Romeo Must Die and "Art"

Admittedly during the first 10 minutes of Romeo Must Die I probably had about five eye rolls, and that doesn't begin to consider just how annoying Anthony Anderson's character was. However, I must admit I did not hate it. When I considered why this story worked, why this remake of Romeo and Juliet worked for me I was not quite sure of the reason. I guess the mild humor of the remake helped ease that. I mean really, who would work that hard to get the Raiders to come back? Still one thing that I really enjoyed about the movie was the fall of the two houses. Through all of the lawlessness and internal fighting, the heads of the houses ultimately fell. Personally speaking I feel like I enjoyed that because this story of Romeo and Juliet is so ingrained in our thought process. Because this narrative is so stuck in our schema we naturally root for them- at least I do. Instead of them dying, they get to walk off in the sunset(metaphorically), and hey maybe even Trish will learn some Kung Fu. Although I have my doubts that she'll ever master that spine breaking kick. Oh right, back on relevant topics. I think this remake also forces the viewer to consider what truly matters from a modern viewpoint and I found to be refreshing. I don't know that I would say that Han and Trish end up together because they are star crossed lovers, but instead because they are honorable people. It shows how the infighting (within the houses) was really quite worthless and the lust for power truly is corrupting. So will this be an instant classic? Probably not, but it is an interested lens into why this story keeps working.

Rant Part II.
As a self proclaimed, whats the point of_________ expert, Pierre Bourdieu's text Distinction & The Aristocracy of Culture felt very practical to me and I appreciated it. I completely buy the argument that art functions as a way to divide the aristocratic from everyone else. "I matter because I like art." "I matter because I can look at pictures and talk about how they make me feel." One of the things that is always so striking about this discussion is it is almost always one sided. You have someone who values art and asks why don't others value what I like as well? Then they come up with reasons as to why they believe the other side does not value it. Then ultimately come up with an argument as to what they can do to make it more valued and thus matter to more people. Personally I think instead of getting more people to appreciate a limited or narrow focus, perhaps the solution is consider what is valued to the "other" and widen the scope. However then art would not have the divisional aspect to it that is so valued to those who are in "the know". Maybe I should just take a trip down to the Walters in Baltimore so I can be a bit closer to included.