Sometimes Explaining Yourself Just Makes Things Worse

In a recent blog post, Eva Yaa Asantewaa knocks The New York Times's A. O. Scott for his solipsistic approach to movie criticism. She quotes him:

I have to say that the goal of criticism has never been to control or reflect the public taste--neither is possible--but rather the simpler (but also infinitely difficult) work of analyzing and evaluating works of art as honestly and independently as possible.

There's a frightening decadence running through a lot of mainstream cultural criticism these days, including music and dance. (If you click through, you'll see it comes mostly from one particular outlet.)