Elitism is not a dirty word

EVERY NOW and then, writers at The Times lose a word. Mainly these are adjectives subject to misuse. Some years ago we were advised to let go of legendary. Similarly, don't expect to see iconic, which has become equally cheapened, in the paper much anymore.

The adjectival criminal I'd like to see handed over to the word police is elitist, especially in its relationship to the arts and popular culture. In the "elitist" Oxford English Dictionary, the first definition of "elite" is the "choice part, the best (of society, a group of people, etc.)," none of which sounds so terrible. But that is not what is meant when, say, classical music, my field, is scorned as elitist, as it regularly is.

One tack many of us in the arts choose is to proudly take back the word. "Hey, Bud, you got a problem with us being the best?" Of course, you do. The arts are seen as for the select few -- too expensive, too inaccessible, too chichi for the general public devoted to movies, pop music, television and sports.

In fact, the reverse can just as easily be true. Cinema and video and all kinds of music and even sports can, of course, be art -- or not. And the more popular something or someone is, the more likely elitism will occur. Google "rock god" -- which the supposedly non-elitist Urban Dictionary defines as "an artist that is so talented and amazing that he is worshiped as a god by his fans" (please note the "he") -- and you will have the option of spending the next several days running through a half-million results. Go for "classical music god" and you are blessed with free time, unless you wish to get hung up on such items as " . . . classical music (God, I hate the term). . . . "

A ticket to hear the Los Angeles Philharmonic in fancy-schmancy Walt Disney Concert Hall may not always be easy to come by at the last minute and top seats are now $147. But for most programs, bench seats behind the stage (which many love) go on sale two weeks before the concert for $15. Do I need to detail the princely sums in the thousands it takes to attend an NBA playoff? On Broadway, $400 tickets no longer raise eyebrows. At Disney, we are a democratic audience who sit together. In the supposedly populist Staples Center, luxury suites resemble nothing so much as the royal boxes in European opera houses of old. Anyone can go to an art museum, but not anyone can get past the bouncers at the latest in-crowd club.