Next there is "High Theory/Low Culture" [Mikita Brottman, Palgrave Macmillan, 2005], which is less defensive of pop culture, but works to apply the art of high criticism and theory to the often gutterized world of fashion magazines, tabloids and horror movies. Brottman remarks how popularity in one generation often leads to classic status in the next.
"Pop culture is often defined in terms of what it is not - opera, theater, poetry, classical music and so on. And yet it is well-known that writers such as Samuel Richardson, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens have been afforded "classic" status, despite their one-time popularity and their use of such 'low' cultural tools as melodrama, scandal, burlesque, stereotype and violent action...Pop culture then, can apparently be transformed into 'high' culture by a simple, critical act of appropriation...the popular culture of one decade can easily become the high culture of the next."
So let me stand with what is worthy, popular or unknown.
- Chip / Culture Drift
Article comments
1 - Lee Ennis
You said, "But criticism should be based on art's true merit, not for its level of popularity."
Very true. But, there is no art in TV...
2 - rp
Great article. I unfortunately was one of those boasty "I only like it if it's unpopular" people, until other close-minded elitist dumbasses started to annoy me. And even then it took me a while to realize their sins were my own.
The Brottman/Macmillan paragraph reminds me of the rise of Eminem in 2002 (circa 8 Mile), when popular opinion of him went from "insensitive jerkass" to "new millennial poet, one of the great wordsmiths of our generation." All it took was critical acclaim in Hollywood to make his art legitimate -- now, with the masses on his side, he's immune to protesters. Funny how that works.
"But, there is no art in TV..."
In a few centuries, if not a few decades, I'm sure that'll be like saying there's no art in theatre. What's allowed to be called "art" changes, for better or worse.
3 - That Guy
dude.."hard as hell video games?" compare the average difficulty of a classic NES game (Zelda, Punch-Out, any regular Mario title) to the average difficulty of any game to this date and, for the most part, video games are drastically easier. They have done this to sell out to players complaining that "I can't beat this part" years ago.