#1 ·
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how much the "vibe" of intellectual debate has shifted. It used to feel like people would actually sit down, look at the text, and argue the nuances of the work. Now, it feels like every time a new piece of art comes out, the discourse immediately devolves into whether the critic is a "good person" or which political camp they belong to.
It’s getting exhausting. I was reading some reviews the other day and it felt less like an analysis of the art and more like a proxy war for everything happening in the news. Instead of talking about the pacing, the translation, or the themes, people are just throwing labels at each other to shut down the conversation. It’s like if you don't use the "correct" tone, your critique is automatically invalid.
I miss when we could disagree on the merits of a book or a film without it turning into a character assassination or a political litmus test. Does anyone else feel like the actual substance of the art is getting lost in all this noise? Or am I just being a grumpy old man about the state of the internet?
It’s getting exhausting. I was reading some reviews the other day and it felt less like an analysis of the art and more like a proxy war for everything happening in the news. Instead of talking about the pacing, the translation, or the themes, people are just throwing labels at each other to shut down the conversation. It’s like if you don't use the "correct" tone, your critique is automatically invalid.
I miss when we could disagree on the merits of a book or a film without it turning into a character assassination or a political litmus test. Does anyone else feel like the actual substance of the art is getting lost in all this noise? Or am I just being a grumpy old man about the state of the internet?