Recently film critic Terrence Malick caused quite a controversy when he compared watching the film 'Tree of Life' to culturally 'eating your vegetables', i.e.: enduring an experience that is not very pleasurable, but for the good of one's (cultural) health.
This, of course, was a bit unusual coming from a film critic, especially a well-established one, as critics are usually the first people to tell you to eat your artistic vegetables. Those who spoke against Malick raised the point that there's plenty of vapid Hollywood dreck out there that gets far more than its share of press (usually thanks to the biggest stars and promotion money can by), and it's a critic's role, in part, to offset that. Quality should be trumpeted, even if it's not very accessible...or maybe even especially if it's not very accessible.
A friend of mine posted about Tree of Life on his Facebook page - he was utterly perplexed by the movie and consoled himself that his popcorn was hot and tasty. Apparently the film is visually stunning, but agonizingly slow-paced and stupefying.
If that didn't describe one of my all-time favourite movies (2001: A Space Odyssey), I wouldn't be so intrigued. Granted, I wasn't crazy about 2001 the first time I saw it (nor for 'Once Upon a Time In the West', another of my later faves, but described by critics of the time as 'tedium in the tumbleweed'), but as I'd mentioned in an earlier blog, often acquired tastes become the most dear.
Like food, I sometimes think of music as existing on an accessibility spectrum. Some days, when you're lazy and very hungry, you might succumb to the cheap, instant grease-and-salt call of fast food. More often, you might have a well-balanced home-cooked meal, and on rarer occasions, you might venture into more rare and exotic dishes (tripe pho, anyone?) or just a fresh salad will hit the spot (admittedly a pretty rare occasion for this reluctant carnivore). The healthier dishes might not have the strongest initial appeal, but you usually feel much better after the fact. Likewise, there are times when I crave super-accessible music (usually old favourites - the first record I ever bought for myself was Kiss- Love Gun, and it still delivers the goods every now and again), times when I'm more middle-of-the-road, and some moments when I welcome the disorientation of something strange and new.
What I find rather bemusing these days is that I'm developing an appetite for healthier musical fare.
I have a Sunday morning tradition of a breakfast of crepes and bacon, with baroque music (with some dabbling in other classical periods) on the stereo to accompany my activities in the kitchen. Over the last year, I've been quite happily amazed by how deeply satisfying some of those works are. I'm not trying to like it - it's just grabbing me, and perhaps touching a bit of my psyche that is otherwise neglected in the 21st-century world. Not surprisingly, my appetite for musical junk-food - or at least comfortable old favourites - is at a low ebb. Probably not a bad thing.
I'm guessing that Bach and Vivaldi took a place in my heart when I stopped thinking of them as 'vegetables' and started thinking of them as comfortable accompaniment to bits of my life. It seems that as soon as the word 'should' is involved in planning activities, those activities have a way of being de-prioritized. Curtis once showed me the GrooveShark website as a way of hearing great new music, especially fusion. I thought 'Cool! I should add that to my favourites!' Have I since returned to the site? I'm most ashamed to say no. It's the vegetable phenomenon.
I'll finish off this blog before it starts getting compared to the Tree of Life - but hopefully we now all have something to chew on...
This, of course, was a bit unusual coming from a film critic, especially a well-established one, as critics are usually the first people to tell you to eat your artistic vegetables. Those who spoke against Malick raised the point that there's plenty of vapid Hollywood dreck out there that gets far more than its share of press (usually thanks to the biggest stars and promotion money can by), and it's a critic's role, in part, to offset that. Quality should be trumpeted, even if it's not very accessible...or maybe even especially if it's not very accessible.
A friend of mine posted about Tree of Life on his Facebook page - he was utterly perplexed by the movie and consoled himself that his popcorn was hot and tasty. Apparently the film is visually stunning, but agonizingly slow-paced and stupefying.
If that didn't describe one of my all-time favourite movies (2001: A Space Odyssey), I wouldn't be so intrigued. Granted, I wasn't crazy about 2001 the first time I saw it (nor for 'Once Upon a Time In the West', another of my later faves, but described by critics of the time as 'tedium in the tumbleweed'), but as I'd mentioned in an earlier blog, often acquired tastes become the most dear.
Like food, I sometimes think of music as existing on an accessibility spectrum. Some days, when you're lazy and very hungry, you might succumb to the cheap, instant grease-and-salt call of fast food. More often, you might have a well-balanced home-cooked meal, and on rarer occasions, you might venture into more rare and exotic dishes (tripe pho, anyone?) or just a fresh salad will hit the spot (admittedly a pretty rare occasion for this reluctant carnivore). The healthier dishes might not have the strongest initial appeal, but you usually feel much better after the fact. Likewise, there are times when I crave super-accessible music (usually old favourites - the first record I ever bought for myself was Kiss- Love Gun, and it still delivers the goods every now and again), times when I'm more middle-of-the-road, and some moments when I welcome the disorientation of something strange and new.
What I find rather bemusing these days is that I'm developing an appetite for healthier musical fare.
I have a Sunday morning tradition of a breakfast of crepes and bacon, with baroque music (with some dabbling in other classical periods) on the stereo to accompany my activities in the kitchen. Over the last year, I've been quite happily amazed by how deeply satisfying some of those works are. I'm not trying to like it - it's just grabbing me, and perhaps touching a bit of my psyche that is otherwise neglected in the 21st-century world. Not surprisingly, my appetite for musical junk-food - or at least comfortable old favourites - is at a low ebb. Probably not a bad thing.
I'm guessing that Bach and Vivaldi took a place in my heart when I stopped thinking of them as 'vegetables' and started thinking of them as comfortable accompaniment to bits of my life. It seems that as soon as the word 'should' is involved in planning activities, those activities have a way of being de-prioritized. Curtis once showed me the GrooveShark website as a way of hearing great new music, especially fusion. I thought 'Cool! I should add that to my favourites!' Have I since returned to the site? I'm most ashamed to say no. It's the vegetable phenomenon.
I'll finish off this blog before it starts getting compared to the Tree of Life - but hopefully we now all have something to chew on...