Ahh the French

[Dinner]

Speaking of French food, Thomas Keller (The French Laundry, Per Se, Bouchon) is thinking of opening a location in San Diego within the next two years. His restaurants routinely get named in lists of the 100 best restaurants in the world so local foodies are kind of exited about this turn of events. Aparently some famous French food critics have named Keller the best French chef in the world which is kind of funny since he's American.

Keller supposedly grew up in north county so that's why he's thinking of returning home to open a restaurant here. That means he'll have restaurants in Napa, NYC, Beverley Hills, and now San Diego.

http://eater.com/archives/2011/07/27/thomas-keller-to-san-diego.php

[MikeH]

Personally, I think if more people enjoy it, it's better.

WRONG

If you even thought about that for a second you'd realise that quantity != quality.

Think of simple food examples first:

More people enjoy Two Buck Chuck than Vintage Champagne, so Two Buck Chuck is better?
More people enjoy Macdonalds than the food at the French Laundry, so Macdonalds is better?

Then consider if it might be the same in culture. If mass market culture that can be enjoyed by people with no other education/understanding might not actually be better than something that can be best appreciated with some training and understanding. And the depth of appreciation and meaning behind something can be appreciated more.

Is Friends better than The Wire?
Is High School Musical better than The Godfather?
Is Stephenie Meyer better than Dostoyevsky?
Is Lady Gaga better than Necrofury?

There's nothing wrong with populist culture, and some things can be both massively accessible and deep and rewarding at the same time

[MikeH]

I do have to laugh sometimes when a really bad movie does better internationally than it does in the US. Our standards are sometime higher.

Depending how bad it is, we could be being ironic paying to see it.

[Dinner]

Two Buck Chuck is great; at least if we're talking about Trader Joe's Two Buck Chuck. That's their nick name for the Charles Shaw brand name for bottles of very good California table wine sold in the US & Canada for just $1.99 but which actually are very high in quality and taste.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Shaw_wine

[MikeH]

I've had some.

http://wevegotbothkinds.blogspot.com/2010/05/two-buck-chuck.html

Certainly very drinkable, certainly better than some wine that costs a bit more, certainly not better than a properly decent wine.

[dannubis]

The key words there are comes out of the US. In truth there is a rather large amount of what could more genuinely be called American culture--arts, crafts, music, food, and more, all with a long pedigree--which simply is not exported. And there's a wide variety of it, too, and more continues to be made. Calling McDonald's "American food" is a lot like calling a McDonald's Happy Meal toy "Chinese craftsmanship." It's broadly correct, but still rather misleading, and if you compare the one to roquefort cheese or the other to stained glass, both will inevitably be found wanting.

I already told you you were right. Don't push me to do that again !

[EPW]

Is Friends better than The Wire?
Is High School Musical better than The Godfather?
Is Stephenie Meyer better than Dostoyevsky?
Is Lady Gaga better than Necrofury?

yes@all except godfather

[C0ckney]

Yes, he laughs but even in a slum in Brazil I'd bet there are plenty of signs of American culture.

surprisingly few actually. i mean people might drink a coca cola sometimes or you may hear the occasional rap song being played, but besides that, not so much. although of course there is a lot of american cultural influence in brasil, it's seems to be more of a middle class phenomenon.

ozzy's statement just makes him look narrow minded. the common man in any country is going to have his own culture and know little and probably care less about american culture.

[Provost Harrison]

Passed through French security last night at the Eurotunnel. They always have that "English filth" attitude to them whenever I have to deal with them...you can tell they can't stand our guts. Feeling's mutual I suppose. We went to war with the wrong country in the two world wars methinks

[MOBIUS]

PH secret Nazi shock...!?

[Provost Harrison]

Nazis or the French...you've got to admit...tough choice

[OzzyKP]

surprisingly few actually. i mean people might drink a coca cola sometimes or you may hear the occasional rap song being played, but besides that, not so much. although of course there is a lot of american cultural influence in brasil, it's seems to be more of a middle class phenomenon.

ozzy's statement just makes him look narrow minded. the common man in any country is going to have his own culture and know little and probably care less about american culture.

Middle class ARE the common man.

[Hauldren Collider]

Is Friends better than The Wire?
Is High School Musical better than The Godfather?
Is Stephenie Meyer better than Dostoyevsky?
Is Lady Gaga better than Necrofury?

Objectively? Yes. In your opinion? Evidently not. Note that my subjective opinion of what is good often runs counter to what I would decide is objectively good. In other words, I often hate popular stuff. But it's popular for a reason.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Because it's the lowest common denominator.

And even your objectively better is subjective... what are you using for the "objective"? Likely sales... but why not a consolidation of critical reviews?

[Hauldren Collider]

Because sales are a direct measure of how many people like it.