Saturday 12 December 2009

Stephen Bayley Cultural Snob - bah, humbug!

Source: http://www.holidayinflatables.info/christmas-inflatables.htm
Oi you fancy designer types lay off my kitsch!

Apparently Stephen Bayley is “…one of Britain's best known cultural commentators.” As happens for such people, Mr Bayley gets a nice big space in the Spectator to bemoan what he (rather sadly) dubs “Happy Kitschmas”. I smiled at this passage:

“And what can I see from my office in Carnaby Street? I can see a giant, pneumatic, puce-coloured reindeer with white spots suspended from tension wires in space.”

Yay! Loving it…we need more of this it’s good. It’s what our festival of consumption is all about. It’s what we like Mr Bayley…it really is. We like our Christmas kitsch.

But Stephen Bayley and his ilk wouldn’t understand this – schmoozing round their charmed circle of the cultural trendsetters, these folk are nearly as out of touch with the real world as Ed Balls. And they annoy me…I like my inflatable reindeer, grossly overblown santas, great fat snowmen, kids singing “Away in a Manger”, over the top lighting on private houses, German Christmas markets, re-runs of “White Christmas”, happy drunks in plastic reindeer horns…all the trappings of Kitschmas. I loved it that the car parked next to mine outside PC World had horns and a red nose.

You’re welcome to your smug little view Mr Bayley – but it doesn’t reflect what the rest of us want. So we’ll go on having a cheap, slightly tacky, but great fun Christmas thanks (and if you want some good Kitsch jewellery this Christmas – go to the Kitschen Sink)

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1 comment:

Grethic said...

How did I live without lego jewellery - thanks :)