Meme Me

From Byzantium's Shores, I pick up this meme, regarding five things I simply don't get (that many, many others cearly do):

1: Mozart--Beethoven thrills me; Faure moves me to near-tears; Mahler is invigorating and inspiring; and Arvo Part gives me chills. But Mozart bores me. Clearly a case of my fault; not Mozart's.

2: Raging Bull--Many have called it the "best movie of the 80s" and for the life of me I just can't see why. It's not Scorcese--The Last Temptation of Christ is one of my all-time favorite films, and Taxi Driver is great. But I just don't get the fuss around Raging Bull. I liked it, and the physical transformation is very effective, but on the whole it was just a good film for me, no more, no less. Truth be told (avert your eyes now please) I prefer Rocky.

3: The Great Gatsby--A year or two ago I went through a spurt of trying to read "classics" that I had never read. Gatsby was good, but for the life of me I didn't see what made it the "greatest American novel ever." Now, The Grapes of Wrath, which I had also read in that spurt--that one I could see what the hype was all about.

4: I Love Lucy--I understand its historical importance, and how foundational it is, but, well, my house has a foundation too, and it's vital to the home, but were I to give a tour of my house I'd probably skip it. I think that we as a culture tend to do a lot of lionizing the past without good reason--this is but one example.

5: Really Expensive Clothes: I'm pretty well at the opposite end of the "fashion" spectrum, but I do understand the notion of looking nice, and how good clothes can really make an impression. And I can even kind of see how certain fabrics (cashmere, say) can be very expensive and very comfortable. But I have a hard time believing that, for example, a $200 polo shirt is in any real, measurable way better than a $100 polo shirt.

Until Whenever