Cultural Highlights

 

Don't take this the wrong way but .... when as a teenager I first I heard the Himmler quote, " every time I hear the word culture I want to reach for my pistol", it affected me. It still affects me now. I don't know why. Distorting the word "culture" with a heavy load of malice. Are some cultures worth more than others? Old colonials and the self righteous might well think they are. Context is important in finding meaning I suppose.

I was reading some of the series "My Cultural Highlights" in the Guardian's free to air web pages. There famous, arty and worthy individuals list their top five or six most influential or beloved examples of the C word and the impact those things had on their lives. I'm often left cold by their choices and I'm often left thinking that I'm truly stuck in my own peculiar little unsophisticated cultural vacuum ... just like almost everybody else.

As the child's song goes "you in your small cultural vacuum and I in mine". Just be happy there and ignore the background noise.