i paid $40 for this book.

the section that struck me most in baumann's book was the section on academia's role in the legitimation of film as art. (perhaps i've been spending too much time with jeff williams).

for me the argument in this passage felt very chicken or the egg by which i mean, i question if it was it academia that aided in film's legitimation or was it because film was being seen more and more as art that academia took notice? it's hard to say really. perhaps my problem is in the personification of academia. i found myself saying that people make up academia and it's important to remember it is the action of individuals that does the legitimation. but the thought stopped there.

so i did what i always do when i'm struggling with a text: roll my eyes and close it. staring down at the dust jacket i only found mona lisa's impertinent smirk mocking me. i sneered and said, "and i paid forty dollars for this book?!"

then a gear shifted. why did i pay so much for this book?

first of all it's hard cover. not many academic books warrant that. in fact as soon as i touched it i said, "oh no, this is gonna cost me."

i then checked the back to see who the publisher is: princeton. "dang. princeton."

and kathy's a pretty smart lady; i doubt she would have assigned it if it weren't a significant work.

significant indeed. all around this text are signs that scream, "I'M OF CONSEQUENCE! THIS IS A SERIOUS TEXT." the book itself (as opposed to the text) does a pretty good job of proving baumann's point that academia is a power of legitimization, at least for grad students. and instead of doubting the text and its soulless writing, i doubt myself, my ability to recognize "good" work. we have kathy, the author, the publisher, the mona lisa, the princeton name and all the prestige imbued by the people who've made it a great school channeled into one text, telling me what to think.

and i agree that, while unbearably dry, this book is important.

but can i even claim that opinion as my own anymore?

so while i await tomorrow's class to shed some light on this text, i'll contemplate this rothko: