Oscar Wilde, Media Criticism and Blogs

My brother and his girlfriend had a baby boy and named him is Dorian. I looked up the meaning of the name it has historical and literary roots. The Dorians were a warrior tribe of ancient Greeks. The name is most famous for the novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

This was a long winded way to say that I downloaded The Picture of Dorian Gray. I read the preface and it really resonated with me. It is probably more relevant today than when it was first published in 1890.

Below is the forward in its entirety:

The artist is the creator of beautiful things. To reveal art and conceal the artist is art's aim. The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful things.

The highest as the lowest form of criticism is a mode of autobiography. Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault.

Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope. They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only beauty.

There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.

The nineteenth century dislike of realism is the rage of Caliban seeing his own face in a glass.

The nineteenth century dislike of romanticism is the rage of Caliban not seeing his own face in a glass. The moral life of man forms part of the subject-matter of the artist, but the morality of art consists in the perfect use of an imperfect medium. No artist desires to prove anything. Even things that are true can be proved. No artist has ethical sympathies. An ethical sympathy in an artist is an unpardonable mannerism of style. No artist is ever morbid. The artist can express everything. Thought and language are to the artist instruments of an art. Vice and virtue are to the artist materials for an art. From the point of view of form, the type of all the arts is the art of the musician. From the point of view of feeling, the actor's craft is the type. All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril. Those who read the symbol do so at their peril. It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors. Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital. When critics disagree, the artist is in accord with himself. We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely.

All art is quite useless.

-Oscar Wilde

Although this seems to be Wilde’s response to his work or anticipated criticism of his novel, I took it as a great perspective for artists and critics to consider. I found this forward very interesting on many fronts. I like the idea of media (literary) criticism as a dangerous pursuit, because at its core, analysis of art is introspective and a form of autobiography.

I think this note about criticism and analysis of literary arts is more applicable today, with blogs and other technological outlets. Everyone can start a blog and become a cultural, literary, media or art critic with no credentials or expertise. This is good, because now criticism isn’t just in the domain of the elitists. Although much of this analysis on the internet is just gloried plot summaries. I’m not saying my blog is better, I haven’t demonstrated that yet, but I’m trying.

I think the act of criticism/analysis is so telling of self, that some people are afraid to go there. When you ask someone (especially a teen, but I don’t want to bash) what they thought of a movie you usually get these two responses, “it sucked” or “it was good.” I then ask, what they did or didn’t like about it. Many people don’t know the answer to the question. Here are my three reasons this occurs:

Some people don’t view entertainment with a critical eye. They enjoy it at face value. For example, did they think a was a comedy was funny or did an action movie keep them on the edge of their seats or did a

The second issue is related to the first. Some people don’t have the language to adequately express themselves in this regard. I mean someone could say, I don’t like the acting or the excess violence wasn’t for me

Others are freaked about the disclosure of self such analysis might expose about themselves. This goes into Wilde’s observation about the autobiographical nature of criticism. They don’t want their ideas to reflect on their coolness or political ideologies.

These are just a few thoughts I had about this topic. Although I rewrote this about 5 times, maybe I can use the autobiographical disclosure defense for not blogging as often as I should.