Perhaps the passage of time and the knocks along the way has something to do with it. Perhaps my tastes have widened with greater exposure. Perhaps the vim, vigor and absolutism of youth that raced through my veins has given way to the onset of early (male) menopause and senility.
Whatever the case… here I am.
Looking back, I was a snob about… well, everything. The arts, politics, decorum, and food… just to name a few.
I remember critiquing a dish an old girlfriend once made… while gobbling it up. It was a well meaning and constructive critique… but a critique nevertheless. Not exactly conducive to scoring romantic points for rest of the evening. The lesson learned… eat, shut up… or if you need to vocalize make sure they are sounds of delight and approval… and maybe, just maybe there will be a healthy helping of dessert after.
While we are on the subject of food (and when am I not?)… I was quite the bitch on the (cultural) authenticity of food. OK… I still am… a bit. Let me qualify that. I will accept “fusion cuisine” if the restaurant is not touting it as “authentic”. Look, I love food and in my adventures my palate has been widened through the consumption of various cultural fare. So, touting something as authentic when it is clearly not pre-installs a bad taste in my mouth. Besides, the world is much smaller now.
It was the same with the arts. I would poo-poo certain movie genres as low-brow. But I take delight in genres that can be considered tacky to many. Movie-wise… 70’s Hammer Horror and Disaster movies to name but two.
Now I am less so. My objectivity level has risen to the point where I will not storm out of some place in a diva scoff.
That is not to say that I’ve given up on quality and content. Far from it. I both recognize, applaud and celebrate it when I come across it. Even if it is not something I’m currently “into” at the moment. The “into” factor is something one has to contend with and put aside when attempting to recognize quality. Not an easy task, I’ll readily admit. Yet, it can be done.
All that being stated… it is just as important to recognize quality as it is to recognize crap when you come across it. That does not a snob make. Because… there is a lot of that out there too… crap, that is.
Hey, my tastes may have widen but that does not mean that I’ve lost it completely.