A lot has already been said here, so I wouldn't want to go over dead ground too much. However, what [MENTION=4855]JGirl[/MENTION] said hits the nail on the head, if you ask me.
Some people are rather too obsessed with 'culture', or rather 'high culture', because they think that they either have it, understand it better than anyone who only appreciates 'pop culture', or can otherwise look down on someone else with the odd reference or allusion to a canonised text or famous symphony. However, what those people don't understand, in my opinion, is that culture is everywhere, all around us, and doesn't have to be based on something a crusty old professor liked 90 years ago. Actually, one of the professors at my university gave a fantastic lecture on this recently, and she cited the 'Circus Polka' (a ballet choreographed for elepants, basically) as an event which perfectly summed up high culture meeting pop culture and the fact that both can be in harmony if you're open enough to appreciate it.
Anyway, I tend to talk crap at this time of night, but I think that if you're really after 'culture', definitely read a few of the classics, listen to some of the great symponies, go to the theatre more often, etc., but don't let any of this bore the pants off you, because otherwise it's not worth it! I'm into books big time, but I can't stand T.S. Eliot or James Joyce! But I don't care, because I know why I don't like them and have moved on to writers that I do like... such as Irvine Welsh.
And if anyone goes off on one, trying to be smart but sounding pretentious, just ignore them. Do what makes you happy!
Some people are rather too obsessed with 'culture', or rather 'high culture', because they think that they either have it, understand it better than anyone who only appreciates 'pop culture', or can otherwise look down on someone else with the odd reference or allusion to a canonised text or famous symphony. However, what those people don't understand, in my opinion, is that culture is everywhere, all around us, and doesn't have to be based on something a crusty old professor liked 90 years ago. Actually, one of the professors at my university gave a fantastic lecture on this recently, and she cited the 'Circus Polka' (a ballet choreographed for elepants, basically) as an event which perfectly summed up high culture meeting pop culture and the fact that both can be in harmony if you're open enough to appreciate it.
Anyway, I tend to talk crap at this time of night, but I think that if you're really after 'culture', definitely read a few of the classics, listen to some of the great symponies, go to the theatre more often, etc., but don't let any of this bore the pants off you, because otherwise it's not worth it! I'm into books big time, but I can't stand T.S. Eliot or James Joyce! But I don't care, because I know why I don't like them and have moved on to writers that I do like... such as Irvine Welsh.
And if anyone goes off on one, trying to be smart but sounding pretentious, just ignore them. Do what makes you happy!