Snobbery

[The Progressive]

And then there's the anti-cable snobs.

To me, having and watching cable is like taking your free time and burning 33% of it. I refuse to watch commercials.

Lol, or you could record the show and then skip/fast-forward all the commercials.

[Guest Raids]

I know, I haven't watched a commercial in over a year. Which does have its downsides - I have no idea what movies are playing.

Anyway, Top Chef is the only show I actually watch as it comes on anymore, but I regard this as a sad state of affairs. I'm very much looking forward to the return of Entourage, Mad Men, and, of course, the start of Game of Thrones, which Coco will be too cool to watch. ;)

Anyway, my point is that you can't even really be an anti-TV snob unless you don't actually own one. Otherwise, you're just an anti-TV snob poser.

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

I love commercials, cable tv and TV. In a house of 3 people, we have 5 tvs.

USA network is my favorite. House, NCIS and SUV marathons for the win. Monday I watch House on Fox, Tuesday I watch NCIS, NCIS LA, and the Good Wife, all on CBS.

ok, we only have one "nice" tv, but so what? we don't need to fight over what to watch. (only 4 of the tvs have cable...caught the little one watching tv in the middle of the night when he was just 3, and he hasn't had cable since then.

I am a trailor park trash tv person and proud.

It's my house that makes me a snob. :P

[Harlot]

But there are so many snobbishly upperclass Independent and Foreign films that I need to watch in order to maintain my pretentiousness. A television is just a tool for consumption, it's how you choose to use it that allows you to be a snob. It's back to the article, it's about the choices and culture preferences.

[The Progressive]

Like, with a Tivo? Isn't that subscription based?

What are you paying per month for cable with the tivo? 60 dollars?

Not that much.

Direct tv basic package is about 30 bucks, add dvr for another 7 bucks.

[Iskaral Pust]

I usually enjoy a good salvo in the great class war, but that article was much too boring. If he got to the point before indulging in the navel-gazing then I might have read beyond the first page.

I dunno, the insecurity argument makes sense to me. It's never the people right at the top or bottom who go on about class-related things, after all, cos they have either nothing to lose, or are secure in their superiority.

You should see Pratchett's musings, through the voice of Vimes, on class hierarchy at the bottom: "at the bottom of the ladder, the rungs get very close together"...."they may not have much, but they can have standards".

Refer to shonky shops, white-wash and scrubbed door-steps. Cockbill Street is a socioeconomic class rather than a geographic location.

His description of the compulsive need to maintain a certain appearance of standards regardless of means, and judge harshly any who rest a small rung below themselves, is very true to reality in my actual experience.

[Blaine]

I don't know where I'm going with this really. I guess I wonder whether anyone cares about class snobbery anymore, to what extent snobbery is - as Oppenheimer suggests - premised on insecurity, and what it is that we, on this Board or as individuals, are the biggest snobs about.

In Advertising, understanding class and target ambitions by demographic is sort of the secret crucial art to getting things just right. Successful branding has to be more than "Nike Shoes Are Really Great" it has to be aspirational and speak to its target audience as in, "Just Do It." As such, you won't see Applebee's trying to sound as upscale as Ruth's Chris, because conversely that would just turn off their target audience that wants words like "real" and "honest" and "friendly" and "neighborhood" almost as much as they want food with Jack Daniels chipotle honey sauces on various forms of chicken.

People want certain cars because they believe it says something about them. People want certain clothes for the same reason. They choose certain appliances, as they imagine what guests will say when they see them.

Class and to some extent, snobbery is practically in every buying decision we make. So often that you'll see the same products dressed up differently for different audiences. Cheap plastic toaster for the low class. Something black or stainless for the middle class (the most aspirational of the bunch) and something else entirely (usually European) for the high class customer, who will pay the most simply to have a toaster that the other two classes can't easily afford. But all three make bread toasty.

Personally, I find myself most snobbish about manners and grammar. It's just the way I was raised. My family went from rural middle class to city lower class to probably somewhere in between upper and middle city class over my upbringing. Being polite and tactful and respectful and well-spoken were important to my parents and as I've grown older, I've seen how they've served me pretty well in social and business settings. And yes, I tend to look down on people who don't know the right time and place to say certain things as a result.

