When Car Showrooms Persist on Displaying Social Class Divisions

To get a clearer understanding of the class system and its effect on cultural consumption, I visited the Nissan car showroom and took some pictures to show the distinction between different class categories in Qatar.

In the Nissan showroom there were the smallest forms of family cars like the Nissan Tida.

Then bigger cars like the Nissan Sunny and Nissan Altima.

Then there were race cars like the 350Z and the Nissan Maxima.

Then there were varying sizes of CUVs starting from the small Nissan Juke and including Nissan Qashqai up until the Nissan Xtrail and Nissan Murano.

Finally, the biggest forms of SUVs ranged from the Nissan Xterra and Nissan Armada up until the Nissan Patrol, being the biggest and most expensive SUV.

All the different cars I mentioned had their own divisions like X, S, SE and ES that range in the available options and price as well. However, these cars are not the whole collection of Nissan yet, there is on the other side of the showroom another brand owned by Nissan called Infiniti.

Infiniti is the Luxury brand of Nissan. In the Infiniti showroom there were also cars that vary in size. Almost all the Infiniti cars are based on one of Nissan’s cars platforms and redesigned to attain luxury. For example, the Nissan Patrol has its Infiniti equivalent the QX56.

The Nissan Murano has its Infiniti equivalent the JX.

Looking at the whole spectrum of all cars from the Nissan Tida up until the most expensive Infiniti QX56, I began to understand class systems. In a class system people are stratified according to characteristics such as income, occupation and educational degree. The class system is made up of different social classes who are a group of people who share a similar position in society based on wealth, education, and occupational prestige. The social class of an individual determines their occupation in the society in terms of family relations, politics, physical health and mental health. However, what this blog is interested in is how can social class determine a person’s consumption of culture? Cultural consumption is the reception, interpretation and experience of various types of culture. Differences in cultural consumption are socially constructed so that they can help maintain socio-economic class boundaries.

Buying a Nissan Tida is always associated with new expatriates who join Doha, just starting their journey with low income. Then the Nissan Altima is associated with older expats especially young men who like a sporty looking car but can only afford a big salon. Then Nissan Patrol is associated with an average Qatari family household since its good in the desert and can carry the big family on one vehicle. The inside of the Patrol has a fancy interior with expensive leather seats and mind dizzying features on its dashboard. However for upper class Qataris, an expensive fancy-looking Patrol with a huge spectrum of features may not be enough. Hence, Infinities with their especially-made luxurious designs and endless features appeal to upper-class men in power.

In sociology, buying normal Nissan cars can be called lowbrow cultural consumption, which is the mass culture stereotypically associated with lower and working classes. However, buying an Infiniti is highbrow cultural consumption of fine arts that are only consumed by the affluent classes.

What is considered highbrow versus what is considered lowbrow changes from a community to a community. For example, in Egypt where I come from, owning a Nissan SUV is considered highbrow culture consumption. Maybe in Nigeria, owning a car in the first place, regardless of its make, can be highbrow culture consumption. However, in Qatar owning a Nissan is lowbrow to many affluent classes. Even Infiniti can be considered lowbrow for elite Bentley owners.

The distinction between lowbrow and highbrow also changes with time. For Example, a Qatari friend told me that buying a Japanese car was considered lowbrow for all Qataris twenty years ago, even if it was a Land Cruiser. It was seen like buying a Kia today in Qatar. However, with time, Japanese cars, especially the luxurious brands, turned into highbrow.

The idea of choosing a car to buy explains the concept of conspicuous consumption. Conspicuous consumption is an attempt to display class and status through the purchase or consumption of high culture and luxury goods or services. Indeed a Nissan Tida has luxurious options when compared to cars you would see in a poor developing country: it has air condition, an entertainment system, ample space to seat five people, some built in safety, and low fuel consumption. However, rich people would buy an Infiniti just for the sole idea to be distinct and be recognizable by their social class wherever they go. I can easily claim that most Infiniti owners know less about its features, than what they know about the looks and the social status associated with them.

High Society Music?

When I stepped in to Virgin Megastores a few days ago, I found a music stand that was labeled "High Society".

