ORIENTALISM

No, not the study of Asia and the far east. The Edward Said kind. Actually, I think this best sums up what I am about to say.

This past weekend in Bloomington was something called the Lotus Festival, which is an annual world music extravaganza. It is one of the largest of its kind. Lots of people get really excited about it. I question their motives. I see a bunch of middle- to upper-class white people trying their earnest best to Appreciate Other Cultures like good liberal bohemian intellectuals, no matter how painful it might be.

Americans have narrow, provincial tastes in music. Much of what we like is crap. Much of what is popular in the rest of the world – maybe even extremely popular – is unknown here. It is as easy as it is tempting to attribute this to American ignorance and closed-mindedness. I have little doubt that we are an ignorant and closed-minded people. What I do doubt is that this is a suitable explanation for the obscurity of world music in the U.S.

I am reminded of a very good Simpsons joke from a very bad (recent, of course) episode. On NPR, "Banjologist" Stefan Whitmore discusses the dying art of Peruvian banjo music. When the host asks why the art form is dying, Whitmore replies (after a short demonstration on his banjo) that, "Frankly it's just not very good." Sometimes I find myself wondering if that's a good point.

Now, put down your lynching accessories. I am not saying that all "world" music is bad. Read that again if necessary. I'm sure a lot of it, even that which I find incredibly unlistenable, is objectively very good. People have different tastes. We can all accept that.

The reason I hate "world music" and things like Lotus Festival has more to do with the spectators than the performers. Heavy doses of Othering usually don't put me in a jovial mood. I feel like a lot of people are there watching something that might not even be any good just to get their Multi-Culti merit badge for the week. Apparently getting falling-down drunk or higher than Jesus to listen to Afro-Cuban Whateverthefuck is proof of one's worth as an individual (as opposed to the other 51 weekends of the year spent getting falling-down drunk or higher than Jesus to listen to that one dude from the Allman Brothers Band). The rest of the world might even be playing an elaborate joke on us – sending us their version of Clay Aiken and laughing their asses off as NPR listeners solemnly appreciate it – and the unwitting crowds would look no different.

As I do every year, I tried to expose myself to some of the Fest and it did not work out well. Ten minutes of the Ghanaian Female Doumbek-Banging and Ululating Troupe or whatever the fuck I was listening to was enough. I decided that I simply do not enjoy That Sort of Thing. I'm sure there are other people who do – but I wonder how many of those people were the ones packed close to the stage to make a public show of their Support and Appreciation for the Other Half and their Cultures. No matter how much they claim to, I refuse to believe that so many midwestern college kids really like listening to an hour of tuvan throat-singing. Sure, it's amazing. So is the range of most opera singers, and that doesn't mean many people want to watch an hour of it.

Of course, anyone I might accuse of this would disagree stridently. No one admits to being a shameless status seeker or an insincere cultural voyeur. But if all these people like Rai so fucking much, why do they head back to the car after the show and turn up the Yo La Tengo for the ride home? Why do I fail to hear Rai or encounter anyone talking about it for the other 363 days of the year? I guess it's only worth appreciating in public where those hot hippies from your anthro class can see you in all your sensitive glory.