What do Sarah Palin and Kevin Smith have in common?

Let’s get this straight right off the bat; I’m no hater of Kevin Smith’s work. Clerks remains one of my favourite films, and I even have a certain degree of affection for a few Smith’s other films, like Chasing Amy and Dogma. This is why it saddened me to see Smith’s latest film, Cop-Out, get so thoroughly ravished by the critics. Rotten Tomatoes rates Cop-Out at a paltry 19% approval rating. Some of the harsher reviews included Roger Ebert who gave the film a lowly 1 ½ stars, and the New York Times’ A.O. Scott who wrote 

This pitiful excuse for entertainment is utterly bereft of wit, intelligence or craft on any level. The only thing left to screw up would have been to leave the lens cap on the camera. Wait that would have been an improvement.

Like I said, I’m no hater… I do not revel in anyone’s failures, as the more good films out there in the world for me to see, the better (which is why I was saddened by Smith’s recent string of bad luck, since Smith is certainly capable of making good films…) But how Smith has reacted to his film’s critical drubbing has been unconscionable.

Now if you followed Smith’s recent tirade against Southwest Airlines, you know he doesn’t go down without a fight. But Smith’s defense of his film from critics has been absolutely Palin-esque. Of course it’s natural that any artist would want to protect their work from an onslaught of detractors, but the way Smith has labeled all of his detractors as ‘elitists’, and out of touch with the ‘common public’ is ripped straight out of the Sarah Palin play book. If critics, or in Palin’s case, the media, are giving you a raw deal, it can’t be your own poor performance, but their out of whack sensibilities. In Smith’s case, a quick review of his previous work shows that simply is not the case, as several of his previous films enjoy healthy ratings, including his very last film Zack & Miri. 

Smith and Palin’s attitude reflects a recent trend in society to ‘race to the bottom’. Who can make their tastes (and even political opinions) as populist, and thus, common as possible? Am I crazy, or shouldn’t we all be trying to emulate those with higher standards of taste? Granted, not all of us have the time required to become an expert in every form of art… but that’s why we have experts, who have the knowledge and time who do, and then share their opinion. While scanning Pitchfork’s guide to the top 500 songs of the 2000s, I’m not too bashful to admit I didn’t recognize half the artists, let alone most of the songs on the list. But my ignorance didn’t make me label the Pitchfork staff elitists, out of touch with the common listener… no, it actually made me want to seek out these artists and better my knowledge of music. 

Doesn’t that make more sense? Here we have a group of people who dedicate their lives to the appreciation of an art form… shouldn’t we turn to them for guidance, rather than refusing to leave our protective little cocoons of knowledge?

Unfortunately most people don’t seem to feel that way anymore. Instead of looking for people who disagree with us, we look to people who merely reinforce what we already believe. Take Ms. Palin for example, who despite, y’know… running for the most powerful office on Earth, chose to insulate herself with yesmen, rather than face a more critical media. When she finally did and got torn apart, she didn’t turn to introspection, or think to improve herself… rather she blamed the other side, and rallied her rabid, unthinking supporters around her.

While I have no doubt Smith is considerably smarter than Ms. Palin, I wish he’d stop continuing down a similar path.