The Art Snob Archive

Activism - Nov 24 2006

Dear readers, the world is a horrible place. War, disease, slavery, famine, dinosaurs, American Idol; truly, we live amidst chaos.

It has been the traditional role of the educated elite to take a stand against the world’s evils, or at least to pretend as though we are well informed about them. Indeed, it was the intelligentsia that displaced the autocracy in Russia’s February Revolution, and a group of artists that spread populism through Latin America. To be a proper intellectual, it seems, one must be well versed in global issues and social injustice.

Unfortunately, my obligations to the study of Marcel Duchamp’s napkin doodles and the deciphering of Sanskrit tablets prevents me from being able to devote myself fully to the fight against evil; I have not the time to acquire the vast knowledge of those political science-types.

I’ve tried to compete, really, I have. I made Al-Jazeera.net my homepage. I took out a subscription to Foreign Affairs. I read Clash of Civilizations. I’ve tried to understand Amartya Sen. I attended one of those lectures at CIGI on Erb. It’s just not as easy as I expected it to be. Too much economics, perhaps.

Fortunately, there is an easy way to pretend you know your stuff without having to keep up with BBC World News or Amnesty International press releases. The documentary has always been a wonderful combination of art and knowledge, and it is through this form that we art snobs catch our break. All that is required is access to a little establishment behind the Huether Hotel.

The ‘Princess Cinema Activist’ is that cunning creature who acquires a diverse body of knowledge purely by watching documentaries at Waterloo’s pre-eminent independent theatre. Armed with nothing but a soda pop and a tub of popcorn, the Princess Cinema Activist is able to enter the realm of the educated elite, well versed on the poverty conditions in Calcutta thanks to Born into Brothels, able to participate in the energy debate because of Who Killed the Electric Car, and a veritable expert on the situation in Sudan due to God Grew Tired of Us.

It is the next step for all of those who believe that watching the Daily Show allows them an intimate view of American domestic politics. Through the documentary, a respectable amount of largely superficial knowledge is acquired, enough to allow you to sound smart in certain situations, which is the ultimate goal of the art snob.

The Princess Cinema Activist has a special opportunity this week to enrich his or her understanding of environmental devastation in China due to the November screening of Manufactured Landscapes, a documentary chronicling the work of artist Edward Burtynsky. In high-resolution, large-scale photographs, Burtynsky has been able to catalogue the massive destruction caused by the Asian power’s industrial expansion. Go forth, dear friends, and enlighten yourself on this trendy world issue!

The Princess Cinema activist, however, must be wary when conversing with true political science students. These noble souls are so wonderfully aware of their superior knowledge that they will mock you for referencing a film in a debate. How delightful that the people being nursed to assume positions of authority in the future are filled with such elitism! Lovely! For now, at least, documentaries will allow art snobs to sound smarter than those math kids, a respectable objective in any situation. Godspeed!

posted by HLL @ Friday, November 24, 2006