Taste is largely dictated by how you would like to see yourself, not about what appeals to you. Self-knowledge comes not from questioning the opinions of others, but by looking at those things you yourself hold most dear. Do they stand up to scrutiny? Does Frank Sinatra’s singing move me, or did I decide to be the sort of person, a hep urban sophisti-cat, who would like Sinatra? Did I make the choice at some point to be a young crooner fan or was the quality of the work immediately obvious? Similarly, did considerations of not wanting to be racist lead me to give rap chance after chance? Do I actually like Public Enemy or am I just unwilling to reject it? More precisely, did I want to be the sort of person who would have a taste in music which ranged from Cole Porter to the Wu-Tang Clan? If I had stuck to British ‘60s influenced guitar bands would my taste be more pure? More genuine? My dilettantism has certainly led me down roads less travelled, and there have undoubtedly been marvellous discoveries along the way, but how many CDs have I bought, how many books have I read, how many films have I (pretended to) like just because I didn’t want to be seen (and more importantly, I didn’t want to see myself) as the kind of person who wouldn’t like them? Do I really need four Roxy Music albums? The first two would have been enough. I must have ten Dylan albums, and keep buying more, although I rarely listen to more than two or three of them. Do I actually like football or was I trying to fit into some model of what men like? Or did I just want to be able to relate to the cool kids? It may even be more affected, did my academic background lead me into this non-intellectual pursuit? Did I just want to be the kind of person who would read nineteenth century French Literature and then watch Tottenham Hotspur versus Middlesborough, a match I have absolutely no vested interest in, on a Sunday afternoon?
I have no answer to many of these questions, but it is important to ask them. Always be suspicious of everyone’s taste, especially your own. There is no particular reason why someone who likes the Pixies should necessarily be drawn to Gram Parsons, but these things come together in the great opinions fire sale. Of course it may be that certain things are just objectively “good”, and by recognising the quality in one artist you are more likely to be able to appreciate another. So many tastes seem to come together though - Franz Ferdinand, Tate Modern, asymmetrical haircuts, N*E*R*D, unusual “ethnic” food, modern dance, Charles Bukowski, No Logo (of course many of these things *are* logos) Donnie Darko (I hold my hands up, I like at least some of these, I'm just picking some things that tend to go together. I could just as easily have said The Sandman, Sisters of Mercy, Baudelaire and photophobia) - and it is this bunching that makes me suspect many buy a job lot rather than work things out individually. How many Tate Modernists would say that they supported Michael Howard? Some young people do though, it seems strange that there is less of an overlap. (NB idea for T-shirt to wear in Shoreditch, “I hate Sushi”.) Similarly, I see no reason why there should be a statistical correlation between liking the Rapture and taking a pro-Euro stance. I have an economics degree, but I still don’t know if it’s a good thing or not, it’s an extremely complicated issue. However, it’s obvious that a lot of people have put themselves in the “yes” camp because they think it stands for open-mindedness and against xenophobia. It’s OK though, you can be undecided. You may never decide - who can have an informed opinion on everything? (More of this to come in future postings.)
To return to my original point, perhaps it’s not simply a matter of affectation. Maybe it is just best to search outside what would normally be seen to appeal to your demographic to see what truly resonates. Fight The Man and his obsession with putting us all in boxes. If you love Jane Austen then say it loud and proud. And stop pretending you like the Naked Lunch. It’s rubbish.
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