Purveyors of mindless memes comment on the Richard Tucker opera gala

I watched the live stream of the Richard Tucker Gala on Medici TV’s Facebook stream. At one point I was kind of a fan of letting people live tweet during opera or symphony performances. After watching the comments section roll by during this event I am no longer a champion for the cause of social media and the arts.

If I had seen one more “yaaaaaaas” or “daaaaaaang gurl can saaaaang” I was going to make at least a feeble attempt to break the internet. Allow me to explain.

This backwoods-I’m-not-an-elitist-purposeful-grammatical-nonsense does not make opera more appealing. It does not make opera “for the people.” It does not make the author of such comments one of the “good opera” lovers as opposed to one of the snobby elitists.

These comments are neither insightful or amusing. The authors are purposefully trying to sound uneducated. Is that what is going on here — mindless memeing?

The commentator is cultured enough to watch the Richard Tucker Gala but wants to portray themselves as uncultured purveyors of the inarticulate? I don’t get it.

Opera, in its finest forms, elevates us. It brings us up out of the commonplace and into the rare. To comment on opera with the elegance of a coal miner makes so sense.

There are plenty of topics to which “yaaas” applies. Topics such as getting drunk.

“I’m gonna get my drink on tonight.”

“Yaaaass.”

That exchange makes sense.

Casual sex is another topic that is appropriate.

“Just hooked up with a stranger and didn’t use protection.”

“Daaaaaaang.”

That exchange also makes sense. These are base activities that warrant the use of base language.

I am in favor of being irreverent toward opera when it is appropriate but this “yaaaas-ing” and “saaaang-ing” is out of place.

Watch the entire gala at Medici TV.