Actually, what you said in your OP was:
If you find it disappointing, but don’t wish to raise it through your contributions, then why do you waste your time reading it and commenting upon it? Just to snark?
I would say it was not so much bitching to bitch, as sneering myself.
Why did you make that assumption?
As well as the part about bowing out, apparently.
Oooooh, get you!
@Miller: No.
“Curiouser and curiouser!” Cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English).
. . . .
Oh, dear! What nonsense I’m talking!
That’s why I seldom post to CS. It’s not for lack of interest – it’s for lack of recreational time.
I come here for entertainment and to shoot the shit (or listen to other people shoot the shit) with a bunch of cranky opinionated funny characters I’ve grown to recognize over time. I don’t want snooty humorless oneupsmanship or deference, I want it all mixed up and free-wheeling.
What entertains me are threads about stuff I like, and I like “higher-brow” stuff disproportionately. CS for me is often a vast wasteland and I am sad when there is nothing there for me to read.
Dex, you’re wrong that you would have nothing to add to a Shakespeare discussion. I want to shoot the shit about Shakespeare here and now with this particular group of wits and dipshits and I don’t mind a bit if someone in the past said what you think and I don’t mind high school level readings–I just want it in play.
Oops–that’s not supposed to sound like I’m saying Dex has high school level readings–I was trying to encourage people to post–it’s not like you need an education this high to ride or anything.
I am, frankly, bewildered as to why those of you who want to discuss “high-brow” topics in CS simply don’t start some threads about what you are interested in discussing. If you’d like to talk about the reverse image of The Last Supper, debate whetherNAF1138’s real cousin was the Earl of Oxford, or accuse Homer of plagiarism, well shit, feel free.
There’s no rule that say it has to have been on TV last night.
I was going to warn you not to spend the $14.95 but I was too late. Live and learn. Your posts may be a little strange but your biggest problem is you are tooo nice to be here.
Thank you for your response, C K Dexter Haven. One of the things I love about Cafe Society is its breadth. Anything from the lowest brow to the loftiest (whatever that means) is welcome for discussion and nothing is strictly out-of-place.
I am not surprised by this either. Though under a possible formulation, popularity is inversely proportional to the brow height. That is, once something becomes accessible to many it ceases to be highbrow. A possibility, merely. I would be interested in starting a thread on the subject–though I fear I would be a poor tender of any ensuing discussion for lack of time–because I am interested in the distinction and its prevalence in discussion about art. Though, like you, I do not think it possesses much analytical merit.
I like this idea because it does help explain the disparity and because I didn’t think of it at all. Still, I think there’s more to be said about art than deep insights. Certainly not everything in the entertainment threads is scholarly analysis.
That, and artistic endeavour is not static. It is live and out there as we speak.
I didn’t mean to imply that there was nothing more to be said about great or classic art. To the contrary, my feeling is that one of the things that distinguishes great art is that one is constantly able to go back to it for new insights.
I meant to say that posting about a classic (hence, “high brow”) work requires a great deal more courage, thought, and effort – and thus, it’s somewhat intimidating. I would hesitate to post, “My more recent encouner with Aristotelean logic”, for example, and I suspect that if I did post, there would be few posters who would respond. It’s much easier – less courage, less thought, less effort – to post about yesterday’s TV show. Thus, again, because we’re on a Message Board rather than in a class room, we get what we get.
At the end of the day, isn’t the point of any message board to be a gathering of people, discussing topics of interest to them? People post things that they want to talk about; if there is something that you want to talk about, and there is no thread about it - start one. What can you lose?
Susan
All dignity and the risk of an eye infection.
Oops, wrong thread.
Ah, using this strategy?
I’m surprised that no one has mentioned this, but I would divide “high-brow” and “low-brow” not by what is being discussed, but by how it is being discussed.
If you’re discussing how The Simpsons is a melting pot of cultural references that helps set the stage for modern discourse, that feels just as high-brow to me as a discussion about Lady McBeth’s state of mind. It’s certainly much more high-brow to me than a thread about who’s hotter, Mona Lisa or Venus di Milo?
Venus ftw! She’s hotter by far! She roxx0rs my soxx0rs! Ooga ooga! Nekkid boobies!
I think you have a good point, though. High-brow (which to my mind is just another word for intellectually snobbish) discussion can be had on nearly any subject.
I think what matter for me is that people are discussing things intelligently and with some non-trivial insights into the subject matter. And this being a message board with many intelligent people, I find plenty of that. Anyone who wants to appoint themselves Grand High Poobah of all matters cultural and be the sole arbiter of what constitutes worthwhile discussion can take a hike.
It’s like Goofus and Gallant meet the Wiki! Too awesome!
You’re going to get him spelling it noveauu riche, you do know that…
Okay. I’m going to try turning over that new leaf I was considering. I’m going to attempt to be both friendly and considerate.
cracks knuckles Here goes.
SBSO, regarding your continued presence here: you may want to consider looking to your behavior. Insulting the entire population of the boards is a bit like wandering into a new pub and shouting about how much you hate the music, the decor, and the shoes of that large fellow with LOVE and HAT (he’s missing one finger on that hand) tattooed on his knuckles. Certainly the internet is a good place to chat anonymously about controversial topics, but keep in mind that nobody is going to take your opinions seriously if that’s all you do. You’re pissing in the pool you’re swimming in, so don’t be shocked if you start to smell like wee before long.
Gosh, I guess that wasn’t very nice. I’d better start practicing my pleasantness again.