Can't say I didn't ask for this. There is no way to cock your snoot at contemporary US popular culture without coming across like William Bennett, Hilton Kramer or just some tiresome boomer old fart. But again, I think schlock has gotten much schlockier in the last few decades, and I think US-led turbocharged global capitalism is the reason for this degeneration. Particularly irritating are recent apologias -- with at least pretensions to high-dome status -- that rationalize and even celebrate this market-driven debasement of taste, e.g., John Seabrook's _Nobrow: The Culture of Marketing, the Marketing of Culture_.
Carl
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