Elitism and the consequences it breeds

Elitism:

1. practice of or belief in rule by an elite.
2. consciousness of or pride in belonging to a select or favored group.
(Dictionary.com definitions)

Some consider it a hold-back toward open-mindedness, a form of snobbyness, for the "insecure," etc... but does it always apply? For our purposes, we'll look at it within a culture I'm most comfortable with, though it is not restricted to this culture: metal.

Is "metal" a culture? Isn't it just "any of a class of elementary substances, as gold, silver, or copper, all of which are crystalline when solid and many of which are characterized by opacity, ductility, conductivity, and a unique luster when freshly fractured" or the music genre which was argueably created by Black Sabbath (and which made Ozzy Osbourne a household name as a result)? Well, it's more than just music. You've heard in the past from your parents or friends about how some things go "hand-in-hand" - for example, if your mom really loves cooking more than she loves just eating the final product, she'll more-so lean towards the idea of being a nutritionist, while the final product lover just wants to eat. How does this pertain toward the metal culture and elitism in general?

Meet our fake character, Mike. Mike's a real troublemaker. His parents want him to cut his hair, so he grew it long out of spite. His family is totally Christian, while he's a Satanist who writes stories about burning Churches and pornography with lots of bondage involved. He primarily favours women in tight leather. He's also very open with his usage of racial slurs. He's very misanthropic in his own light. These "themes" in his life fit very well with the musical style of (sadly) many metalheads within metal fandom, so it is a culture within itself. Although, bondage and leather does sound kind of....

However, there are varying degrees of extremeties within the metal culture. This resulted as a desire for difference, which came from a type of open-mindedness. Sure, the first in a series will always heavily criticise the new (especially when a band "betrays" their original style). Hell, even the new will criticise the originals, and will say, "Hey, you're just still on this or you're criticizing that just because you want to look br00tal for the rest of your traditional metal buddies." Funny enough, that is a kind of elitism in itself.

Okay, now that we've established that elitism can be just as prominent within both extremes, we'll take a look at how elitism can breed positivity: creative rebellion. However, it does not breed it because of itself, but rather the obstacle that elitism breeds. As it has been said, those who paint new paths will be constantly scourged by those who only believe in some set ways.

To give you a good personal perspective from myself, I'll talk about a band that is very different from its peers: System of a Down. Yes, I'm quite against the genre which they are considered significantly part of. Nu Metal, a sin upon music and upon my ears during the early '90s, was made popular by one of the crappiest bands of all time: KoRn (who are WAY over-fucking-rated). Suffice to say, System of a Down took part of that style, mixed it in with others where elitists existed the most (Death Metal being one), and created something else. They pissed off a lot of people, but I enjoyed what they did. They took a risk. I have their entire discography.

So, the lesson of this entry is that negativity can create an environment for positivity (and an amazing debut album). Look in the future for a possible post on false eclecticism.