Posted 5:34 PM by Gene

Another mea culpa from SLIME: His writer moans at all the amateur culture that's ruining the country. First off, the "professionals" have forsaken their calling by putting out their own brand of rank amateurism; anyone who can compare the "best" of today favorably with the best of seventy years ago is an ad-blurbist or looking for work, or both. (That this clown praises TV commercials is a solid clue.) Second, there have been amateur hours before: SLIME's contest's antecedents date back at least to vaudeville and beyond. Does anyone remember (for an example) Tommy Dorsey's amateur song-writing contest, forced on him by a snit between ASCAP and the burgeoning BMI? The country survived. Third, which is worse: that rank amateurs "rule the culture" or that the professionals have lowered their own standards? I say lowering the standards prepared the ground for these Visigoths, who merely took advantage of the widening breach in high-tech's wall. At any rate, it begs the question: our culture stinks regardless of its provenance. It might be more than the paid status of its creators.