# Acknowledged greats in the Arts that you "don't get" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 2, 2014, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acknowledged-greats-in-the-arts-that-you-dont-get/680367 "2014-02-02T19:01:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Donegal\_Dragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Donegal\_Dragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donegal_Dragon)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acknowledged-greats-in-the-arts-that-you-dont-get/680367/41 "2014-02-03T13:51:21Z")
**Daniel Tosh** just because you can be more disgusting than anyone else does not mean you are talented or funny ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acknowledged-greats-in-the-arts-that-you-dont-get/680367/42 "2014-02-03T14:10:47Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Stephen Sondheim. … Many of his musicals, OTOH, are just fine and I kind of wonder how great he would have been if he had been willing to work with a first-class composer. What, like [Leonard Bernstein](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Side_Story)? Personally I can’t stand Bruckner symphonies OR Mahler’s, and I have a limited tolerance for Richard Strauss. There’s something about that period of symphonic music that grates on me. Brahms is fine and once we get to Shostakovich, I’m good again. And I’ll second Rothko - I get why other people get him but it just doesn’t do it for me. ---
**Author:** ![mortal\_wombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc348/32.png) [@mortal\_wombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mortal_wombat)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acknowledged-greats-in-the-arts-that-you-dont-get/680367/43 "2014-02-03T14:14:48Z")
I liked The Beatles, but I just don’t get any of John Lennon’s solo stuff. I know he’s inspired a lot of present musicians, but I just can’t relate to him as much as I can with Paul McCartney. I think it’s an age thing tbh, I am only 23. Maybe when I’m in my 40s, I’ll see what all the fuss is about. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acknowledged-greats-in-the-arts-that-you-dont-get/680367/44 "2014-02-03T14:40:54Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Stephen Sondheim. … Many of his musicals, OTOH, are just fine and I kind of wonder how great he would have been if he had been willing to work with a first-class composer. > [@Gyrate](#): > > What, like [Leonard Bernstein](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Side_Story)? Or [Jule Styne](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gypsy:_A_Musical_Fable)? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acknowledged-greats-in-the-arts-that-you-dont-get/680367/45 "2014-02-03T14:41:24Z")
Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen, I don’t get. Not _offended_ by either’s _oeuvre_, just don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acknowledged-greats-in-the-arts-that-you-dont-get/680367/46 "2014-02-03T14:49:33Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Critics love Captain Beefheart actual name Don Van Vleit. Dear lord he sure sucks. This kind of reminded me, Frank Zappa is another one I can’t get into. I respect him musically, but the music just sounds too weird for weirdness’ sake to me. It may not actually be that way, but that’s how it sounds to me. For writers, it would have to be Tolkien. I could get through _The Hobbit_ fine, but for all the times I tried getting through _Lord of the Rings_, I could only get through about 1/6 before being utterly bored to death. The guy was smart, I like, in theory, his mythology and his created languages, but, lord oh lord I have no idea how anybody can get through that tome. ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acknowledged-greats-in-the-arts-that-you-dont-get/680367/47 "2014-02-03T14:54:03Z")
Another vote for Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst. It’s not that I hate what they do; I just completely don’t get it. There are other ‘greats’, like DH Lawrence and Nathaniel Hawthorne, whose stuff I loathe, but I can more or less see why other people would be into it. Emin and Hirst…I just don’t get why anyone would _care_. I’m a good bit younger than them, but all their stuff makes me want to give them a pat on the head and go, ‘Yes, sweetie, of course I’m terribly shocked and challenged, no really I am. Now shoo.’ ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acknowledged-greats-in-the-arts-that-you-dont-get/680367/48 "2014-02-03T15:32:59Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > The Stones. I could name many others, in all the arts, but the Stones are in a class of their own. I don’t know how anyone seriously compares them to the Beatles. > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I wonder what would happen if some band decided to call itself The Stones - just “The Stones”. 😛 I’ve seen the Rolling Stones in concert, and I still do not get them. And don’t get me started on Woody Allen. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acknowledged-greats-in-the-arts-that-you-dont-get/680367/49 "2014-02-03T15:54:49Z")
Tolkein. ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acknowledged-greats-in-the-arts-that-you-dont-get/680367/50 "2014-02-03T16:06:43Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Critics love Captain Beefheart actual name Don Van Vleit. Dear lord he sure sucks. Never got Captain Beefheart either and I’m a huger progressive rock fan. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acknowledged-greats-in-the-arts-that-you-dont-get/680367/51 "2014-02-03T17:27:29Z")
I consider myself a jazz fan, but I can’t stomach Mingus, Monk, or (especially) Dizzy Gillespie. In fact, I think Dizzy Gillespie is to jazz as Kurt Cobain is to hard rock; both tried really hard to breathe new life into their genres, both wound up almost killing them. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acknowledged-greats-in-the-arts-that-you-dont-get/680367/52 "2014-02-03T17:28:05Z")
