Critics: Enthusiasts vs. Wits

Appolonian hatas and Dionysian Bangses. Wowee, it's a first-term Humanites seminar. "seldom do the twain meet in a single soul," eh? Let's find these seldom, gorgeous few and give them jobs!

Guess I'm a wit then.

I think she said Lane is a wit when he writes about movies, but a literary enthusiast lurks within.

Of course, all of this completely disregards "critics" like me, who are trying very hard to be as boring as possible. (Okay sorry that's a whiny joke but on some level lately I do want to try and write boring reviews, reviews consisting of nothing but short declarative sentences about what bands sound like and whether I like that or not.)

Sorry if these quotes sound pompous when taken out of context: the article is quite interesting when read in full.

I read the enthusiast as the type of person who is bowled over by the movie, book, etc. and whose quotes are pasted onto movie ads: "Remarkable! Groundbreaking! Breathtaking!" etc.; while the wit uses the space of the review to impress with their own cleverness.

Maybe this will clarify, again from Miller:

"The enthusiast tends to be too impetuous and undisciplined a writer to master the precise language and timing of the bon mot, and the wit is too intent on executing a flawless performance to risk affixing his heart to his sleeve."

That was kinda cynical. It was also kinda fun. Thanks, LCA!

Thus, Laura Miller says that Anthony Lane is a wit when it comes to movies, because fundamentally, he's not really passionate about them. He doesn't have an agenda to push, he's not trying to persuade; whereas, if you ever read his literature stuff, it's instantly apparent that he's much more strongly involved.

This is why I think music critics are all enthusiasts. Music tends to play a much stronger role in people's sense of their identity than any other artform; music critics are usually fairly passionate, heavily invested in a particular sound or movement, wanting to convince you of its importance.

Name one music critic who's a wit (Tanya Headon doesn't count; far too relentless and serious about disliking everything)...

Warning: the opinions expressed by Lord Custos in this post may not reflect the opinions of Lord Custos.

What are you talking about Ben? You've never found Danny Baker funny? What about those "Danny Baker's Wackiest Throw-Ins Volume 7" and "Danny Baker's Zaniest Applications of the Backpass Rule" videos? A laugh a minute.

And Steven Wells would be funny if he was a completely different person.

Me too, of course. But I think that dichotomy exists within individual critics as well--when I write about dance music, it tends to be Enthusiastic, and when I write about indie rock, it tends to be Wit-based (not witty, exactly, I wouldn't make that claim, not that I can't be funny, but humor isn't the point as much as the detached viewpoint I look at it with). Or someone like Christgau: he's an Enthusiast about African music, a Wit about post-rave dance stuff. it's not a hard-and-fast dichotomy, but it's useful in a very rough kind of way.

why?

I dunno. I do take pleasure in ripping a particularly bad album a new asshole, but I don't do it that often anymore -- I try to write about things I like, if I can help it. I guess I'm an enthusiast because I look on the bright side and make an attempt to draw on an album's strengths rather than make myself look like an asshole of the I WHO STAND ON A MOUNTAINTOP AND PROCLAIM THE TRUTH AND YOU ARE ALL SUCKAZ variety. But that doesn't necessarily mean that I'm particularly good at "enthusiast" writing -- I think my "wit" side has produced better results. But I'm afraid to be a wit; there seems to be a big anti-enthusiast backlash at the moment, and the so-called wits who are in cultural favor strike me as being very dumb, dilettantish, and ignorant.

Helloooooo, Ceefax pages 562-564.....

I guess it all comes down to how secure you feel in your reactions to art, how much you consider your likes and dislikes bedrock upon which to play. But there's no dichotomy between the approaches you mention when it comes to loving and hating art. Kael's paeans and pans follow similar rhythms. She even gained a light touch with a pan in her late (underrated) years.