Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Sellouts   [Jonah Goldberg]

Okay, so after wading through piles of e-mail on the issue of sellouts (see yesterday's post for details), I have to say I'm a little disappointed (a rarity when it comes to these sorts of email suggestion solicitiation thingies). The overwhelming majority — like over 90% — were explicitly political and aimed at folks on the right. I disagree with some of the nominations and am agnostic about others. McCain, Lindsey Graham, Arlen Specter, David Brooks, Christopher Buckley, and David Frum appeared quite a bit. But here's the thing: Whatever criticisms you have of these guys, I'm not sure "selling out" a la Wolfgang Puck is the right charge. For instance, whatever my old friend David Frum's motives may be for his new project, I am fairly certain making money or getting (more) famous don't rank very high.

It was very interesting and illuminating (and in a few cases disturbing) to see what so many folks think about these guys, but I don't think any of them — including Arlen Specter — could hold a candle to, say, David Brock or Arianna Huffington (two of the handful of lefties to be nominated). A better political nominee in my book would be Douglas Kmiec, who seemed to trade everything for an ambassadorship to Malta. He might even deserve the Richard Rich Prize for selling out. And yes, the whole ObamaCon phenomenon did have a certain sell-out stench to it in certain instances.

But I really wasn't looking for political sellouts or an excuse to have the same argument about moderates versus traditionalists or RINOs, or "reformers" or any of that stuff for the thousandth time (Full disclosure: I think the Corner's wandered a bit too far into Very Serious Politics Land of late, and I've been trying to even things out with vital discussions of zombies and Wolfgang Puck. But I repeat myself ). I was looking for, say, indictments of Nick Cage or Metallica. For instance, from a reader:

You can not have a broad discussion of sellouts in America without discussing the band Metallica.

While they claim "the only thing they've ever sold out was every seat in every venue they've ever played in" they recorded, released, and filmed a music video of an Irish Drinking Song.

Compare that to their earlier work and it is clear that they sold out like no other.

I also liked this late entry:

I hate to add this to the list but I think Brooks Brothers has sold out, because it is now selling the official "Mad Men" suit. I wear Brooks Brothers' clothes. I watch "Mad Men." I like most men wish I were Don Draper, but fear I am more like Kinsley. Yet, Brooks Brothers ought to be above such gimmicky tie-ins since being above it all is what makes Brooks Brothers, Brooks Brothers. (What's next? The official Sky Blue limited addition Don Draper Cadillac?

Interestingly, there were very few nominations for bands that have sold out. I think that's largely because the concept is dead in the music world these days (My old friend Seth Stevenson wrote about the phenomenon a while back for Slate).

Heck, maybe this is all a sign of progress. The notion that professionals were "selling out" when trying to get paid for what they do, always had a slight patina of left-wing claptrap to it, at least since the 1960s. Before that, I think the notion of selling out was a more conservative, snobby, doctrine. The aristocratic types looked down at those who compromised elitist values for vulgar commerce. If you've never read Intellectuals and the Masses by John Carey, you should. It'll give you a sense of how much the artistes and philosophers despised the alleged "corruption" that came with the rise of the middle class, mass literacy, and a market for popular entertainment.

Or maybe it is bad news that we're losing a conception of selling out. Maybe if we had a healthier understanding that some things aren't worth celebrity or money we'd have slightly fewer Jon and Kates, Blagojeviches, and balloon boys?

My hunch is it's a little of both.

10/20 11:11 AMShare