> [@mortal\_wombat](#): > > I liked The Beatles, but I just don’t get any of John Lennon’s solo stuff. > I know he’s inspired a lot of present musicians, but I just can’t relate to him as much as I can with Paul McCartney. > I think it’s an age thing tbh, I am only 23. Maybe when I’m in my 40s, I’ll see what all the fuss is about. There are some fantastic singles by Lennon, but for the most part, I’m right there with you. and I hate how many Lennon enthusiasts have to bring down McCartney to prop up Lennon. And you know how the internet is. I could make up five “Terribly wise-sounding things”, paste the same ones over a pic of Lennon and a pic of McCartney, and the reactions would be completely different. As for the OP…“Pet Sounds”. _This_ is supposed to be the best album by an American group evah? It’s fine and all, but man… ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acknowledged-greats-in-the-arts-that-you-dont-get/680367/53 "2014-02-03T17:44:03Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > For writers, it would have to be Tolkien. I could get through _The Hobbit_ fine, but for all the times I tried getting through _Lord of the Rings_, I could only get through about 1/6 before being utterly bored to death. The guy was smart, I like, in theory, his mythology and his created languages, but, lord oh lord I have no idea how anybody can get through that tome. Try reading _The Silmarillion_. Tolkien’s genius is in his world building and language creation, not his prose. I think even his biggest fans admit that. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acknowledged-greats-in-the-arts-that-you-dont-get/680367/54 "2014-02-03T17:46:26Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > For writers, it would have to be Tolkien. I could get through _The Hobbit_ fine, but for all the times I tried getting through _Lord of the Rings_, I could only get through about 1/6 before being utterly bored to death. The guy was smart, I like, in theory, his mythology and his created languages, but, lord oh lord I have no idea how anybody can get through that tome. I feel the same way. It took Frodo & Sam five pages to move three feet, while every blade of grass was being described in exacting detail, punctuated by pages-long poems in Elvish. The movies are ten millions times better. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acknowledged-greats-in-the-arts-that-you-dont-get/680367/55 "2014-02-03T17:50:07Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > This kind of reminded me, Frank Zappa is another one I can’t get into. I respect him musically, but the music just sounds too weird for weirdness’ sake to me. It may not actually be that way, but that’s how it sounds to me. Zappa goes without saying, although “watch out where the Huskies go and don’t you eat that yellow snow” is comedic genius compared to his buddy Cptn Beef. > [@yellowjacketcoder](#): > > Try reading _The Silmarillion_. Tolkien’s genius is in his world building and language creation, not his prose. I think even his biggest fans admit that. I’ll disagree. His prose is a heck of a lot better than some fantasy writers (I’m talking about you JK Rowling and Terry Brooks!). The Silmarillion is not intended as a novel, but rather epic legendarium. It succeeds on that level amazingly well and creates an indelible impression beyond what LOTR does. And yes, I know that can be interpreted both ways. I liked it. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acknowledged-greats-in-the-arts-that-you-dont-get/680367/56 "2014-02-03T17:56:13Z")
Jim Cary. I find him creepy in a sort of uncanny valley sort of way. It really worked when he played Andy Kauffman, but when he is going for just funny instead of disturbing, or disturbingly funny he loses me. I don’t know if it is eyes, or a symmetrical face, or what. I am sure I couldn’t sleep if he was staying in the same hotel. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acknowledged-greats-in-the-arts-that-you-dont-get/680367/57 "2014-02-03T20:33:41Z")
John Malkovich. Everybody raves about him but I just don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acknowledged-greats-in-the-arts-that-you-dont-get/680367/58 "2014-02-03T20:55:07Z")
> [@Kevbo](#): > > Jim Cary. I find him creepy in a sort of uncanny valley sort of way. It really worked when he played Andy Kauffman, but when he is going for just funny instead of disturbing, or disturbingly funny he loses me. I don’t know if it is eyes, or a symmetrical face, or what. I am sure I couldn’t sleep if he was staying in the same hotel. I don’t think Jim Carrey is funny, and Will Farrell isn’t either. Amy Poehler creeps me out too. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acknowledged-greats-in-the-arts-that-you-dont-get/680367/59 "2014-02-03T21:52:39Z")
Here’s another “great” artist I’ve never quite figured out: the Beastie Boys. When “Fight For Your Right to Party” came out, I just figured they were a one-hit wonder and that was that. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acknowledged-greats-in-the-arts-that-you-dont-get/680367/60 "2014-02-03T21:53:42Z")
Modern Literature: Cormac McCarthy. That the Wikipedia entry for [The Road](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Road) spends effort lauding the Oprah Book Club significance of its literary merit damns it with fainter praise than I could. Art: Banksy. A master of self-promotion relying on hooking key celebrity scenesters for the textbook “Fame - Phase 1”, now in the deliberate artificial scarcity and seclusion of “Fame - Phase 2”. Look forward to the upcoming Ron Howard directed Oscar-bait movie, with a cross-dressing Halle Berry as Banksy in the most challenging role of her career, as “Fame - Phase 3”. Guitar Gods: Jeff Beck. He just fails to hook me with any of his playing, it has always seemed pure paint-by-numbers. Acting: Denzel Washington. His method of “drama by shouting” is obvious and unvaried. At least Pacino can shout in multiple entertaining ways. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acknowledged-greats-in-the-arts-that-you-dont-get/680367.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acknowledged-greats-in-the-arts-that-you-dont-get/680367.md?page=4)