"The Dulling of the Evangelical Artistic Palate"

Jared Wilson writes:

Someone once wrote Roger Ebert and asked him why critics loved Sofia Coppola's film Lost in Translation so much while audiences in general didn't even appreciate it. Ebert responded that the film transmitted on a different frequency than audiences are accustomed to receiving. (I was reminded of this tidbit from Ebert's "Movie Answer Man" column only a couple days later while overhearing a conversation in a restaurant in which two men discussing of the movie revealed no hints of even knowing what it was about.)

It works the same way with books, I think, particularly as it relates to the dulling of the evangelical artistic palate. Is it too much to say that Christian readers have a distinct taste for mediocrity? I know evangelicals take a lot of hits for poor artistic sensibilities, but maybe the critique is a cliche for a reason?

Is it a supply problem or a demand problem? I think it's both, which means the Christian publishing industry (and Christian retail in general, really) is in a vicious cycle of sorts. Publishers print what sells and until readers start buying substantive literature, publishers won't produce it. But if publishers aren't producing it in the first place, then readers don't even have the opportunity to buy it. So basically, Christian readers are consuming what's available because they don't perceive any other option (in the Christian bookstore, that is).

The unfortunate side effect of that, though, is that we are producing generations of Christians whose literary appetites are for junk food.

Quickly and surely, Christians have developed a different literary frequency. It's part of the larger culture, to be sure. It's certainly not limited to Christians. Our country has set its dial to King, Clancy, and Grisham. Not that there's anything really wrong (or even dumb) about those authors or others who fall into the wide swath of pop fiction. But folks programmed to receive only on those frequencies will likely miss the deeper, more insightful, more poetic messages of the classics. Or even contemporary literary novelists. Ever read a book by Don DeLillo? How about J.K. Rowling? I'd be willing to bet more of you have read authors like the latter than authors like the former.

Read the rest.
Herein lies the collision of art and commerce. Few do it well if they can do it at all. Generally speaking, the Christian music industry suffers under the weight of it's own superficiality. Nothing new to report there. But with more and more artists able to leverage the power the internet, the dumbing down of the "evangelical artistic palate" might be slowed a bit. There are signs of life all over the place. You just might have to look a little harder to see the bright spots.