Culture, do you actually care or do you wish you hadn't bothered?

[Redyam 10]

Culture is about being a part of something whether its arts, ballet, football, books or games.

Some people like it, some people don't, thats people. If you don't like it don't go. simple as.

[shanes teeth 10]

It's like anything else, if it's something I know I won't enjoy (namely, ballet, jazz, steel drumming dins, mime or in fact any kind of dance) I just don't go.

 

I'm sure people 'force themselves' to enjoy a lot of things, soaps and football, not just 'cultural' things. And why put 'culture' in a little fenced off area anyway?

 

What do you "force yourself to enjoy"?

Edited March 25, 2010 by shanes teeth

[Cyclone 10]

With Sheffield on the shortlist for the City of Culture year a question struck me.

 

When you go to a museum, gallery, exhibition, concert, ballet, dance, performance or some other 'culture' do you find yourself not really enjoying it?

 

Do you go because you think you should or because you genuinely get lots of pleasure from it? Are you sitting there wishing you hadn't bothered?

 

How many of us put on an act and pretend that we're enjoying ourselves?

 

We spend countless millions but are we just embroiled in an enormous act of pretence?

 

So, are we be honest about culture? Do you actually care or do you wish you hadn't bothered?

 

Can there really be a single honest answer to this?

I went to see Swan Lake recently and it sucked.

I went to see the Halle orchestra and it was really good.

 

What have I learned, don't bother going to see ballet.

[donkey 10]

I would welcome the idea of City of Culture if there is something for everyone, but if it's just high brow stuff then i'm not really interested. There's plenty of music genres such as jazz, folk and various ethnic musics which get very little funding or exposure, not to mention the types of top rate street performances and circus acts I've seen at places like Glastonbury and Aurillac festival. If it's diverse i'd be interested, but if it's only high brow stuff, it wouldn't really have much to offer for the majority of people who live here.

Edited March 25, 2010 by donkey

[Mathom 10]

I read some stats a while back which revealed many times more people visit garden centres and libraries every weekend as go to the footie, so you'd be surprised at how many people like different sorts of 'culture'. I'm always surprised we have sports news every half an hour on our news channels, even sports which are actually niche, like athletics, but we never hear what the number one single currently is. Why is that?

 

What do you "force yourself to enjoy"?

 

Me? Nowt. Life's too short to make myself listen to some noodling jazz when I've just downloaded some Run DMC tracks

[shanes teeth 10]

So why do you think other people force themselves to enjoy things? What would they gain from that? It seems a bizarre concept to me.

[Mathom 10]

So why do you think other people force themselves to enjoy things? What would they gain from that? It seems a bizarre concept to me.

 

They do, to go along with family and friends. I used to force my dad to take me to see stuff like Shakespeare plays and dolls house exhibitions and he was always good enough to say he enjoyed these things, because that's what dads do In return I've pretended to be riveted every time he's explained how the Dambusters practiced on Ladybower when we go up there. There's usually a 99 ice cream from the van after he's finished anyway, that keeps me focussed.

[shanes teeth 10]

But that's a shared experience that a father and daughter can enjoy.And ones enjoyment comes from the other ones pleasure.The "event" is almost irrelevant in that case.I'd say that was more about enjoying each others company.

[pattricia 575]

With Sheffield on the shortlist for the City of Culture year a question struck me.

 

When you go to a museum, gallery, exhibition, concert, ballet, dance, performance or some other 'culture' do you find yourself not really enjoying it?

 

Do you go because you think you should or because you genuinely get lots of pleasure from it? Are you sitting there wishing you hadn't bothered?

 

How many of us put on an act and pretend that we're enjoying ourselves?

 

We spend countless millions but are we just embroiled in an enormous act of pretence?

 

So, are we be honest about culture? Do you actually care or do you wish you hadn't bothered?

 

If culture is going to see Anthony Sher in An Enemy Of The People at The Crucible, then yes, Im all for it, as I enjoyed it enormously.

[taxman 12]

I would welcome the idea of City of Culture if there is something for everyone, but if it's just high brow stuff then i'm not really interested. There's plenty of music genres such as jazz, folk and various ethnic musics which get very little funding or exposure, not to mention the types of top rate street performances and circus acts I've seen at places like Glastonbury and Aurillac festival. If it's diverse i'd be interested, but if it's only high brow stuff, it wouldn't really have much to offer for the majority of people who live here.

 

Your "high brow" is another person's normal music. To me promoting jazz would be akin to promoting puppy sodomy. I find it ghastly, horrible, grotesque. But I wouldn't begrudge some money being paid towards giving it wider exposure.

 

I enjoy Wagner, John Singer Sargeant, Henry Moore, Morrissey and Eric Cantona. And real ale. And "99 Red Balloons" by Nena. It's an eclectic mix and differentiating between "high brow" and popular doesn't really work.

[Alien 10]

Well if government and councils only helped fund things that were popular we'd be inundated with tacky game shows and beer drinking competitions.

 

Art galleries and libraries are free to use and if people don't use them they shouldn't complain about those that do.

 

I don't use council translation service or care services or special needs schools but appreciate the fact that they are provided for others to use.

 

I wouldn't describe myself as a culture vulture. I've been to opera, ballet, orchestras etc and had a reasonable time. I'd go again but I'd pick and choose which ones, I don't have season tickets to these places.

 

I always visit galleries and museums to see whats on. Sometimes its something I like, sometimes I can take or leave it, sometimes I discover something fantastic.

 

Just about sums up my feelings. Those that complain usually don't have the vision to get out there and give it a go...that applies to both end of the spectrum. You'll never know if you'd like "what Katie did next" or how one of the victims in Shakespeare plays met their end. Contemporary culture seems to be pop culture and most of it thinks for you...bit like the Beano or the Mail. I'm not a particular culture freak but I do like to be informed with choice.

[donkey 10]

Your "high brow" is another person's normal music. To me promoting jazz would be akin to promoting puppy sodomy. I find it ghastly, horrible, grotesque. But I wouldn't begrudge some money being paid towards giving it wider exposure.

 

I enjoy Wagner, John Singer Sargeant, Henry Moore, Morrissey and Eric Cantona. And real ale. And "99 Red Balloons" by Nena. It's an eclectic mix and differentiating between "high brow" and popular doesn't really work.

 

I don't like jazz either, but the point is some opeople do, and who is anyone to decide what they like is better than what anyone else likes, unless they like NDubz, in which case...well, you know.

 

I'm not suggesting a culture festival should exclude high brow events, I'm suggesting it shouldn't be focused on high brow events.