Martin Rice on sat 21 aug 04
I've been following this discussion with interest. There have been many
ideas put forth about "why" the situation is the way it is. Mel complains,
seemingly bitterly, about the short cuts and lack of experience, etc. Vince
talks about inspiration, truly fine craftspeople, teaching, accessibility,
and so on. Vince also says that he doesn't know the answer to the litany of
complaints so frequently expressed in these discussions.
Certainly many people in all sorts of venues discuss these questions and
there's a value, I imagine, in them, if only to aid people in clarifying
their own thoughts and positions.
But certainly there is no "answer" other than something like "thus it ever
was and thus it ever will be." There have always been people who just don't
pay their dues and there have always been people who pay their dues in
spades. There are good arts and crafts and poor; there is good literature
and purple prose; there is great journalism and yellow journalism; there are
masters of foreign languages and those who never get beyond speaking in
infinitives; there are honest business people and dishonest back-stabbers.
Everyone knows this, and I'm hard put to understand why we should bother
wasting our time complaining. Complaining and ranting about these things is
much like complaining about the weather. There's nothing you can do about
it.
As far as art- or literary criticism is concerned, sure it's fun to do and
for some people an important part of their lives, that is, both those who
create the criticism and those who consume it. But here, too, what
difference does it make. No one is going to stop arty-babble. And certainly
no one is going to deny that "there's no accounting for taste," but, taste
it is even if it's not yours. And the person who says to the great merriment
and/or exasperation of the cognoscenti "I don't know much about ***** [you
fill in the field] but I know what I like" is absolutely speaking the truth.
And if that person likes Elvis on black velvet, so what? She/he knows what
is appealing to her/him.
Instead of beating ourselves up over this, I would suggest: accept reality
in these matters; live and let live, work and let work.
Martin
Santiago de Puriscal, Costa Rica
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