We’ve discussed before how Millennials and Zoomers suffer from a peculiar aesthetic disability. Unlike past generations, many of them seem unable to engage with artistic works on anything but a subjective level.
A Big Brand X viewer from Generation Y on back would say, “I want to be devoted like Spider-Man.” “I want to be brave like Luke Skywalker.” “I want to be a good leader like Optimus Prime.”
But listen to members of the two most recent generations to reach adulthood when they discuss pop culture consumption, and chances are you’ll hear, “I’m just like (Andrew Garfield) Spider-Man.” “I’m just like Anakin Skywalker.” “I’m just like (Beast Wars) Optimus.”
Readers may be tempted to blame this shift from aspiration to identification on a lack of fantasy heroes worth emulating. Contemporary fiction has lapsed into a crisis of virtue, without a doubt. But that failing is a symptom of a more foundational problem.
In his recent debate with Milo, Beardson highlighted the primary fault when he implied that art is subjective. As Milo alluded to, Church teaching disagrees. Beauty is not subjective. It resides in the object. Even someone who says, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” appeals to a real quality called “Beauty” that he assumes is accessible and intelligible to everyone else. Otherwise, he might as well claim that “Smurfiness is in the eye of the beholder.”
Comedian Sam Hyde expounded on this subject with his typical blend of forthrightness and elegance. He has noticed a lack of interest among new artists in putting in the hard work to master their skills. Instead, they obsess over cooking up novel ideas as a means of self-expression. The professional artist he quotes diagnoses their problem as an unwillingness to go beyond easy subjectivism to discover what is beautiful about the object.
That diagnosis rings true from my work as a professional editor. In recent years, my colleagues and I have seen a troubling increase in new writers who just vomit rough first drafts onto the page and pass them off for editors to whip into publishable shape. The rapid-release indie model may be contributing cause, but a tendency to mistake professional writing for a means of self-validation instead of a job is a consistent factor that keeps turning up.
Whether you’re a maker or consumer of art, do yourself a favor and watch Sam Hyde’s video.
The dissident creator’s road is steeper and more difficult than we’d thought. If a parallel culture is to exist, let alone thrive, artists of the new counterculture must first break their subjectivist conditioning and embrace objective beauty.
“beautiful in a grim way. Give it a shot!”
