Comments on: If Being Smart was Cool…

By: paulmatzko

paulmatzko — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 22:19:00 +0000

Sure, sure…nerds make the most moola. Science, tech, and business top the normal payscale. Yet that fact in and of itself is revealing. Why are they at the top of the payscale? That we have to pay them high wages may indicate that we have a lack of supply. Indeed, we are net importers of skilled labor (think of the stereotypical Chinese engineering students and Indian doctors).

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:33:28 +0000

What we value can also be measured by pay scales, and geeks consistently win (both in terms of superstar and median wages). The noise around big pop culture events also belies their true impact. If I’m interpreting the Nielsen rating correctly, even “American Idol” had only 10% of households on average watching this season’s finale.

This line from David Foster Wallace about TV may also be germane to the broader topic of pop culture (in any event I like it):

“TV is not vulgar and prurient and dumb because the people who compose the audience are vulgar and dumb. Television is the way it is simply because people tend to be extremely similar in their vulgar and prurient and dumb interests and wildly different in their refined and aesthetic and noble interests.”

http://ben.casnocha.com/2006/12/quote_of_the_da.html

By: paulmatzko

paulmatzko — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 02:17:00 +0000

And with perfect timing Forbes announced their list of the 100 most powerful celebrities. The President of the United States made it on the list at least...at 49th.

By: Jordan M. Poss

Jordan M. Poss — Sun, 31 May 2009 22:42:13 +0000

That’s great.

Talking to some friends today, I was reminded that there does seem to have been a stigma attached to acting and entertaining for a long time, right up to the time of poor ol’ Chopin. Think of the neighborhood in which Shakespeare performed, after all.

By: paulmatzko

paulmatzko — Sat, 30 May 2009 04:06:10 +0000

We don't even have to go back that far...here's a great paragraph from a Vanity Fair blog:

After all, not so many generations ago entertainers were the toys of the vastly rich. Revered actresses were content to be the mistresses of married industrialists, and actors attending social affairs as “party fillers” were routinely expected to perform. Friends of mine always like to joke about a family portrait that hangs in a prominent apartment on Fifth Avenue. In the foreground, the family stands posing together at banquet; and behind them, obscured by a debauched looking group of dancing revelers, Chopin is shown slaving away at the piano. According to family records, the legendary pianist did in fact perform as the portrait was rendered.

By: Jordan M. Poss

Jordan M. Poss — Sat, 30 May 2009 02:03:41 +0000

Kudos–I love that commercial too, and couldn’t agree more about the state of American education. The material students in my classes turn in is pathetic. And a friend and I have often discussed how Americans are probably–not that we’ve done exhaustive research on it–the first culture of idolize entertainers in this way. Even in ancient Rome, no matter how popular it was to attend theatres or gladiatorial contests, to be said to associate with actors was damning.