   

It seemed like they wanted to associate that specific stand with highbrow culture. Highbrow culture is culture that is consumed by intellectuals and people who belong to a high social class. However, labeling the stand itself felt like Virgin Megastores was trying to appeal to the people who are from a lower social class interested in highbrow culture and social mobility (moving up or down the class system). This stand definitely targets the conspicuous consumers, the consumers who attempt to display class and status through purchase or consumption of high culture (in this case, it's music). By looking at the music CDs on this stand, I realized that it was mostly French and English music. The only somewhat-Arabic CD collection was the special edition of "Belaaks", an album created by Jean Marie Riachi.

   

The album features different artists, most of them are unknown. The album includes some English and French songs in addition to the Arabic ones. The music is a mixture of Jazz and Arabic music. The album is named after the song "Belaaks" which uses Arabic lyrics along with the instrumental music of the famous song "Perhaps".

   

If this music stand does anything other than appealing to conspicuous consumers, it proves the notion that highbrow and lowbrow cultures are socially constructed. They are not given truths, but they are carefully chosen by decision makers, even if its in something as small as Virgin Megastores. However, the main question remains: why is it that what we consider to be highbrow culture in the Arab world is usually foreign, while if something is more authentic, it would be seen as lowbrow culture?

Highbrow Heavy Metal?

      Heavy metal has long been an unspoken interest of mine. It is not like I am ashamed of it; I am not ashamed at all. It has been the only consistent favorite genre of mine for the past eight years. The only issue with being a fan of this genre is the social stigma attached to its universally lowbrow, or unsophisticated, status. Public disapproval of the genre manifests more prominently in the mostly resistant Middle Eastern societies, which are tremendously cautious of introducing typically "Western" cultures.

"People are constantly being typed by their cultural allegiances, respected or dismissed because of the music they like...we internalize these categories."

- Robert Walser, Heavy Metal and the Highbrow/Lowbrow Divide 

      Similarly to how the media associates the genre of rap music with black gangsters, heavy metal is also associated with undisciplined "white trash." One may assume that such negative depiction justifies the majority's detestation of the musical genre. In fact, it is quite easy for anyone to make such an assumption. It is even easier to completely disregard exceptions and disturbances in one's preconceived judgments of a particular culture that is seemingly beyond one's comprehension.

      Does the stigmatized view towards heavy metal diminish, though, when the typically highbrow, sophisticated genre of classical music "breeds" with the lowbrow genre of heavy metal?

       Symphonic metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal that is characterized by operatic voices, poetic lyrics, and the heavy use of keyboards and orchestral music. The sound is often described as "epic", like a blow to the face...or to the ears, with popular approaches to symphonic metal sounding much like film scores. Pioneers of this particular take on the genre include the Finnish band Nightwish, whose success inspired the inception of other prominent bands in the genre, such as the Dutch band Epica. An excellent example of such style is Nightwish's song Ever Dream (a personal favorite), albeit only a gentle taste of Nightwish's typically lengthy and elaborately orchestrated songs.

Ever Dream by Nightwish

      In addition to the classical and operatic undertones of this genre, many symphonic metal albums often include power ballads that could easily appeal to audiences who are more fond of the "symphonic" elements of the genre as opposed to the "metal" elements. Examples of such songs include the Nightwish song Sleeping Sun and Abandoned by the American symphonic metal band Kamelot, sung by the operatically trained Norwegian singer Roy Khan.

Sleeping Sun by Nightwish

Abandoned by Kamelot

      Despite the significant presence of typically highbrow musical characteristics in the genre of symphonic metal, and the unusual variety offered with the inclusion of power ballads in the genre's albums, symphonic metal is still categorized as lowbrow music. Kamelot's concept albums Epica (the namesake of the Dutch band Epica) and The Black Halo, based on the classic German legend Faust, are still considered as lowbrow forms of music despite the traditionally highbrow status of the German folk tale.

Clearly, I am a fan.

      It seems that the universally shared social stigma towards heavy metal, which the media successfully reinforces into the public's preconceptions of the genre as diabolical and detrimental to society's wellbeing, ruthlessly applies to all of its sub-genres, regardless of the presence of highbrow musical elements. The power of the media instills this preconceived notion of the genre so effectively that it almost leaves no room for exceptions. This is particular for Middle Eastern countries, who have notable sensitivity towards controversial Western cultures or behaviors. The extreme Middle Eastern stigma towards the genre, though, could be on the verge of gradual decline. With the recent introduction of heavy metal concerts in Abu Dhabi (such as Metallica's upcoming concert on the 19th of April, and Megadeth's concert this past October), tolerance or even acceptance of the genre may finally be welcomed by Middle Eastern societies, perhaps even ending discrimination towards fans of heavy metal. I am almost certain that it should not be a difficult feat to accomplish when the Middle East has so amiably welcomed the lyrical genius Nicki Minaj in a recent Dubai concert.

