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I saw quite a few Fellini and Bergman films, but none of them were never screened within 500 miles of my house. I had to find them at local colllege film series, or try to see them on visits to Montreal or San Francisco. In recent times, Golden Globe winning films show once in Cinemax at 3-am and yes, the internet helps, you have to search listings to find them. Non-urban America has always been a wasteland for art and culture. When only one American out of a thousand in an entire state has ever even heard if Fellini, what kind of culture criterion is that? Most people think they have been exposed to culture if they've been to Six Flags and rode the roller coaster.
I don’t know your age, but I was watching Fellini in middle school. And I’m not young.
I think the objective nutshell answer is this: it's more likely to find more culturally-exposed people in larger cities, but it's definitely not guaranteed. I tend to agree that the biggest factor is personal interest in different experiences or places very different from where you live, or actually enjoy engaging with a wide array of arts, music, or different cuisines of food, etc.
Even living on the cosmopolitan East Coast, there's still a widespread tendency for parochialism and ignorance of areas that are even 50 miles away. That's just human nature.
Conversely, small town and rural dwellers are absolutely capable of being just as cultured as any city slicker, with widespread ability to travel and access to virtually any piece of information on the Interwebs.
It's all about frame of mind and pursuit of adventure.
I saw quite a few Fellini and Bergman films, but none of them were never screened within 500 miles of my house. I had to find them at local colllege film series, or try to see them on visits to Montreal or San Francisco. In recent times, Golden Globe winning films show once in Cinemax at 3-am and yes, the internet helps, you have to search listings to find them. Non-urban America has always been a wasteland for art and culture. When only one American out of a thousand in an entire state has ever even heard if Fellini, what kind of culture criterion is that? Most people think they have been exposed to culture if they've been to Six Flags and rode the roller coaster.
Your posts are coming across as somewhat thinly veiled attempts at humble brags. There’s no question that a larger place will have more diversity in cultural options. I am not certain I would agree that Albanian pizza, or Fellini films are truly the benchmark for what is cultured though. Even in places where these are options the amount of populace with exposure to them is going to be low. To think that most Americans consider 6 flags as exposure to culture only exhibits your own personal lack of exposure to the population at large. It is a show case of your personal close mindedness, not someone else’s.
The internet has made the world a very small place. Things that used to be limited to major markets for exsposure are now everywhere. Some things are a matter of taste and preference. I am certainly glad that pretentious overcompensations of elitism are not the benchmark for the what is cultured at large.
Last edited by Landolakes90; 06-17-2022 at 07:16 AM..
While yeah major cities do contain a more educated and cultured populace, there are exceptions. Take Portland, Oregon and Ann Arbor, Michigan as an example. Portland is a major city but the people there lack any individual thought and are a part of a homogeneous White bubble, intolerant to those who don't hold far left political beliefs, even resorting to violent extremism to those who oppose them. Then you have Ann Arbor, a small town that is well educated and has rational thinking people from all walks of life, who value diversity and different cultures/viewpoints.
Keep in mind, insularity can be prevalent in big cities as well.
Chicago is a great example. I have family from a coupe of certain neighborhoods in the city, and their whole world is their neighborhood enclave, which has historically been homogeneous. As are the viewpoints. And they are some of the most racist people I know. To me, these people are as insular and uncultured as anyone in a small town would be.
So it's not universal.
In many cases, it's about access. If someone is from a rural area and doesn't have the means to travel much, they are likely going to be "cultured" only by what they see on TV/online. And we know how biased those sources can be and how divorced from reality they are. So I'm not really convinced people can get truly cultured from looking at a screen. You've got to be out in it and make your own observations.
I don’t know your age, but I was watching Fellini in middle school. And I’m not young.
Where did you have to go to see a Fellini? Fairly big cities, 500k metro. might have an art house, but that's about it through to 70s.. I had to go to an urban art house to see things like "A Man and a Woman" or "Umbrellas of Cherbourg". Video rentals appeared in late 80s
Where did you have to go to see a Fellini? Fairly big cities, 500k metro. might have an art house, but that's about it through to 70s.. I had to go to an urban art house to see things like "A Man and a Woman" or "Umbrellas of Cherbourg". Video rentals appeared in late 80s
I guess that was my point. Observations made from 60 years ago, while important in their own right, might have little application in 2022. People live different lives than my parents once lived. The past is a foreign country. The cultural edge cities once had has been blunted by cheap travel (not just for trips, but also for domestic migration) and the proliferation of information provided by the internet. It’s still there to be sure if you seek it out. But it’s easier than ever to approach arts and culture the way you want where you want. At least for the American middle-class.
In general I'd say yes. But on the other hand some of the most closed minded/uncultured people I've ever met are from major cities. I think a lot depends on age as well.
Big cities have tons of townies. I am from Miami and a lot of people there may be very knowledgeable about stuff from their own ethnic community but be shockingly ignorant about anywhere else.
A lot of my family thinks northern Europe is literally socialist, for example.
Every time that people are exposed or immersed into something new and different, it shapes them. For some it makes them more open & cultured. For others it may harden & make them resistant or enraged. For yet others the response may float somewhere in between the two extremes.
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