I’m reading Proust. Partly because my abdominal pain’s so awful I need something so utterly mind-numbing for me to distract the pain; partly because I’m that bored. Either way, I’d have to say A la Recherché du Temps Perdu is pretty boring. But putting that aside, it started to make me think of what it means to be cultured.

I am often called that. I suppose I can see why, although within the household I live in, the level I am at is fairly standard. There are books my parents have read that I have not, and vice versa, but we share information, and exchange opinions over the dinner table. My father knew about “Gerrymander”, and I did not (and amazingly that term is registered within my spellcheck). My father did not have a particularly defined opinion on the definition of artistry, and I did. Exchange of knowledge and opinions. That is what our conversations our made of.

But what does it actually mean to be cultured? Being cultured is one of the hallmarks of being middle class, it seems. But why is it important? Jack, I’d say, is cultured; speaking two languages, learning two more, well-read (partly because of me; we share books quite often), interested. His sphere seems rather large compared to others. He’s a classical pianist but he listens to anything (he seems to shy away from country and rap, but he also said that he’s “just not used to it… I haven’t listened to the genre enough to pass judgement”). And why is it that some arts seem to command more respect than others? If all arts are equal, then listening to Dr. Dre should be treated just the same as listening to Wagner.

Does it? Nope. Not at all. I have yet to meet someone who goes “I’ve always wanted to go to one!” when I say “I’m going to a Linkin Park concert”. But operas? Sure. All the time.

It seems that nowadays, people have very rigid, tiny definitions of “culture”. “Cultured person” seems to mean “someone who is well-read in books, who has watched and engaged with classic films, has a refined appreciation for art, etc. To be cultured is also to be educated about the world and its languages, to understand world politics and be well-read in world history”. Which translates to: doing boring things.

So I pulled out my arsenal of middle class people. According to them, “culture” is being interested in things other than your immediate sphere of interest. Reading is a prime example of it; I don’t live in France, but I read French authors to see the world from their eyes. To know what French people are like. What France is like. (That is not to say that I particularly enjoy Proust.)

But it’s undeniable that classical music gain more respect culturally than rock. Why?

Connor (my flautist friend) gave me an interesting answer. He agreed that Mozart was the 1800s Lady Gaga; he pulled up ladies’ skirts (how naughty), wrote very inappropriate music, and was just plain scandalous. But why is it that Mozart commands more respect than Lady Gaga, then?

“Well, people associate culture with it because our generation is that of popular music,” he said.

“So it's because opera and Rachmaninov and Monet are far more culturally distant that they're so valued? (apart from the amount of pure hard work we have to put in to perform them, as opposed to Katy Perry.)”

“I think that’s pretty accurate. I also think the amount of theory they used was a big thing. Mozart used musical logic to explain emotion.”

It seems that culture just really amounts to having interest in the world outside of what you know. And vaster the interest is, more cultured you become, because you naturally try to go and learn by reading, listening, seeing; I watch breakdancing, line dancing, Irish dancing, ballet. I’m only familiar with ballet myself, but others are interesting to me, and I’ve learned a few things about rhythm from all of those sub-genres.

On the other hand, there are some utter rubbish in any genre. Those should be weeded out.