from more staid tunes to country for a cycle or two before embracing rock. I remember some journalist tracked down I think John Kasich at the 1996 convention and got him to admit he loved Alice Cooper.
I love Alice Cooper. But I found this undignified. As i find it undignified when Biden or Trump or a CEO walks out to "Back in Black" or whatever.
I may, myself, be a 45 year old man who still wears his teenage metal shirts. But I am a loser scumbag. I dont care for that kind of thing in real adults.
But my reactionary opinions are terrifically out of date. I know.
To whit, you say Taylor Swift ain't Bob Dylan. I say that once you accept Dylan as worthwhile music for adults as a group, you've already made Swift love inevitable for them as well.
I agree 100%. I remember years ago a client of mine recommended The girl on the train. said I absolutely had to go get it! I read it. I hated it. I think they made that one into a movie as well.
Agree! Everyone in the entertainment world takes themselves so seriously these days. I miss the humour, the fun, the lightness and the recognition that not every song, movie and book was high art or even needed to be. I stopped watching all award shows more than 10 years ago because the speeches were unbearable and I see very few movies made since 2010.
This is the whole reason I barely follow anything new. The good old days at least had us trying to distinguish between middlebrow and high art, even if I disagreed with the consensus. Or at least that's what I was led to believe? I'm now realizing I can't be completely sure this problem didn't exist before I was born.
Nowadays books are easier than other arts to elevate to middle- and high-brow simply for the fact they require more effort to consume than music and movies. It’s gotten that bad. Excellent writing, here. Thanks.
OMG, I love this.
As a music journalist, I'm revolted by watching highbrow critics intellectualize Taylor Swift and project all of this capital-I Importance onto her. I also find it hilarious, too. But there's something really gross -- even disturbing -- about an entire cadre of culture commentators deciding as one to anoint a specific artist. It's so hollow and stupid and revealing about the priorities of the chattering classes. It shows how DESPERATE they are to fit-in to regular life, but how incapable they are of speaking about "middlebrow" things the way regular people speak about them. They're too busy trying to drench everything with capital-M Meaning and it's so clunky and awkward.
Nobody who's ever written for The New Yorker or The New York Times has the first fucking clue how everyday people talk to each other. So we get this bizarre filtering effect where the self-appointed high priests of art and culture try to sell pop culture back to the masses when the masses have >already< bought-in. It's the masses who made this stuff popular to begin with. Why do they need critics who posture as public intellectuals to give it meaning >for< them? (Spoiler: they don't!) It's patronizing and condescending, but it's also delicious to watch these people awkwardly fumble as they try to sound relatable.
These are the same people who sell us a bill of goods when it comes to race, gender, politics, health policy, etc. They constrain the bounds of how we're supposed to talk about those things and then turn their noses up when anyone dares push back. They take it for granted that they set the barometer for the rest of the country. That's not only despicable, but it's also dangerous.
I won't watch Poor Things or an other movie with Mark Ruffalo in it. Wearing a pin of the bloody hand of an Israeli lynching victim at the Oscars is beyond disgusting. https://tinyl.io/ATKO To say nothing about his tirade on the red carpet.
I loved American Fiction but the "prize submission discussion" scene you rightly pointed out stuck in my craw too. In my opinion, it would have been delicious if she shared to him privately that she wrote her book for the exact same reason as Monk did so they that both of them were in on this cosmic joke. And also, I thought they should've kept the sister and killed off the brother. He was a bad cliche of a gay man or drug addict or whatever they were trying to prove in that character. And the sister was hilarious. I was sorry to see her go.
"I just wanted to put a fork through my eye."
😂😂😂
Feel the same way about Beyonce as swift. I just cannot get the appeal.
Then I listen to some sufjan/ jacob collier singing gospels and relax knowing everything will be fine.
P.S. I can’t believe I clicked the Emma Stone link. I tapped out halfway through. These people are clueless.
I'm so glad you used The Lovely Bones as an example here. I too was gobsmacked by how icky and stupid that book was, and could not understand why so many people liked and praised it. Bandwagons are strange things. I guess I am immune to their appeal - I like to think for myself. It's odd that is as unique as it seems to be. And it's scary that so much of our politics is bandwagon politics, including many truly intelligent people who support whatever their team is doing and don't use their critical facilities to evaluate at all. Anyway, back to Taylor - she's a great pop artist, great at crafting catchy songs that tug at your heart in various ways. I like her older stuff which was more obvious about what it was, and I'm puzzled at my friends who feel she has evolved into some sort of philosopher or something in her later work. It's still just catchy pop music, that's all. Middlebrow, yep!
I thought that Poor Things was quirky and cool and beautiful and ugly and original. Definitely above middle brow in my opinion. Totally agree with you that most pop music is sugarcoated candy, and not fine cuisine! I do warn people before they watch that movie that it’s got some ugly scenes in a whore house! Not for everybody.
Remember to cut Ms Stone a bit of slack as she was in a strange place due to the upset win. The tension between wanting to accept the award and knowing that most people thought someone else deserved it could create some emotional drama.
Taylor is the Wizard of Oz of American culture. No matter if there isn’t really anything behind the flim flam except, well, flim flam. Back to December!
I’m with you on “Untamed.” Total fork in the eyes memoir. Couldn’t get through it. Her podcast is even worse!
In my opinion this was all written in stone when adults caved to rock n roll. This occurred early 90's, imho. I'm 45. When I was a kid my Boomer parents liked rock. But it was still....embarassing to do so. The WW2 generation, the generation that heard Elvis and said "Hmm. I dont care for that noise one bit. How do you listen to that?," was still actively engaged in the world. In offices, in stores, as public officials, as President. So if you were a Boomer executive, yeah, sure you could like the Stones. But you couldn't play them for your boss who'd say "turn that crap off".
I still remember it was kind of a big deal when the big corporate/political/societal events (like the political party conventions) started playing rock as incidental background music. As I recall the Dems went first, of course. The GOP I think moved from more staid tunes to country for a cycle or two before embracing rock. I remember some journalist tracked down I think John Kasich at the 1996 convention and got him to admit he loved Alice Cooper.
I love Alice Cooper. But I found this undignified. As i find it undignified when Biden or Trump or a CEO walks out to "Back in Black" or whatever.
I may, myself, be a 45 year old man who still wears his teenage metal shirts. But I am a loser scumbag. I dont care for that kind of thing in real adults.
But my reactionary opinions are terrifically out of date. I know.
To whit, you say Taylor Swift ain't Bob Dylan. I say that once you accept Dylan as worthwhile music for adults as a group, you've already made Swift love inevitable for them as well.
I agree 100%. I remember years ago a client of mine recommended The girl on the train. said I absolutely had to go get it! I read it. I hated it. I think they made that one into a movie as well.
Agree! Everyone in the entertainment world takes themselves so seriously these days. I miss the humour, the fun, the lightness and the recognition that not every song, movie and book was high art or even needed to be. I stopped watching all award shows more than 10 years ago because the speeches were unbearable and I see very few movies made since 2010.
This is the whole reason I barely follow anything new. The good old days at least had us trying to distinguish between middlebrow and high art, even if I disagreed with the consensus. Or at least that's what I was led to believe? I'm now realizing I can't be completely sure this problem didn't exist before I was born.
Nowadays books are easier than other arts to elevate to middle- and high-brow simply for the fact they require more effort to consume than music and movies. It’s gotten that bad. Excellent writing, here. Thanks.