Does it seem that taking down pop culture from the past is a "thing" now?

Cafe Society
#1

What I mean is, it seems that there are more articles on how some song or movie from the past (even recent past) actually sucks or is creepy. That Christmas song - it’s so date-rapey! That other Christmas song - it’s so condescending! That Christmas movie (holy cow, I’m noticing a trend…IS THIS THE WAR ON CHRISTMAS I’VE HEARD ABOUT) - it’s the worst!

And I see it on film boards all the time - every Best Picture winner is dated (read that link at your peril…those CinemaBlend people are idiots) and doesn’t stand up.

I’m fine with criticizing films, but plenty of the articles are just a chance to be edgy and attack a sacred cow (even if no one really cares - “Crash” isn’t that great? Whatevs…), or try to look at something through using current cultural references. I don’t remember reading takedown’s of Hemingway or “Bonnie and Clyde” when I was growing up in the '80s, except something easy like “Birth of a Nation”. It seems that there are a lot more of these critical posts/articles written. I swear, I read a post (on The AV Club, IIRC) saying that a movie from 5 or 6 years ago didn’t age that well. The only part I remember was “Do we still like ‘Up in the Air’? It doesn’t seem that great now.”

What, are you a goddamn teen that a few years passing has changed you so much??

#2

The Internet gave everybody a mouth.

And like Dylan said When you got a lot of knives and forks, you gotta cut something.

#3

Sophomoric bull sessions are no longer confined to the dorm.

#4

I kind of think that to some degree, it’s just an internet manifestation of the same click-baity journalism that you see on TV news teasers and newspaper articles.

The difference is that with internet articles, it’s about the click rates of the individual articles, not the website as a whole (unlike buying a newspaper or watching a newscast on TV), so there’s incentive to publish the most hyperbolic stuff that they can think up without being entirely, totally wrong and inviting a slander or libel suit.

#5

I saw a review once that said that Citizen Caine is “cliched”. Hello? NOT WHEN IT WAS FILMED, IT WASN’T!!!

#6

Yeah, and that Shakespeare guy, he just wrote a bunch of quotes.

(Kane, BTW)

#7

Dammit, I knew I didn’t spell it right when I wrote it. :smiley:

#8

No sweat. I though for a second you were talking about The Caine Mutiny.

#9

The Caine Mutiny??? What a load of misogynistic shit! Oh look…Willy pushes May to sleep with him, then thinks she’s a slut for doing so…pushes her away and expects her to get swept of her feet at the end. White privilege at its best. The white male is going to sweep in and ‘fix’ the stupid Italian girl.

Just kidding. And obviously I’m referring to the book. Fantastic book.