The Right’s Culture Problem

It’s not the best sign for the Trump admin to shut down DC’s preeminent cultural institution

Culture renewal is a common trope on the Right. Conservatives frequently bemoan the poor state of contemporary culture and wish for a superior alternative to rise from the ashes. They write lengthy essays about how vital this is to our nation’s future and how only through culture can conservatism can succeed. “Politics is downstream from culture” is repeated ad nauseam. It animates the demand for classical buildings, an idea endorsed by the Trump administration, and several suggested “RW art” projects.

It all sounds grand, but it faces a major hurdle. There’s no real audience for it. Our voters aren’t that concerned with “high culture.” Sure, they have their qualms about contemporary pop music and movies. But they just turn on the country station or watch the latest Taylor Sheridan show. They’re not fired up for the cultural idealism of conservative intellectuals, and ordinary conservatives certainly don’t share their taste.

One needs an audience for a cultural renaissance. Unfortunately, there isn’t one–-at least, not for the one imagined by right-wing intellectuals. This doesn’t spell the end for right-wing politics. Far from it. America can have a bizarre culture while we advance our agenda through the political sphere. It’s not required for the American people to enjoy opera for us to make the country better–even though it would be nice if more people appreciated high culture.

MAGA’s lack of interest in this is illustrated in the upcoming shutdown of the Kennedy Center. The Washington landmark, recently gifted with the addition of Donald J. Trump to its name, plays host to the National Symphony Orchestra and Washington National Opera. It’s the prime destination for highbrow culture in the capital. But artist boycotts against the administration and the administration’s new management of the place brought a steep drop in ticket sales. Empty seats were in abundance whenever you went to see a show. The National Opera decided at the beginning of the year to depart from the Kennedy Center. A few weeks later, the administration announced it would be shutting down the entire place for two years to do renovations.

It’s obvious the renovations were scheduled in light of the poor business and declining ability to attract talent to perform. It was terrible news for cultural connoisseurs in DC, but did not register at all with MAGA. My mentions in response to saying the move was stupid were greeted with universal confusion that this would be upsetting. Some even celebrated the news of the Kennedy Center’s cancellations. In one revealing exchange, a Trump fan cheered on modernist composer Philip Glass’s decision to not have his latest symphony performed at the Kennedy Center. This fan hoped the minimalist composer would be replaced by country rapper Jelly Roll.

It’s a funny exchange that sums up MAGA’s cultural demands. It’s not worth bemoaning, as this is what our people are like. It’s not like every Democratic voter is citing Goethe and capable of recognizing a Tchaikovsky melody. Far from it, especially when you look at the demographics. Americans under 60 aren’t really into traditional high culture. If you ever go to a play or the symphony, you are going to be surrounded by a sea of grey hair. But the young people there are likely to be liberal. Our elite universities and prestigious jobs are still dominated by libs. It’s the ideology of the elite. Whether these types genuinely appreciate/understand culture is another matter. But they do still see it as a thing to do to appear “sophisticated” and fit in with their peers.

There is a greater number of “elite” liberals than conservatives to market this cultural material to. It’s another reason why the arts are so left-wing. The audience agrees with the message of the heavily-politicized content. One need not worry about offending too many audience members with a pro-immigration-themed Carmen production. Much of the audience will think it’s “brave” to do such a thing.

There will be some who will say that the “liberal” reputation of these performances pushes conservatives away. It’s unlikely. Conservatives stayed loyal to professional sports despite the in-your-face BLM propaganda of a few years ago. The Kennedy Center tried to pitch itself to the MAGA faithful, which only resulted in declining ticket sales. The only way to get conservatives to go would be to host the TPUSA “Alternate Halftime” show at the opera venue.

There are other data points to prove the lack of an audience for specifically right-wing art. For one, conservatives aren’t big readers. Studies show conservatives prefer to get their news from TV while liberals favor reading. The most-read Substacks further confirms this, as the top 50 are nearly all liberal. The Right has a strong influence within the streaming sphere, but not as much on the platform dominated by the written word. It’s tough to demand a highbrow RW literary journal when there aren’t even enough conservatives interested in political Substacks to put them in the top 50.

This disadvantage is surmounted by rightists punching above their weight. Heather Cox Richardson and The Bulwark may have far more subscribers than any right-winger, but RW influencers seem to have more impact on political discourse. The current administration follows the cues of random shitposters. It’s not a serious handicap to political influence to fail to draw a large Substack readership. But it does show the limits of what can succeed with a conservative audience.

When conservatives do produce cultural products, they’re usually hokey films made by Angel Studios or, even worse, MAGA raps. The Online Right grumbles about this state of affairs, but it’s what conservatives want (at least the hokey fare; it’s unclear if they actually enjoy the MAGA raps). The most popular entertainment among conservatives are Taylor Sheridan shows. They may be loathed by the Online Right for their subversive themes, populist caricatures, and cheesy storylines. But conservatives ignore all that in their devotion to these shows. They don’t care if Yellowstone tells them they live on “stolen land.” They like to see chuds with hard hands get the better of latte-sipping bugmen, regardless of their politics. The valorization of flyover America is what they like; they don’t care if the overall message is libtarded. So long as the show celebrates ruralites and mocks gender pronouns, they love it. That’s the appeal of Sheridan’s work.

The popularity of Yellowstone slop and hick hop are uncomfortable facts for some on the Online Right. At times, they will deny it and insist MAGA is reciting Virgil in the original Latin and devouring Francis Parkman’s history for the umpteenth time. Only liberals are watching Taylor Sheridan shows, they will insist. But reality undermines these denials.

But it’s not like the entirety of the Online Right has cultured taste. People unironically like nu-metal and will bash reading in this sphere. Some do this out of genuine chuddom. Others just signal this taste to stick it to liberal bugmen.

This situation presents another case of the divide between the right-wing intelligentsia and its voters. Conservative intellectuals desire cultural renewal, while ordinary conservatives aren’t that concerned with it. The used car dealer just wants TV shows to be less woke and politics to get out of sports. That’s why he likes Sheridan fare and the cheesy Daily Wire films. They meet his criteria. He isn’t demanding “artsy” stuff.

This is nothing to cry about. It’s just how things are. We can still enjoy and support good cultural projects. But, as a political movement, it’s not our mission to create cultural works on the scale of films and art museums. It’s to create change in governance and public policy. We attract people with different aptitudes and skills than the art world, and the people we lead in order to achieve political goals often have very different tastes than we do. It’s better to focus on what we’re good at.

Such as memes. The Online Right has changed American culture and politics through this “crude” art. The memes have done far more to change the country than a Blockbuster hit or a thriving Kennedy Center could ever do. They will never rank alongside The Godfather or Beethoven’s Ninth in artistic achievement, but they’re not intended to. They’re meant to entertain and inform, and they’ve succeeded beyond the wildest dreams of the original Alt Right.

It’s disappointing to see the Trump administration shut down the Kennedy Center. But it’s only a problem for a few on our side. The majority just see it as unimportant or even a waste of taxpayer dollars. That’s just how our side approaches these things.

You can now preorder Scott Greer’s new book, “Whitepill: The Online Right and the Making of Trump’s America,” from this link.