Normal Rockwell & Lower Middle Culture

          In November 18th's lecture, we discussed Herbert J. Gans' concept of taste cultures and taste publics. He explained that choices in consumption are not random and that people who make similar choices for similar reasons will choose an array of cultural objects and practices that share a common aesthetic. He noted that the major source of differentiation between taste cultures and publics is socioeconomic level or class. In his opinion, American society can be divided into five levels: high culture, upper middle culture, lower middle culture, low culture, and quasi-folk culture. One example in which these five taste cultures differ is art. High culture prefers an abstract form of art that lower classes do not have the cultural capital to understand. Often times, high culture art becomes encapsulated in its own self-referencing world. Lower middle culture, on the other hand, emphasizes substance over form and morality and sentimentality are more prominent in their preferred artworks.

       As America's dominant taste public, lower middle culture aesthetic is often found in television, movies, and artwork. A perfect example of lower middle culture art is Norman Rockwell's pieces. Rockwell's subjects tended to be common American interactions and settings instead of abstract interpretations. Because he managed to capture the American life in his paintings, he is embraced as one of America's most well-known painters. As Norman Rockwell himself put it, "the commonplaces of America are to me the richest subjects of art. Boys batting flies on vacant lots; little girls playing jacks on the front steps; old men plodding home at twilight- all these things arouse feeling in me." This quote strongly reflects Gans' own observations on lower middle culture taste preferences that they prefer the real over the abstract.
         Norman Rockwell's paintings manage to capture the everyday curiosities, desires, jealousies, and indulgences of human nature. The Rockwell painting below, titled The Dugout, is a perfect example of Rockwell's ability to capture American life. Fans in the stands can be seen jeering at the athletes while the athletes in the dugout are bored and disheartened and the player about to go onto the field is nervous. Rockwell's "snapshots" of a particular moment evoke emotion in the viewer. The scene might be a simple one that the viewer could experience every day, but Rockwell captures the moment in a way that reveals the various emotions and feelings that occur in that one precise moment. This emphasis on sentimentality and reality is what characterizes Rockwell's paintings as lower middle culture, according to Gans' five levels of taste publics.