Reply to Becoming a cultured person, “just like NYC intellectuals”

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The peculiarity (problem? yes, most likely) of today's time is that what constitutes the "intelligentsia" insofar as one can claim it are the same people who spend most of their time disdaining all the old benchmarks of culture. Instead of writing articles about a gifted orchestra, they now write articles about how white the orchestra's audience is and judging the symphony for not having enough blacks in the orchestra. The music has become besides the point. That's what NPR and NYT have become. They're most definitely not what they were pre 2000, especially pre 1990.

Because of the collapse in intellectual honesty and sincerity of the American intelligentsia, we really don't have the same kind of people with the same kind of cultural hold. The best thing is for you to decide what *you* like and not follow what someone in the NYT says. If anything, I'd say do the opposite of what the NYT or NPR tells you. You can go to exhibitions on your own, you can visit museums, you can sign up for talks, you can form your own book club. And there's still plenty of genuinely intellectual writing on art and music and culture. It just won't be in the pages of the NYT. But look around more carefully and you'll find them.  [/quote]

NP and I think there is a lot of truth here. There’s an element of embarrassment about certain music, art, philosophy, literature in these circles (including and maybe especially in academia) and it really interferes with the enjoyment and appreciation.

OP, you’ve gotten a lot of good advice! I plan to take some of it myself. [/quote]

DP - I don't think either of you are entirely wrong here, but I do disagree with the contention that symphony and theater reviews don't focus on the performances. I do agree that there has been an effort to look beyond very traditional, very white, and usually very male driven cultural watermarks like symphony, ballet, opera, etc. and sometimes it's over the top. But it's a reflection of a nation that is becoming majority minority.[/quote]

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