Re: Books/Films You Know Are Good But Can\'t Get Through
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I guess I have never thought about it, but I just assumed, people like what they like, therefore its you think it is either good or its not. Personally, I know little to nothing about art, but I like to look at it. I always try to get to the museum in STL every couple of months when I bored. There are some things I like, and others I just do not. Is that why people go to school for art, to learn what is good? I love Magritte, and old italian/grecko statues/armor etc, but I cant stand "modern" freako stuff. Is there a reason why I should find appeal to someone dumping on a picture of jesus? Is there something that I just do not get, that I would learn in school?
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"To learn what is good." That's the question. And put like that how can I say yes, you should take the classes to find the merit in that picture of Christ in urine? But, for instance, Shakespeare was impenetrable (i like that one) to me upon first readings. I could only appreciate it once I had learned more about the symbolism, allegories, etc. This is not to say that I don't have any original ideas or tastes of my own but when tackling something new I'll defer to the experts for a while. Now I can read a Shakespeare play without any prior critical knowledge and appreciate it and form my own opinions on it. I have to emphasize that I don't believe the opinions of the "experts" is the answer, I distinctly remember an English prof, for example, with some totally hair-brained ideas about the Great Gatsby that were just completely wrong and misleading. But if you are a known expert on stamp collecting and I want to get into the hobby, I'll follow your lead for a while at least.
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