An idea to ponder
Jul. 23rd, 2013 08:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ericcolemanSomething I have been mulling over lately.
Having as many talented friends and acquaintances as I do can lead to an interesting problem. I was raised to be a critic by my father, who taught theater for decades. I have pretty much always had a problem with the idea of "I don't like something, therefore it is bad". No, you don't like it. Sometimes it is something that is good, it just doesn't speak to you (ok, sometimes it's just bad, but that isn't what we are talking about here). There is a lot of music and writing that I don't particularly like, but that I think is brilliant. There is a lot of music that I don't like that I think is amazing. It just doesn't speak to me.
So, what do you do in a situation like this? How do you deal with someone whose work you admire, but really don't like?
Or are you one of those people who, if you don't like something, it is bad?
(and no, this isn't about you ... whoever you are)
Having as many talented friends and acquaintances as I do can lead to an interesting problem. I was raised to be a critic by my father, who taught theater for decades. I have pretty much always had a problem with the idea of "I don't like something, therefore it is bad". No, you don't like it. Sometimes it is something that is good, it just doesn't speak to you (ok, sometimes it's just bad, but that isn't what we are talking about here). There is a lot of music and writing that I don't particularly like, but that I think is brilliant. There is a lot of music that I don't like that I think is amazing. It just doesn't speak to me.
So, what do you do in a situation like this? How do you deal with someone whose work you admire, but really don't like?
Or are you one of those people who, if you don't like something, it is bad?
(and no, this isn't about you ... whoever you are)
no subject
Date: 2013-07-24 02:59 pm (UTC)Second, I was introduced to single-malt scotch, and discovered things that I didn't like at the first sip were things I wanted to drink at a different time, when the mood was different, or I had certain foods around...
Third, a friend introduced me to death metal! So I listened to a genre I had absolutely NO interest in, and that was associated with preconceptions of BAD AWFULLNESS in my brain... and discovered these amazing things going on behind the incoherent screaming of the lead singers!
Now, I listen (or taste, or watch...) and look for things that I might like, later, under some other circumstances; or look for subtle things happening behind the main thrust of the thing.