I love Cheetos. I love the taste, the crunch, the salt. When I finish a bag - and I always finish the bag - I love licking the orange off my fingers. The fact that Cheetos have no nutritional value whatsoever has no effect on my enjoyment. But my unalloyed enjoyment doesn't mean Cheetos are good food. They are junk. Enjoying junk is everyone's right. Agreeing on what is junk - aside from Cheetos - now that's more challenging.
For example, what was the last book you enjoyed that had little or no nutritional value, i.e., a junky book? How did you describe it to others? Guilty pleasure? Throwaway? Beach read? What was the last book you read that was high in nutritional value? How did your enjoyment of it differ from your enjoyment of the junky one? What does your self-talk sound like when a junky book captivates you more than an elevating one, something that happens frequently to me? How recently have you tried to persuade yourself that a junky book wasn't a junky book? Why do we do this?
In my experience, out of fear of being labelled a snob or elitist, many people resist saying aloud when some manifestation or form of popular art - e.g., rock n' roll - has a junky whiff. I love rock n' roll as much as I do Cheetos. I have no qualms calling them both junk. Will Johnny B. Goode be played long after I'm gone? Without a doubt, but that doesn't place Chuck Berry alongside Mozart in the musical firmament. This is not snobbery. I enjoy - immensely - Johnny B. Goode and prefer listening to it over Mozart. But junk is junk and claiming otherwise - be it a book, a film, a piece of music, or a bag of Cheetos - doesn't make it less so. I say acknowledge it as junk, consume and enjoy it, and resist trying to claim it has any lasting nutritional value.
Sounds like a plan! For me it is all about not making judgements. If I enjoy something (potato chips, some 50's schmaltzy tunes) that should be enough!
ReplyDeleteInes; I'm not claiming in this post to make no judgments in situations when I'm confronted by and/or I'm enjoying junk food, junk culture, or junk in general. If you can avoid making judgments in those situations , my hat is off to you. I'm a long way from there.
DeleteI wasn't implying you were making a claim. My first comment was in regard to your last sentence. And then what it is about for me:).
DeleteInes (cont.); I understood your statement above was ratifying the final sentence of my post; thanks for that. My response to your comment was more aimed at making sure anyone that chanced to read our back and forth would know I've been a recovering judgaholic for as long as I can recall. One day at a time, etc.
DeleteGood morning, Pat. My wife would definitely agree with you about Cheetos. Although they have to be certain brand. She'll eat the others, but for her the main one has to be 'Jax'. As for me - too many junk foods to list, although I am trying hard to get better. If I don't start, If I can resist the temptation, I'm usually good. But once I begin ... not good. As for your comment about music, I have to agree. But with some differences of opinion. Johnny B Goode - ok, definite guilty pleasure. As you've pointed out in one of your classes, there is magic in the simplicity of some songs. But I think you would agree that, while not on the same level as Mozart or Beethoven, some Rock n Roll songs can be considered masterful in their writings - both musically and lyrically. Thats just my opinion, while we all consume and enjoy some forms of junk.
ReplyDeleteBe well,
Bob
Bob; Thanks for three comments in one day; you're a mensch. I agree some rock songs can be "masterful", but I draw the line at equating even the best of them with the majesty of what Mozart created.
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