Guilty Pleasures

Jennifer Szalai described guilty pleasures thus:

“Guilty pleasures refer to cultural artifacts with mass appeal—genre novels, catchy pop songs, domestic action movies … —that bring with them an easy enjoyment without any pretense to edification.”

And Shonda Rhimes tells what she doesn’t like about the term:

“I object to neither the pleasure, nor the guilt; it’s the modifying of one by the other that works my nerves, the awkward attempt to elevate as well as denigrate the object to which the phrase is typically assigned.”

Neither does Szalai:

“What’s even more perverse is that these so-called “guilty pleasures” never involve actual transgression: the bland escapades of Bridget Jones are a guilty pleasure; the depraved orgies of the Marquis de Sade are not.”

Ironically the term caught on in the late 90’s right about when the culture wars (high brow vs low brow) were coming to an end and “cultural distinctions were ceasing to matter”. Szalai wonders if the timing actually makes sense:

“The guilty pleasure could then function as a signalling mechanism, an indicator that one takes pleasure in something but knows (the knowingness is key) that one really shouldn’t.”

And perhaps it is a reflection of the struggle to be part of both the elite and the masses!

“The guilt signals that you’re most comfortable in the élite precincts of high art, but you’re not so much of a snob that you can’t be at one with the people. So you confess your remorse whenever you deign to watch “Scandal,” implying that the rest of your time is spent reading Proust.”

That description does sound spot on.