That thing about insulting what the viewer likes actually kinda makes sense ... in a completely bonkers way. Makes more sense than no sense at all. Interesting way to look at it, I think it holds some water.
I have heard (and hold to!) the advice "never apologise for your work," but that's supposed to be for when you're presenting it, so as not to unfairly prejudice your adjudicator, not all the time. Apologising for your work ("I'm sorry it's so awful, I didn't have much time ...") is miles away from being self-critical ("The leg could use some work, and it has a tangent with the bench ..."), and while neither is the best to bring forward at a job interview, there are many more instances in one's life which are not job interviews. I find it really encouraging to see people whose work I admire be self-critical because it shows they're still interested in improving, pointing out what's wrong with stuff I like helps me to see those flaws in my own work when I might not otherwise, and it makes them more human. I do cringe a little when people get really bashful about their stuff but I think that's more contagious anxiety than anything else ... and in that case it's not informed self-criticism, it's just a vague general insecurity about creation.
The lack of critical self-awareness and conceptual objectivity in American culture in general is one of the things I found most hard to get used to. People say 'but that's not true, look at Jon Stewart!' ... Yeah, but Jon Stewart is popular because he does the critical self-awareness for people who don't do it on their own. It's not that Americans don't understand irony and satire, it's just not part of the average person's everyday mindset and conversation. But it does seem always to have been thus, so I don't know if it bears well or badly for the future of the country, at least internally.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2014-07-29 10:03 pm (UTC)I have heard (and hold to!) the advice "never apologise for your work," but that's supposed to be for when you're presenting it, so as not to unfairly prejudice your adjudicator, not all the time. Apologising for your work ("I'm sorry it's so awful, I didn't have much time ...") is miles away from being self-critical ("The leg could use some work, and it has a tangent with the bench ..."), and while neither is the best to bring forward at a job interview, there are many more instances in one's life which are not job interviews. I find it really encouraging to see people whose work I admire be self-critical because it shows they're still interested in improving, pointing out what's wrong with stuff I like helps me to see those flaws in my own work when I might not otherwise, and it makes them more human. I do cringe a little when people get really bashful about their stuff but I think that's more contagious anxiety than anything else ... and in that case it's not informed self-criticism, it's just a vague general insecurity about creation.
The lack of critical self-awareness and conceptual objectivity in American culture in general is one of the things I found most hard to get used to. People say 'but that's not true, look at Jon Stewart!' ... Yeah, but Jon Stewart is popular because he does the critical self-awareness for people who don't do it on their own. It's not that Americans don't understand irony and satire, it's just not part of the average person's everyday mindset and conversation. But it does seem always to have been thus, so I don't know if it bears well or badly for the future of the country, at least internally.