Malcolm Gladwell’s theories on sociology, psychology, and success are quite brilliant and usually a welcome inspiration, but is it just me or are his opinions on popular music a bit wonky?
In a listicle for the Guardian (via the Daily Swarm), Gladwell opined on his “pop culture playlist,” which, though it includes shout-outs to a few of our faves (Wilco, Brian Eno, Richard Thompson, Marvin Gaye) and makes an insightful point about Jay-Z’s “New York State of Mind,” also contains a few rather disconcerting quotes, such as:
English rock’n’rollers are always twice as intelligent and articulate as their American counterparts.
Here in America, by contrast, the best they can do is a mumbling Kurt Cobain and a strutting Bruce Springsteen, who seems to spend most of his time these days at the gym.
Leaving aside the fact that the “gym” reference about the Boss could possibly be an odd jab related to a certain popular gossip story, and ignoring the precarious proposition of debating onstage rock strutting, what’s with all the generalizations, Mr. Gladwell? Here’s hoping this piece was just an outlier, if you will.</rant>