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Okay, I've been thinking about this and I think part of it is my stance and thinking on art and artists has changed. 1/ https://twitter.com/miyukijane/status/1361916354098421764
When I was younger, with the arrogance of youth. I was hyper-critical because I think in some way I felt like *I could do better.* I know, I know, but look, sometimes when you're 20 that's really what you think. I had no idea what it actually took to, you know, 2/
write a novel or put out an album or make a film or publish a video game. So if a novel or album or film or game disappointed me, it was super easy to focus on that and be mystified about why the artists didn't just, you know, FIX that problem? 3/
I also think, as my tastes were developing, that being hyper-critical was a way to train my aesthetic taste. Learning to discriminate between what pleased and and what upset me, what drew me and what repelled me, and part of that exercise is learning to articulate *why* 4/
something doesn't work for you. It's always easier to pick out what's broken than what's not -- it's so much more obvious. As I got older and started making things, making art, I realized that so much more goes into producing art than individual genius. 5/
I realized the line between a *good* film and a *bad* film is, in fact, razor thin. (I also realized that *good* and *bad* are completely subjective and I learned to respect other people's tastes more. I am not the cultural arbiter. God, I was an insufferable 20-year-old. 6/
(To be fair to myself as a teen-twenty something, I think part of the reason we exert so much energy into our taste is because it's one of the few aspects of our lives we can control. Selecting our own music, clothes, books, etc is an important means of self-definition) 7/
Now, as an older person, I tend to be SUPER generous Just getting any film made is an astonishing feat. Getting a novel written and published is mind-blowing. Whatever I think of the content, mad props to the artist who was able to do that. Respect. 8/
And the other aspect of it is, I'm looking for more from my art. As a young person I liked being challenged, being shown something new, feeling like I was breaking new ground. I still like that. But I also like being reminded of truths we already know. 9/
I like being lulled and comforted and enveloped as much as pushed to the edge (actually right now I prefer being lulled than pushed to the edge.) I like art that rejects cynicism and nihilism and irony (a stance I would have found hopelessly naive at age 20.) 10/
And like @momopeche said in her reply, hating just takes too much energy. I still critique, I think think about things, but I no longer feel the need to utterly reject and mock things that don't work for me. 11/
And maybe that was a phase I needed to go through, because it sharpened my appreciation, perhaps, for what *does* work. I prefer to be generous to art.
Still gonna call out bullshit, but, you know, from a place of love. <3 End/
Still gonna call out bullshit, but, you know, from a place of love. <3 End/
