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November 28, 2005
Bah smug-bug to journo hegemony: You and what Armond?
Over at NYPress, Armond White is having, erm... words? in a lengthy takeout entitled "Self Satisfaction, Hollywood Style." "In mass media, 'smart' has become the alternative to popular," White writes. "And 'smart'—the hipper-than-thou, angrier-than-thou attitude of today's culture—has led to smug... It's what connects Good Night, and Good Luck, The Squid and the Whale, North Country, The Dying Gaul, The Weather Man, Syriana and Capote—some of the year's most acclaimed yet detestable films... In today's fake populism, where obscenely overpaid and overpromoted journalists pretend to speak for the commonweal, pundits are superstars." [Name-calling without names: purple, purblind purism!] "And since each self-proclaimed expert certifies himself film savvy, movies are considered less important than how they make one feel superior. The hope that movies could bond a disparate populace is passé. Movies are now part of the way that the media elite (and the cyberspace fringe) proclaim their advantages.
"At no time in my experience reading cultural journalism was there a period when the culture was as hostile as today. Awful movies are foisted upon the public through critics' hypocritical confusion of bad taste and private interest. Propaganda for themselves. They automatically acclaim movies that align with their personal beliefs while shunning any intellectual challenge. Conflict-of-interest duds—from The Squid and the Whale to Good Night, and Good Luck—represent boomer vanity; their implicit values denote the backed-up sewage of the '60s counterculture's self-importance. These are films only people who fancy themselves New York intellectuals could love... One social set's prejudices get validated based on the unexamined acceptance of particular class priorities. This hegemony is put into effect by pundits with no grace or humility, who assert their difference—their smartness—from the general public." [More hautyoor at the link.]
Posted by pride at November 28, 2005 03:13 PM
Comments
That was awesome. I have a new favorite film critic.
Posted by: lindenen ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.mcnblogs.com/mcindie/nav-commenters.gif)
at November 28, 2005 10:38 PM
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