Wait, is being black something that magically shields one from criticism?
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Lady Claire: How do you know youāre God?
Jack Gurney: Simple. When I pray to Him, I find I am talking to myself.
ā The Ruling Class
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Are we Just Asking Questions?
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These are always our fault, it happens when we mess up post scheduling.
Bad admin, no cheetos!
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ā¦thatās what made it funnyā¦
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We always try to keep this in mind. I think we do a good job, most of the time. The second-order problem/worry is more pressing: ya can be as self-aware, ironic and well-meaning as ya like and still enable and empower assholes.
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I know full well that mainstream artists and musicians that get through the gatekeepers arenāt necessarily the most talented that exist in my lifetime. Why does that bother you?
Should we not ask thoughtful questions about the tone of music criticism and pop culture coverage of black musicians?
His reach is irrelevant, heās just another manufactured hack with very little actual talent.
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This is still my favorite valentineās card: (essentially, will work with many celebs)
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I never said that it does.
But since you askedā¦
There are two reasons why I consider it problematic. Firstly, if pop culture has āgatekeepersā then it is not actually mainstream (or even truly popular), as it is defined by a minority of people. Secondly, because rewarding egotistical behavior invariably yields an immature society - as well as less interesting art.
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That makes zero sense.
āMainstream cultureā is that which is palatable to the most number of people. It is not good, and it is exposed through generally controlled channels, otherwise it would be viral (not āviralā.)
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There are any number of ways to think about it.
Which depends firstly upon whether or not the very concept of āmainstreamā itself may be desirable, or represent a real phenomenon. To illustrate, many consider it synonymous or overlapping with āpopular cultureā, which conveys various connotations depending upon what usage of āpopularā we work from. Itās meanings could be as disparate as the egalitarian to the compulsory. But when what is broadly circulated must be vetted by a small population, there is no certainty that something else would not have better suited truly popular taste. For instance, if porn was shown on network television, wouldnāt many people watch it? Popular taste allows it, but those few who control the medium do not. The practice demonstrates that there are a multiplicity of populations, subcultures, demographics, etc - and that they cannot be assumed to have equal consideration.
The short of it is that nobody truly knows what people actually like when they are made to choose from a list.
Fair enoughā¦! 
Aha! Yes, exactly. An immature society.
The only people who generally care what people like are advertisers and broadcasters.
The certainly donāt care what I like personally because I find radio and TV unconsumable.
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The people who are āin the knowā are all moving to Monster Island, and scuttling their ships when they arrive.
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I donāt know what your point is here. Everybody thinks those guys are assholes, too. And Lennon never claimed to be ābigger than Jesus.ā His quote was really about the popularity of Christianity. The end of the extended quote is āJesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. Itās them twisting it that ruins it for me.ā
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You left out āsooper.ā
