The movie Jaws premiered in 1975. This was before the democratization of knowledge brought about by the internet, before there were smartphones in every pants pocket, and before the 24/7 availability of Hot Takes about every piece of media under the sun. The absence of a more current example suggests we’re seeing the “when you know better, you do better” principle in action here.
I’d gently suggest rethinking the position that most people are just too undiscerning to tell popular entertainment apart from a how-to guide for real life.
can we please bring back “in poor taste” as a concept
Because at some point it got folded in under “problematic,” and now every damn thing that has Unfortunate Implications or deals with sensitive topics indelicately enough to raise hackles or gores somebody’s sacred cow is treated as a grave injustice or a threat to society. Online activism culture has lost the vocabulary to express “this deals with touchy stuff in a way many people might find inappropriate, and you should probably avoid it if insensitivity on this subject gets you angry/upset, but it’s not promoting hateful ideas or demeaning people or affecting anything but my opinion of the creator’s sense of tact.”
So when YOU sew a bunch of unmatched parts together, it is “a quilt” and “a beautiful gift” and “will assuredly become a family heirloom” but when I sew a bunch of unmatched parts together it is “A MONSTER” and “AN ABOMINATION, AN AFFRONT TO THE GODS” and goes on “A MURDEROUS KILLING SPREE.”
I drew Hieronymus Bosch’s certified Very Good Boy, brought to my attention by @routezeros on twitter. Gave him a sucker fish mouth because it seemed appropriate.