      After all, we are all nothing but...

Stupid hoes.

highbrow Vs. lowbrow culture

Different forms of cultures are all around us, whether it is in music or films or even our everyday life. Recently I began to pay attention to how different classes are perceived in media, specifically in television series. Whether they are part of the highbrow or lowbrow class, the group of people are shown as being differently dressed and they behave in a different manner.

One major example of displaying class differences in films is James Cameron's Titanic where Rose, a girl coming from the upper class, falls in love with Jack, who is part of the lower class. They try to go beyond their class differences and become involved in activities that occur throughout both the highbrow and lowbrow cultures. The wealthy people are located on the upper decks and they enjoy lavish accommodations and dine in expensive clothing on a regular basis. While the "lower class" are not allowed to go into the upper decks and they are confined to their smaller, much more simple rooms. They still enjoy themselves as they dance and feast together.

Today's television shows still tend to show differences in cultures as well and it was not until I began to look for specific examples that i began to notice how low and high culture is represented.

I began to examine two very different television shows, Gossip girl and True Blood and I noticed that there were class differences in both television shows. Whether this was done intentionally or accidentally is of interest to me.

Gossip girl revolves around a group of young adults who go through different stages of their life as a mysterious person creates drama by sending out texts about the main protagonists. There are six main actors in this series and most of them are depicted as spoilt rich people who live in Manhattans upper east side. Most of their houses are either located on the pent house of some expensive building or in the hotels they own. Their houses are decorated with expensive furniture and several famous paintings are hung in the house. While most of the characters live in the upper east side, there are two characters who are siblings in the television show, who live in Brooklyn. They all go to the same private school in Manhattan but the characters that live in the Brooklyn are constantly mocked because of their much less extravagant lifestyle and because they don't live in the upper east side.

The other show I chose to study is True Blood which is a great vampire series that shows the struggles that vampires have to go through to get their rights. It could be argued that the vampires in this television show are representing the lower class in society who are trying to get their voice herd.

Academy Awards - Highbrow Culture Awards?

The months of January and February are usually known as award season in Hollywood, due to the numerous film awards that take place. It starts off with certain critic awards such as the Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards or the Chicago Film Critics Association. Then perhaps the most acclaimed critics awards the Golden Globes, hosted by the Hollywood Foreign Press. These awards are decided upon by critics, who tend to fall under the lowbrow culture. These awards are followed by more presitigious awards such as the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) awards or Directors Guild of America followed by the most prestigious film awards The Academy Awards (The Oscars). These awards are voted by industry professionals such as very successful directors, actors, producers, in essence people into highbrow culture.

The winners of the various guild awards are usually great indications as to who will win the Oscars, since the members tend to overlap. Interestingly, the highbrow tastes of the members of the Academy is very evident by looking at the various Oscar winners. The year of 2009, Avatar was the most successful and critically acclaimed movie of the year. The movie won best picture in various critic awards such as New York Film Critics Online, the Critics Choice Award and The People's Choice Awards. However, it lost the Academy Awards to a much more highbrow film, The Hurt Locker, critics and people called it a huge upset. Avatar was a fantasy film revolving around aliens and magical creatures, not exactly highbrow culture, meanwhile The Hurt Locker, revolved around the struggle soldiers, mainly bomb defusers, face in Iraq, much more highbrow. In the past the last, and only, fantasy film to win the Best Picture Awards was The Lord of the Rings - Return of the King in 2003 and even that was sort of highbrow culture since it was adapted from a book.

Most recently, The Social Network , in my opinion best movie of the year, lost to The King's Speech, which was a very good movie however not as good as The Social Network, it was much

more suited for highbrow culture than the Social Network. The Social Network won most critic awards as well as the Golden Globes, during all of January and half of February it was the clear frontrunner. It was almost a sure thing. Then, the Guild Awards rolled in, with every guild award it seemed The King's Speech was gaining support and The Social Network was losing it. The Social Network wasn't Highbrow enough.

Therefore, once again highbrow culture seems to get more recognition then lowbrow with little regard to quality and more to taste.