Oh, and Also...

...one thing I was thinking of writing about was this article over on the AV Club by Steve Hyden about moral line-crossing in art. Hyden's plan, it would seem, was to expand on and confront the arguments in favor of no moral limits in art made by Ann Powers and Mike Barthel, who basically are in favor of aesthetic parameters and standards being all that matter, and that so-called "dangerous art" has a worth that should not be underestimated, and all that. Hyden says, though, that the question is positively covered in nettles, because while he agrees with Powers and Barthel in theory, surely we all have our moral/artistic thresholds, beyond which aesthetics simply isn't enough of a justification. He realized this by watching the Ben Stein documentary Expelled and the Larry the Cable Guy vehicle Witless Protection. Let me repeat, Expelled and Witless Protection are the films that made Hyden realize that aesthetics must not be the whole question. That something beyond -- I'll underline it this time -- aesthetics must come into play when discussing Expelled and Witless Protection. That as much as Expelled and Witless Protection might have to offer aesthetically, other elements needed to be factored into a critical assessment of boths works.

And beyond that, the article has an oppressive reek of "Yeah, but when I do it it's cute" political attitude, a bottle of which scent the commenters pick up and spray in the air like Glade. So fuck that shit.