What is this thing with declaring anyone that’s not alternative - and a particular brand of alternative at that - as being vapid, talentless, shallow, narcissistic or similar ?

This is a trend most common in music and is the type of mind set I had when I was 12 and thought I was a punk… then I realized that dismissing the work of other people who are just doing something they enjoy regardless of what any elite thinks is the least punk perspective you could have. Protesting musicians that promote white supremacy or sexism or some other attack on the already marginalized is fair enough but protesting musicians just because they don’t play to your preferences is kind of sad.

Criticizing something you don’t like is natural. Everybody does it to varying degrees.
Saying that someone is ‘talentless’ or similar is unacceptable. Ask Nicki Minaj to record a punk song and it’s probably not going to be great. Ask Big Black to record an R&B song and it’s not going to fare much better.

I think it is also kind of significant that ‘music critic’ and ‘musician’ are two practices often exclusive of one another.
Those quick to label people as ‘worthwhile’ or ‘pointless’: what contribution are you yourself making to the field and what makes you think you’re so much more enlightened than others to set the standard ?

**** This is true of so many professions but I used music as an example as it is one of the only universal examples I could think of.

?

Gonna sit here and pretend summer hasn’t gone as quickly as it came