What You Should Like

There are some elements of popular culture that people should like and some things they shouldn’t. This applies to movies, music, television shows, video games, sports, celebrities, food…and the like. It doesn’t apply to naturally occurring phenomena, like sunsets, mountains, or grandparents. Them’s the rules, folks. Nothing I can do about them.

Two easy examples, to get us started: If everyone liked “Arrested Development,” that brilliant show would probably still be on television. Conversely, if we all ignore Lady Gaga, I’m convinced she’ll actually cease to exist.

My sense is that much of this should seem intuitive to you, unless you have absolutely no idea why you like Prince but you don’t like Billy Joel. So I’ve been asking for examples from people today. But everyone’s so hesitant to give me examples because they think they’re preferences are, well, just preferences. And I want to argue, instead, that some people are right about their preferences and other people are wrong. Why do I? Because it’s funny. And also because, if I convince enough people about this, then maybe there will be more movies like “Glenngarry Glen Ross” and fewer romantic comedy vehicles starring Matthew McConaughey.

But am I simply saying that I have good taste when it comes to these things and you have bad taste? Am I saying that “indie” things are better than things that most people like? No, it’s not nearly that simple. What I am saying, though, is that some things are objectively better than others. And, working together, I think we can come up with a list and then figure out what the things on our list have in common. And that way we can save ourselves time and just ignore the next tv show that involves people who think they can dance.

Basically, this amounts to my desire to borrow a little something I like from Richard Rorty and a little something I like from Allan Bloom, two philosophers who’d absolutely hate to find themselves in the same sentence. From Rorty, I’m borrowing the idea that philosophers should be cultural commentators; from Bloom, it’s the idea of that some things are just better than other things and we can make arguments about those things. This is a bit of a messy mash-up, to be sure, but we’ll leave that alone for the time being.

Instead, let’s get to the good stuff. Add a few things to the list that I’ve started here with my students, tell your friends to visit and do the same, and we’ll see where this goes. And, yes, this is meant to be fun; sorry if your love of Lady Gaga has made you feel like an outsider. Just listen to something by The Hold Steady and you’ll start feeling better.

Having said all of that, what should be on our list?