I've been idly interested in the popular representation of aesthetic judgment for a long time. A lot of film and tv is about arts biz, and there usually has to be at least one moment when a person with discerning judgment Recognizes The Talent.

There's usually a close-up, a facial expression, a nod of recognition—some physical representation of someone having an aesthetic experience.

The source of the discerning person's aesthetic authority is not necessarily institutional. The aesthetic approval of teens is especially coveted!

Usually this moment of aesthetic judgment functions as a pivot for a standard plot, the affirmation of aesthetic pleasure (which is often also moralized, classed, etc., usually involving the shaming of a snob/bad aesthete). Debbie Reynolds in Singin' in the Rain, e.g. Or Pamela!

There is something *so different* going on with these teens who listen to classic songs, react, and ultimately declare them bangers. The moment of recognition is repeated in each video. Each time, the teens have never heard the song before, but we definitely have.*

* actually I had not heard the Phil Collins song; I am not very good at pop culture

The scene of aesthetic judgment—always affirmative—is played over and over for itself, to be shared, mimicking the experience of enjoying music with friends, which none of us are really getting right now.

Is "Killing Me Softly" by the Fugees a banger? Of course, in two senses. 1. We already know it; it's a classic. Unlike in the Hollywood plot (or the eighteenth-century novel, ha ha), there is no question about whether this artistic production will come to be culturally affirmed.

2. Declaring the song a banger at the end is a generic requirement of these videos.

There's something so foreclosed and looping in these scenes of aesthetic appreciation, which does not diminish their enjoyability.

1. Is this generic representation of aesthetic judgment (as distinct from the one that serves a plot function) therefore cursed?

2. Is this thread therefore cursed?

This video, which opens with the teens promoting a jewelry brand before launching into a listen of Dolly Parton's "9 to 5," shows the gap between the Hollywood film and the YouTube video in another key.

They love Dolly, but they can't understand why she isn't happy that her hours are only 9 to 5. Then they close by promoting the jewelry brand again. It's not even their brand!