When novices are bitten by the "differentiation bug", they try to exhibit liking for non-popular art. But what are the chances that they will be able to distinguish between non-popular art and bad art?
Whether there's any bad art that is ever produced? This is another debate altogether!
By the way who decides which art is good and which art is bad; it is only human interpretation and not any heavenly classification. Nothing is absolute good and nothing is absolute bad.
Why is it that majority of Oscar winning movies are not commercial blockbusters? Why is it that Booker prize winning book is usually not read by masses and the book read by masses is not even nominated for booker prize?
Do we really need specialists to opine about art. After all art is meant for appreciation by all, pleasure of all.
But will it really be wise to leave all the judgment power to masses? Won't it make all 'masala' movies (having popular combination of violence, sex and lifestyle) win all the acclaim? Will it not prove the universal applicability of journalism's 3F formula (Food, Fashion, Fornication) for media? Is "wisdom of crowds" not applicable in the field of art?
Frankly, as of now, I am unable to side with either school of thought!!
So should one blindly follow the middle path? Well, wait for my next post on "middle path" :)
