Dinner with Friends

[Al B. Sure!]

You're not American? Okay, fine.

Is there an 'American' culture? Or is what you call 'American' only an amalgamation of a multitude of cultures, all with unequal roles?

[C0ckney]

I looked up half of them. English. People with relevance 40 freaking years ago. No wonder. I have no embarrassment for not knowing who they are. A different culture and time with no relevance to my generation.

an englishman selects a number of english people as his dinner guests. what a shocker. and yes, you are ignorant.

[giblets]

Umm... knowledge of Jay-Z is not relevant here. Would I ostracize you for not being familiar with, let's say, Beanie Sigel?

We can play this game of mocking someone for not knowing what is relevant in your circle but would it get anywhere beyond making us all look like idiots?

Beanie Sigel has never even had a platinum album so he is actually kind of obscure. OTOH Led Zeppelin is one of the best selling artists in the US ever so they are not by any means obscure.

[giblets]

Is there an 'American' culture? Or is what you call 'American' only an amalgamation of a multitude of cultures, all with unequal roles?

There is an American culture. Next!

[Guynemer]

And Reed, Burton, Flynn, Harris, and Niven are all extremely famous actors.

Jesus Christ, Al.

[Al B. Sure!]

an englishman selects a number of english people as his dinner guests. what a shocker. and yes, you are ignorant.

No. I'm not. It is not ignorant to be unaware of cultural artifacts from another continent and 40-50 years old.

[Al B. Sure!]

There is an American culture. Next!

So my America in North Philadelphia is the same as HC's in Fairfax, VA or Guy's in bumble****, Ohio? Surely, if there's an American culture, we all should talk the same, use the same slang, dress the same, etc.

[giblets]

Al B. Sure: "Durrrrr who's Elvis? Oh, that was like 50 years ago so I'm not ignorant!"

[giblets]

So my America in North Philadelphia is the same as HC's in Fairfax, VA or Guy's in bumble****, Ohio? Surely, if there's an American culture, we all should talk the same, use the same slang, dress the same, etc.

No, by that logic no shared culture exists because no two people are exactly the same.

[Al B. Sure!]

Al B. Sure: "Durrrrr who's Elvis? Oh, that was like 50 years ago so I'm not ignorant!"

Are you a fan of Vincenzo Bellini? Gioachino Rossini? Should I mock you if you are ignorant of those men and their works?

[Guynemer]

So my America in North Philadelphia is the same as HC's in Fairfax, VA or Guy's in bumble****, Ohio? Surely, if there's an American culture, we all should talk the same, use the same slang, dress the same, etc.

Columbus, Ohio, population ~800,000, metro population ~2.5 million, is Bumble****, Ohio?

Again: nearly all the people listed in Laz's list are very famous on this side of the pond, let alone Britain.

You shouldn't be ashamed of being ignorant; you should be ashamed of being proudly ignorant.

[giblets]

Are you a fan of Vincenzo Bellini? Gioachino Rossini? Should I mock you if you are ignorant of those men and their works?

Are you really too stupid to understand the difference between 19th century opera composers and some of the best selling musicians in the last 50 years in your own ****ing country?

[Al B. Sure!]

The ethnocentrism in this thread is stifling. It's bizarre to me how you supposed cultured people have no understanding that the significance of your culture is relative.

[Guynemer]

Are you ****ing serious?

[Tuberski]

It's not about ignorance. There's this tendency here to mis-characterize cultural non-relevance as ignorance. Instead of having an appreciation for the narrow spectrum from which one views thing as having cultural significance and realization that others do not share that same experience, posters here choose to denigrate.

Would it be appropriate for a Brazilian to mock an American for not knowing of a famous Brazilian pop singer or soccer player from the 1960's? And yet, posters here continually exhibit the same behavior.

It's your "narrow spectrum from which you view things" that is the problem. How do you know if it has no relevance if you don't know anything about it?

That being said, Al now knows who Led Zepplin is, you guys are showing your "narrow spectrum" by continually denigrating him for it.

ACK!