tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post5829292318050533543..comments2024-01-23T13:41:41.463-05:00Comments on The Forager Blog: RecommendationsJon Hastingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01030406521787423155noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post-61224922605854137472008-02-09T17:47:00.000-05:002008-02-09T17:47:00.000-05:00How about just answering the question honestly, as...How about just answering the question honestly, assessing your tastes and theirs as best you can and not worrying about whether it's elitist or not? I think most of the angst over elitism is about as superficial (and sometimes as misleading) as most of the angst over fascism, anyway.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post-91239193753910720662008-01-29T16:13:00.000-05:002008-01-29T16:13:00.000-05:00Critics and their agonies, eh? Me, I like to remin...Critics and their agonies, eh? Me, I like to remind myself regularly that no one is going to pay attention to me anyway. It's liberating!Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04896402796926124332noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post-21218403267039715772008-01-25T06:57:00.000-05:002008-01-25T06:57:00.000-05:00Yes - social context is key! I mean, depending on...Yes - social context is key! I mean, depending on the context: "Have any good movies recently?" might mean the same thing as "Can you recommend a good movie to me?".<BR/><BR/>Another of the social issues though is that a lot of my friends/family know me as "the movie guy" (i.e., I watch a lot of movies, went to cinema studies school, work in the industry part of the film industry, etc.) so the breakdown you show in your fourth paragraph isn't always clear. In the real world, I never blindly recommend anything (for instance, I wouldn't suggest someone go off an watch <I>Eastern Promises</I> unless I know they're "ok" with screen violence).<BR/><BR/>Also - recommending my favorite movies isn't (or wouldn't be) a case of "furthering my own agenda": it's a case of answering a question (or a certain question at least) honestly. The question is one of when it's best to hedge your honesty. One answer is "when it's indicated by the social context".Jon Hastingshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01030406521787423155noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post-364146641854496392008-01-24T08:47:00.000-05:002008-01-24T08:47:00.000-05:00In the abstract way you phrased it, certainly the ...In the abstract way you phrased it, certainly the latter is more elitist.<BR/><BR/>But I think you (and Ebert) are leaving out a lot of social context. <BR/><BR/>If someone asks me what my favorite book is, I don't think it's elitist to say <I>The Brothers Karamazov</I>. And if they press for more information I can describe the book a little bit, and they can make up their own mind if it's the type of thing they want to read.<BR/><BR/>But if someone's asking me for a recommendation, it's usually with a purpose in mind--either they're asking for something they'll probably like (<I>Confederacy of Dunces</I>), something they're not sure they'll like but are willing to try (<I>Tristram Shandy</I>), or maybe something that's shallow fun but they never heard of before (<I>Tomoe Gozen</I>).<BR/><BR/>In that case, saying, "Raggh you must read James Joyce ragggh" would be asinine. Not because you're being dismissive of their tastes and capabilities, but because you're not listening to the real question, and you're exploiting their uncertainty to further your own agenda.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com