Let’s Talk About Love Chapter 9-12 Quote

In chapters 9-12 of Carl Wilson’s Let’s Talk About Love, Wilson wraps up the book with reflections on taste and of the topic of Celine Dion as a whole. He talks about some of the most bazaar and extreme cases of Celine’s fandom.

Later on in the last chapter, Wilson critiques the logic behind our judgement in the 21st century. “we departed the twentieth century without any of the rationales for the taste we came in with, so we circumvent the issue” (Page 150) This quote stuck out to me because a wave of realization washed over me as it finally became clear why we quickly swallow the entertainment and art that’s around us. In the time Wilson refers to, people were a lot more critical about art and judged with a mightier fist. Counter-cultures of art and creative expression were birthed from this heavy handed punch of critique, like Street Art, and Punk Music.

Now that we’ve departed the twentieth century, our lifestyles have increased in speed thanks to the digital age. Media is seen and forgotten within minutes because of how much is accessible and thrown in our faces everyday through our smartphones and computers.

Wilson states that we try to beat around the bush when it comes to explaining why we don’t actually stop and think about the art anymore. Some might say that contemporary art is dated, or uninteresting because it doesn’t resonate with today’s generation. Maybe it doesn’t resonate with younger people as much because younger people are only looking at things on the surface. They’re not looking long enough, or delving deeper to find any significance in a work of art. I agree with what Wilson says, we should reestablish some amount of rationales so we can come to a point of mutual understanding and appreciation.

#celinedion