Oh no, not the "genre vs literary" thing again...

[barbarienne]

Gakked from the Smart Bitches: An article from the New York Times rehashing the genre vs literary thing again

Comments

[kouaidou]

Actually, yes, you're totally right that it goes both ways. I tend to be more of a movie buff than a book buff, so the example that's closest to my heart is how on movie-related message boards you'll always hear people say things like "I don't care what the critics say, I always hate the movies they like and like the movies they hate." (Which of course is just an amazing bit of generalization to begin with!)

(For example, it's amazing how many people -- myself included, for a long time -- will buy into the popular conception that Citizen Kane is some kind of high art snoozefest, when in fact it's actually really entertaining and interesting if you just sit down to watch it with an open mind. Which is one of those things that makes me wonder how many people got ruined on literature by having to study it in school.)

I guess the thing is that it's just so easy to fall into this pattern. Even if you're usually a reasonable and analytical person, there's something so natural about making that step from "not my thing" to "objectively bad," that you almost have to consciously try not to make it. Maybe it's especially easy when you're a reasonable and analytical person, since you can justify your tastes much more eloquently...