Acquired Taste

New Yorkers can be extremely ethnocentric. I have frequently had discussions about popularity of the arts in the United States and many believe, for example, that opera is very popular in America. If you stood in Lincoln Center on a night where Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras and Luciano Pavarotti were singing and tickets were nowhere to be found, of course it appears that opera is very popular. If you go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on a nice weekend day, it appears that the masses are interested in fine art.
But the reality is that fine arts, classical music, ballet and opera are haute cuisines and many, such as opera, are consumed by a very small, rarefied, older, well-heeled audience or students. These facts escape many New Yorkers who only see the world through very special glasses. Travel through America and you will find how few have ever attended an opera or even know who Puccini is.
Admittedly, these fine arts are not a necessity, but like any form of education or culture, they greatly improve a person. They are not practical. Unfortunately most things in this country fall to a common denominator - that which can be quantified or used as a tool to do something that can be quantified. So the sciences are always favored over the arts which are routinely cut from school programs. I say this as someone who saw himself as strictly a science and math person when younger - the last thing I expected in life was that I would be doing photography or writing.
Like it or not, to get most people interested in the arts, you need a hook and for most, a little drama will serve as that hook. Something large, incredibly ornate or very expensive usually provides the drama needed. So to take someone to the Metropolitan Museum of Art who has no particular love of art, my first choices are the Egyptian wing or medieval armor (seen in the photo). People understand armor and most are fascinated by weaponry and other accoutrement of the world. The large imposing figures on horseback are very compelling. With some luck, this experience may served as an appetizer, possibly leading to larger meals of art later on.
Now many would say, why force feed a person with these things? If something is not immediately satisfying, why bother? Because I believe art, like many finer things, is an acquired taste. Appreciation and love comes with exposure over time. The full depth and breadth of Beethoven's work can not be instantly appreciated - difficult for many to understand in a world of immediate gratification. But the pleasure one can derive from something more sophisticated can be great. For most people, if they look back over their lives, they see incremental improvements in taste and standards with no desire to go back. Enjoying finer things and haute cuisine are not snobbery for its own sake, just a different perspective of those with an acquired taste ...