Class
The discussion on the existence of high and low culture in today’s society got me thinking. The book, Practices of Looking, argues that presently the lines between ‘high and low culture’ are being blurred by popular culture and the media. Culture really is the ideas and tastes defined by a certain group of people. In the past, performances such as Ballet and foods like caviar were considered aspects of a high class lifestyle, where as going to the movies and eating a cheeseburger were aspects of a low class lifestyle. But with the emergence of such technologies like the movies and television in the 20th century, the kinds of people that occupy these dueling classes has changed dramatically. Before the entertainment boom, the high class was occupied by families who garnered wealth either through the rich traditions of their bloodline or some sort of business oriented fortune. These wealthy families were able to impart their shared tastes on their children forging the art gallery lingering, opera spectating and fish egg eating aristocrat we think of when the word high class comes to mind. However, television and movies have created a totally different class in a way; a modern royalty that happened to strike gold because they could act, or because a television show needed a hip host. These are regular people for the most part who, thanks to the entertainment industry, came across a sudden celebrity, a sudden fortune propelling them financially into the high class. However, though these celebrities may have a similar income to the descendants of say, a Rockefeller, they don’t have the old traditions of the high class, the mutual tastes this culture shares. So I guess, this brings me to the idea of Bill Clinton. When I think of this new blurring of the high and low classes I think of the 42nd president of the United States and his self-proclaimed love for McDonald’s. A high status, high class man who was not afraid to indulge in a cheeseburger. As a former leader of our nation, I think that tendency to ‘dine-down’ says a lot about the shrinking line between the classes in our society.
