Not a Pot to Piss in or a Window to Throw it Outta!

Good evening everyone, I hope you are enjoying the rousing discussions which have been so thoughtfully prepared by all of us here at the AFLM family. Now, I have promised you concision, and in the spirit of faithfulness I am going to make sure I give you concision. And as furthering this enjoyable, yet admittedly gratuitous, introduction belies this promise, I will, now, simply vault into the matter at hand.

I was having a discussion with a friend today about writing and publishing (go figure) and he asked me whether it would be more advantageous for his career to write something widely marketable and pleasing instead of what most English majors aspire to write, the MAGNUM OPUS OF ARTISTIC ENDEAVOR! We discussed this for the better part of two hours, volleying back and forth the pros and cons of each potential decision and ended up lousy with hypotheticals. And that is why this question has made it to all of you good people. If a writer was to write something mass-marketable and tasty, as it were, which would lend to a higher chance of publication into novel, screenplay, etc., equaling a great deal of money on his part, is it artistically ethical to do so, or should this person continue to try and sell his esoteric opus? I think it is something interesting to think about, if only for the "thought experiment" nature of it. Now, understand that when I say "mass-marketable", I mean blithering trash. Also, I know some of you will say, can't the two be accomplished as one? Can't art be mass-marketable? Well, seeing as certain seemingly erroneous circumstances make it impossible to give a definitive no, I will say its not likely. Be honest with yourself, as much as you may love Ulysses, Song of Myself, As I Lay Dying, or The Decameron, these works will never be as grotesquely profitable as . . . dare I say it . . . Twilight, or any other revolting heap of worthlessness your mind can dredge up which would serve as ample example of a sideshow monstrosity which has garnered way too much profit for its putrid, hell hound charlatan of an "author."

So, there you have it, my thought provoking gift to you. I hope everyone gives this some thought, or, perhaps, if you are reading this, stunned by its elementary nature, please be so kind as to respond and educate the rest of us.

Thoughtfully,

Eric W. Strege

♪♪ Twilight, Snooki, 3D movies, These are a few of my favorite things ♪♪

Let me just start off by saying that there aren't three other things in the world that i detest as much as the listed above. Well . . . that may be a lie, I hate a lot of things, and if you are rocking back and fourth in your computer chair while hugging your knees in anticipation of a list of such things, I'm sorry, that isn't what follows, but just pay attention and I'm sure they will slowly leak out in my blogs. And, I know there is someone out there who is reading this title and my following comments and is currently constructing an effigy of me to sacrificially burn to a totem of Stephanie Meyer, but that person is probably 12 years old and still thinks The Beatles are the greatest rock band of all time, so I really couldn't care less.

My intention for this blog is to leave things as open ended as possible as to facilitate a dialogue between AFLM staff, readers, and contributers alike before my next blog, wherein I intend to discuss the issue more finitely. Here goes nothin'.

By what criteria are we judging artistic merit?


I was urged to write this open ended blog when, earlier today, I went to a local Barnes & Noble (what can I say, not even my - at times - suffocating pompousness can refuse holiday coupons) and saw a copy of James Joyce's ULYSSES purposefully placed next to a copy of the bestselling A SHORE THING by snooki on a table that determined them "Recommended Reading". I was appalled to say the least and stormed out the bookstore in a fitful literary tirade.

If Snooki's book is popular around the world, and Joyce, and other such under-appreciated authors, is popular only with the pinnacle of academic aesthetes, does that make us academics just better than everyone else? I say HELL YES!

Okay, now I feel like I'm rambling so I will leave everyone with the question,

By what criteria should art be judged or attributed value?

Think about it. Comment, argue, re-comment, I want to hear everyone's thoughts.

P.s. I would love to read how professors feel also. Yes, that means you Dr. Corley, I know you surf around these parts every so often, so, instruct us.


Queasily,

Eric W. Strege