Pretentious Art?

[flux]

I'm not sure why I suddenly feel so susceptible to others' labels, but most of the movies I enjoy could be described as "pretentious" by a sensate majority. I wish people would say "I don't get it", or "it's not my cup of tea", the same as I just choose not to watch movies I'm not expecting to like. Who am I kidding? I've torn up a few movies in my time. But I think I question myself when my new favourite movie of all time (Blindness) is 41% on rottentomatoes.com. Saw VI did better. Which is utter bullshit, but moving on . . .

I know, I know. If I liked it, that should be all that counts. My Fe has actually sucked all the fun out of that movie now, and that's really a shame.

Do you like "pretentious" art? Or is it merely "thought-provoking", "original", etc.?

*sigh*

 

[midnightmelody]

My response is slightly off-topic

but I was poking fun at some seniors (I'm a junior) and I jokingly called them uncultured after I made a reference to Wyeth's Christina's world. I partly know that I only know of the painting because

a) my name is Christina
b) it was in my art room in elementary school
c) my mom studied art history

One of them snapped on me and called me pretentious, and it totally got me to thinking, becuase I desperately hope it isn't true.
Anywho, I get what you are referring to. Sometimes I wonder if the art I go for is considered pretentious, but just because the media portrays certain preferences in different lights, doesn't necessarily make one art form "prententious".

I hate feeling guilty or being labeled for things I like.

 

[Gaze]

Interesting topic. I like some types of "pretentious" art but this presumes it's intellectual in some way. When a film promotes itself as "art," I question the label, because it presumes. Although, some films will be more provocative and obviously more intellectual than others, it should be left to the viewer to make a judgment about the quality of the film, and it's ultimate intellectual value.

 

[Solar Empath]

Interesting topic. I like some types of "pretentious" art but this presumes it's intellectual in some way. When a film promotes itself as "art," I question the label, because it presumes. Although, some films will be more provocative and obviously more intellectual than others, it should be left to the viewer to make a judgment about the quality of the film, and it's ultimate intellectual value.

So for you, the question 'Is It Art?' is answered only by the viewer, and never by the artist?

 

[Gaze]

So for you, the question 'Is It Art?' is answered only by the viewer, and never by the artist?

Not necessarily. I think it's more that, I feel resistant to a film being promoted as a particular type of "intellectual" artform. It presumes some kind of higher level thinking. I studied film theory and criticism in college, so they exposed us to a wide variety of films. And many of the "art" films we viewed were less artistic than different or unusual. I won't say they were easy and not eye opening but I felt that I was expected to accept that they were "art" because they were labeled as such. Art cannot be defined through the eyes of the artist or the viewer alone. It's a conversation, not a monologue.

 

[Quinlan]

pre

 

[Shai Gar]

Legally Blonde - Donny Darko
Paris Hilton Movie - The Bothersome Man

 

[Julia]

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by pretentious art. I think of that as art that is elitist and association with it provides some sort of social status?

I do appreciate what is original or thought-provoking whether is is appreciated or not. Sometimes what I like could be associated with a social elite, but sometimes it is the opposite.

 

[Roger]

First time i heard the word PRETENTIOUS ART. What is it? can anyone explain here.

 

[midnightmelody]

So you're only pretentious if you look down on the personal tastes of others, or show off how much "better" your taste is.

This makes me feel much more secure. I don't typically look down upon others' personal tastes.

I do sometimes, though. :/

 

[flux]

Interesting topic. I like some types of "pretentious" art but this presumes it's intellectual in some way. When a film promotes itself as "art," I question the label, because it presumes. Although, some films will be more provocative and obviously more intellectual than others, it should be left to the viewer to make a judgment about the quality of the film, and it's ultimate intellectual value.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by pretentious art. I think of that as art that is elitist and association with it provides some sort of social status?

I think I should re-state slightly. My purpose in sparking this discussion is not to ask "what is art?" although it's a nearly inevitable side-effect, and I'm supportive of exploring the theme. Also, I said "art" instead of "film" because I was interested in exploring the question across various media.

My intention is this. I expect none of my favourite films made more than $50 million in worldwide box office money. This isn't exactly the point either, but I can recognize that my tastes are pretty rarefied (way more Ni than Ne, if you will). And one person's "rarefied" is almost invariably the next person's "pretentious". Just like, as Shai was helping me illustrate, one person's "box office sensation" is the next person's "mainstream snore-fest". Even if I see something as deserving as "The Dark Knight", I want to know they thought about how many directions they could take the Joker that didn't rely solely upon director and actor, rather than just make him . . . really, really evil. Which was all he was. Don't get me wrong. Heath knocked that performance out of the park, creating something few could have, considering there was absolutely zilch in the way of character development, motive, background information, logic, a screenplay, anything that action movies typically lack.

See, if I were to take that further, and post something "rotten" about a lesser movie, "pretentious" is only what happens when Ns like me start describing movies for Ss in far more disparaging terms than these, so I'll stop right there. I'd be hard-pressed to find a film pretentious.

 

[flux]

"Pretentious" is also what happens when two people start talking to each other in "finger-quotes" when normal "inflection" won't "do", often "culminating" in very plain-sounding statements such as "okay".