Celine Dion's Let's Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste | 
pick“When someone says an artwork is good or bad, it is reasonable to ask ‘good or bad for what?‘”
I found a lot to ponder in this exploration of the role and concept of taste in popular culture, using Céline Dion‘s music as a focal point. The original essay was published in 2007. I read a newer edition (2014) that includes commentary on the topic by an additional baker‘s dozen of thinkers such as Nick Hornby, Mary Gaitskill & Sheila Heti.
What would criticism be like if it were not foremost trying to persuade people to find the same things great?
If the tender emotions are stereotypically feminine, cuddly, nurturing, then the sentimental, as Deborah Knight puts it, is “sluttish, indulgent, cheap, shallow, self-absorbed, excessive.” Philosophical antisentimentalism, she asserts, is a sentimentalization of rationalism, a pre-emptive strike against betraying any unseemly weakness for the illogical, girly side of human nature. (And it doesn‘t get much more girly than Céline Dion.)
For a century or more, sentimentality has been the cardinal aesthetic sin. To say a work of art is sentimental is perforce to damn it. To be sentimental is to be kitsch, phony, exaggerated, manipulative, self-indulgent, hypocritical, cheap and clichéd. … Sentimentality is the most formidable barrier between Céline‘s music and me. … Can that be just learned prejudice, like so many other cultural filters?
I ask Alex, a female impersonator, what he thinks about haters jibing that Céline herself looks like a drag queen. He doesn‘t see it, but he adds: “I do think she‘s impersonating other celebrities … Elvis. Tina Turner. Barbra Streisand. Her hand mannerisms are Barbra. The energy is all very Tina. These were the people she grew up wanting to be, taking the best from each person and incorporating it into her act.”
At book club last night, there weren‘t enough wine glasses. Tea cups make a fine substitute.
It‘s been said that ‘pro wrestling is soap opera on steroids,‘ so maybe Céline Dion is metal on estrogen. Metal is all darkness and rebellion and Céline all candlelight and communion, but note how hypermasculinity and hyperfeminity in this way can meet […]
A fascinating analysis of music! And about the only book I own right now with the word #journey in the title. 🤔👍🏼 #jubliantjuly
I'm gonna add this book too. One of the best books celebrating and analyzing Celine and her rise to fame. It's an awesome read. #musicaltitles #maybookshowers
