Meghan Daum in today's Tribune commented on the demise of Kirkus Review, noting that Kirkus paid for its reviews but that nowadays all one sees is free "customer" reviews on the web, from Amazon to Yelp. She thinks "the entire idea of what constitutes value -- has been turned on its ear. . . ." "No longer an intellectual or aesthetic or logical exercise drawing from objective facts (e.g., what's in the book), careful observations and real expertise (sometimes called connoisseurship), reviewing is more and more simply a vehicle for personal narrative." "Too often, the pretense of sharing advice devolves into oversharing the contours of one's navel."
The "democratization of value" means that anything goes and everyone is on display. I turned the radio to a pop station this morning on my way to work, and heard the radio "personalities" taking calls from and about "men who have lost the desire for sex, and why." A female caller talked about her own experience of getting engaged to one man, then finding herself "falling in love with another" and accepting an engagement ring from him too. "And just last night I started a bit of a fling" with another man. At least the radio hosts advised her to give both rings back. No comment on her lifestyle. But it's pretty clear she's lost the ability to "evaluate" value.
Who is the reviewer, the chronicler of our lives? Is it the person(s) we hope will see us on facebook or twitter etc.? The man we expect to entice, whose interest we want to spark? For if we live in the interest of another, aren't we really living?
To the contrary, if we live with "faces unveiled" to our God, we live in His loving, life-giving gaze. Then we don't have to preen and prance about, hoping for that other's notice. We dwell secure in in His gaze.
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