Pop Culture Curmudgeon

Is Commercial Always Bad?

I was listening to an old B-52′s song. It was not Love Shack. I have heard Love Shack enough for two lifetimes, I think. It was something from the Rock Lobster days. I was surprised to hear it on 1st Wave on XM, because since the Sirius-XM merger, 1st Wave (Fred in the old XM days) has been much more mainstream alternative. It is rare to hear something that doesn’t also play on the 80s on 8, in fact. And I believe that the channel–the entire lineup, in fact–is worse now that it is more commercial.

Where does this disdain for all things commercial come from?

I like some mainstream pop music. But I have more respect for bands who are in it for the art, commerce be damned.

My TV shows seem to consistently be on the bubble. I swear, April and May are the most stressful months, as I wait to hear whether my faves have been renewed.

But I love commercial fiction. I like literary fiction just fine, but genre books are my great love. If I had to narrow down my five favorite books, they would be

Gone with the Wind
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler
The Handmaid’s Tale

Unless you ask me tomorrow, when the list might be completely different.

How about you? Do you believe less commercial ventures are somehow more pure? Or do you think it doesn’t matter–if something is good, it’s good?

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Uncategorized | Jennifer Roland | May 14, 2009 4:00 am

2 Comments

By katie71483, May 14, 2009 @ 9:25 am

Of course, it could be argued that the five book titles that you listed are classics in their respective genres. Where do you draw the line between commercial fiction and literary fiction? sales? age? number of term papers written? number of awards won?

[Reply]
By Jennifer Roland, May 14, 2009 @ 10:19 am

I never said I had bad taste, just genre taste!

Well, actually, if you read my posts about Cosmo Radio and 90210, sometimes I do have bad taste. But not in books.

[Reply]