Ran into a kid in a FarceBook thread on musical tastes. He was really offended by my comments delineating how obvious it is that contemporary society has, on the main, NO musical taste, and indeed, more or less, that most folks have no capability to discern music from rhythmic noise.
He went on to list a number of “great” contemporary popular works (I am kind), all of which were boring, derivative, insultingly stupid, etc., including a “fantastic” (his word) popular song that had an annoying (and extremely boring) rhythmic ostinato that did absolutely nothing to support the rest of the piece. Oh, and the vocals were juvenile, quite apart from the stupid lyrics.
But the pieces were definitely the kind of thing that would appeal to a musically illiterate junior high school student.
So, he was offended. Mentioned one was “great” in the class of greatness of a “great book”–Plato’s Republic (which isn’t really a book at all but a collection of dialogs of varying lengths and importance that together might make up a novella-length “book,” although it has been compiled and presented as a “bookette” *heh* It’s easier for academic bookstores to charge more for the collection that way. In my collection, every book with an edition of “The Republic” is part of a much longer collection of works. ADHD folks’ opinions may vary.).
It further devolved into his assertion that it was too, and just as great a “book” as King Lear. . . which isn’t a book but a play.
*head-desk*
Kicker: He’s apparently a grad of a “rigorous” liberal arts program (that uses the Great Books of the Western World as a curriculum/curriculum resource/guide), and can’t discern that King Lear is a play, not a book, and he is a writer for The Puffington Host. Naturally. Mass MEdia Podpeople Hivemind unit.
*sigh*
It was fun playing until I ran out of popcorn.