BY BEN WINTERS
The Chicago Tribune didn’t try to pretend–in its June 30 article announcing the Great American Novel, Great American Play, Great American Song, and so on–that it had decided once and for all which cultural artifacts best encapsulate the spirit of our people. Indeed, the lengthy lead to this feature, a field day for the Trib’s corps of critics, focused on how contentious questions of relative greatness can be.
"Slide into any tavern in the city and you’ll hear the arguments rage," wrote Tribune cultural critic Julia Keller’s opening sentence, leading into an imagined barstool scuffle: "Look here–the Great American Essay is Ralph Waldo Emerson’s "Self-Reliance." Oh, yeah? Listen, chump, it’s definitely Adrienne Rich’s 'Split at the Root.’" Now, "ArtsLine" spends a fair amount of time in taverns, and he’s never heard anyone debating the merits of Emerson’s "Self-Reliance." But maybe he goes to the wrong taverns; the point is, Keller’s rather silly lead segued into a story that was inarguably fun–because it was so arguable.
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For the record: Music critic Greg Kot was right when he named Woody Guthrie’s "This Land is Your Land" as the Great American Song, as was Michael Wilmington in giving the movie category to Citizen Kane. Keller is both wrong and out of her mind for naming Theodore "Ponderous Teddy" Dreiser’s An American Tragedy the Great American Novel. And newly anointed Trib drama critic Michael Phillips gave it a good shot: Guys and Dolls is indeed A Great American Play, but The Great American play is of course West Side Story.
I could go on–although I prefer not to touch Steve Johnson’s choice of The Simpsons as Great American TV show, especially considering he closed out his piece with "anyone who disagrees can eat my shorts"–which is exactly the point of the Trib’s feature. In a kind of straight-up, art-criticism-for-art-criticism’s-sake way, it does what all criticism should do, beyond telling us where to spend our money: It provokes disagreement, inflames passion, and piques curiosity. I have never seen Martha Graham’s Appalachian Spring, Sid Smith’s choice for Great American Dance, but now I would like to.
BEST IN THE BUSINESS
One is more accustomed to finding lists deciding the best of this or that in weekly urban rags, like Chicago’s Newcity or New York’s New York Press or Austin’s Austin Chronicle. Usually in the fall, in what is one of the biggest ad-buy issues of the year, these papers publish epic special issues awarding various arts organizations, shops, and whatever else they can think of as the best in the city. The Chronicle has already begun inviting its readers to vote on categories ranging from the ordinary (Best Art Gallery, Best Bar Staff) to the more unexpected (Best Birthday Cake) to the oddly touching (Best Effort to Keep Austin Weird).
LOOK AT THOSE DAMN SLACKS!
This just in from the frontlines of entertainment’s surrender to commerce: Fox Sports Net’s sports comedy show "The Best Damn Sports Show Period"–it was reported at some length in the New York Times business section on July 1–has invited live actors to make appearances during the show’s content (that’s the part that comes between the commercials) to hawk products. "Levi Strauss & Company paid for an actor featured in a commercial for its Dockers pants brand to appear on the show…part of an advertising package bought by Levi Strauss from Fox Sports Net that included commercial time on the show as well as other programs on the channel." Other sponsors/participants in the 'Damn’ show include Outback Steakhouse and Mike’s Hard Lemonade.
But that’s nothing–Advertising Age magazine has had several interesting stories lately on the commercial potential of new digital technologies. On June 17 they reported how the movie Minority Report has Tom Cruise running for his life through a world of giant Pepsi and Reebok commercials, and that Nokia and Lexus each paid millions of dollars to be tied in with the film’s promo campaigns. Meanwhile, according to a May 21 Ad Age report, "Turner Broadcasting System has reached a deal to allow it to insert virtual product images in reruns of Law & Order" when the drama begins being syndicated on cable station TNT. Among the possibilities is a soda machine in the police station that can be digitally draped with the logo of the highest bidder.
BOOKS AREN’T FROSTED
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| Ralph Nader |
Public citizen number one Ralph Nader has proved himself an ineffectual presidential candidate, and his campaign against bookselling behemoth Borders is thus far proving no more effective. Nader, joined by other writers and anti-corporate activists like Noam Chomsky, wrote a public letter late in June, scolding Borders for its plan to implement "category management," a system of focus groups and exit polls borrowed from the grocery store industry. Hence the Nader letter’s refrain: "There is a difference between books and Pop-Tarts." Indeed! Particularly galling to Nader et al was that Borders has offered big publishing houses the opportunity (for a fee, shockingly) to get first look at the results of the customer surveys.
Nader’s efforts, true to form, were largely ignored by most media. But Publisher’s Weekly printed the reply from Borders CEO Greg Josefowicz. "The fundamental truth of category management," he wrote in defense of his program, "is that customers drive the process…we are a place where people come to explore, to go where their interests and ideas take them."
Publisher’s Weekly has also been the place to track a fracas noted in the last "ArtsLine," namely Canada’s indy bookstores’ huffy response to the arrival of Amazon.ca, the Canadian version of the online books-and-more outlet, which (to quote Amazon chief Jeff Bezos, quoted in PW), "will not only serve Canadians, but will also export Canadian products all over the world, increasing the visibility and reach of Canadian writers and artists." Still, reports PW, "strong protests" continue to be lodged by the Canadian Booksellers Association, and "the Heritage Department announced that it is 'actively examining whether or not the Investment Canada Act applies to Amazon’s venture.’"
Like Nader vs. Borders, Canada vs. Amazon has earned little play in the U.S. press. Presumably Bezos will have to be found overstating earnings or trading stock illegally before earning front page play–an alleged violation of the Investment Canada Act just doesn’t cut it anymore.