Otherwise, we wouldn’t know who Marc Bolan is. Or Richard Hell, Question Mark and the Mysterians, the Bar Kays, Bikini Kill, Sparks, the Sex Pistols, Queen, Brian Eno… or Art Spiegelman, for that matter.

Just by making a work of art, the artist is saying, “Hey, I think this is important enough that you should pay attention to it.” And often that can seem boastful. So if one’s goal is to avoid “pretention,” one’s probably not going to take a second glance at a whole lot of cool stuff. Especially if the person wears make-up.

I hate it when people pat themselves on the back for hating “pretention,” whatever that means.

Well, let’s see…

“Ostentatious display”

“Boastful self-importance or display”

“creating a false appearance of great importance or worth”

..yeah, I hate all of those things, not that they apply to “all the stuff [you] like”.

But dood, as a fan of all the arts and a dabbler in most of them, I hate it when people pat themselves on the back for hating “pretention,” whatever that means. Most of the time it’s simply an excuse not to talk to someone or to explore something new, give something a chance that looks unfamiliar. People should be applauded for trying to add layers and complexity to their lives and ours. Don’t hate “pretention,” hate snobbery.

I like all of these men, too, but can someone PLEASE name one woman who is along those same lines?

I’ll cop to having a male-centric list, but there are lots of great actresses who I’d consider to be on par with the actors I mentioned. Felicity Huffman, Toni Collette, Judi Dench, Frances McDormand all do great work.

Maybe more than one woman, as we make up a little more than half the population.

I’m bothered very much by the fact that the only woman I can think of is Kathy Bates, and she hit mainstream long ago.

They weren’t my final answers, but I agree with you on 2, 3 and 4.

I like that painting too. Tom’s got some great stuff on his site.

Later…