[Guest Raids]

Yes, Coco and Isk, I get it. The article about snobbery titled "my life-long recovery from snobbery" is unexpectedly naval-gazing and doesn't really seem to cover it's purported subject matter of class warfare. :dunno:

Blaine - A question. How does Ruth's Chris market itself? Who are they pitching themselves to? Are they successful?

[Edda van Heefmstra Ruston]

Only half? :rolleyes:

(Just kidding. At this point I'm not sure I'd get more than half, either.)

[Blaine]

Blaine - A question. How does Ruth's Chris market itself? Who are they pitching themselves to? Are they successful?

Ruth's Chris markets themselves to people who want to pay around 50 bucks for a steak dinner. Honestly, I have no idea how successful they are, but there does seem to be one in every major city, so I guess they are. I could've named something much more high-end, but my point was that it's remarkably different atmosphere than the $10 riblets at Applebee's. And it's different on purpose. That isn't to say an Applebee's loving guy or gal might not go to Ruth's Chris, but he'll see it as a "hoity-toity place for super fancy dinners and anniversaries, etc."

[AverageGuy]

I watched a French film last night. And I could understand half of the words. You all disgust me. Keep away.

The only French words I know are chaud and froid, and then I only have a strong suspicion of their meaning from my childhood.

Anyway, I prefer polarity. There's the working class and the aristocracy. That's it. Class warfare means blood in the streets. You get much more complicated, and the only people who win are the ad execs.

[Reek]

Wine or bicycle?

She obviously means a gun-rack. Duh!

[S John]

I can understand the desire to want to improve ones standing in terms of wealth, but I admit that I am a bit baffled by the struggle for perception amongst the middle ranks. Its pretty hilarious if you think about it. I imagine if I were actually wealthy I would seek seclusion, not recognition from petty neighbors. Probably do some traveling, but mostly just have a big piece of land somewhere where I could keep all my toys and play with them. Then when I died, I would make sure my kids didn't starve, but other than that I'd give it all away so that they had to earn it back themselves. I'd hate to have some little shit 4 generations from now looking down his nose at his buddies because his great, great grandfather Johnny made some good decisions. I don't care at all about class in terms of pedigree, or building an empire. Its only useful to me in terms of wealth in the now and the fun that might result from that (and of course in being generally polite and nice to other people, which is not what we're talking about here, I don't think).

Otherwise, meh. I'm sure I'm a snob about some things, but people should just do what makes them happy within their means. If someone wants to eat lunch on their pool table that doesn't bother me any.

[Edda van Heefmstra Ruston]

Spice rack, obviously. She probably has an entire kilo of white truffle in her press.

[MinDonner]

Spice rack, obviously. She probably has an entire kilo of white truffle in her press.

Yep. I need it for all the cumin. :leer:

[Lord of Oop North]

Anyway, my point is that you can't even really be an anti-TV snob unless you don't actually own one. Otherwise, you're just an anti-TV snob poser.

I own a home cinema, not a television. :rolleyes:

[Guest Raids]

Yeah, it is ancient.

[sologdin]

i like single-malt scotch, live opera, and top-dollar hos. what class am i?

[S John]

i like single-malt scotch, live opera, and top-dollar hos. what class am i?

congressman?

[Ormond]

While looking down on someone just for having a working class job is questionable, doing the same to someone who named their child "Nevaeh" is entirely appropriate and, I think, an indicator of a healthy society.

Sorry, I definitely disagree. There is nothing inappropriate about naming one's daughter Nevaeh. It does not resemble any English word with an unpleasant meaning. Its spelling is a bit awkward, but it's not any more awkward than that of some names originally from other languages like Sean that have become popular in the USA.

It's fine if people don't like Nevaeh personally and don't want to give to their own daughters. But saying that looking down on someone else for naming their daughter Nevaeh is an indicator of a healthy society is a perfect example of unsavory classist prejudice, IMHO.