The editor isn't rating intelligence on X, the brow level on Y and then plotting a series of points on the Approval Matrix graph. It's all about layout.
Right! That's exactly what I was subtly insinuating: graphic-design considerations are eclipsing accuracy!
Hello:
I am the editor of the Matrix and I assure you, we take it very seriously. Super seriously. Probably a little too seriously. Talmudic arguments have been settled more quickly and peacefully than arguments within these walls as to whether, for example, live musicals are highbrow or lowbrow. On the one hand: the thee-atah! On the other hand: Phantom!
Partly this process is intuitive, and partly it's guided by rough principles. For example: The Office is as low as it is because, even though its the best sitcom ever, its a sitcom, an inherently lowbrow venture.
Guest gets to be highbrow (albeit despicable) because indie movies are kind of highbrow by nature, and he gets extra points for being a critic's darling.
Sports usually goes near the middle because they're traditionally middlebrow: e.g., the mass appeal of baseball leavened by a rich literary tradition, with added marks, in this case, for the wonderful magic of the mythic gyroball. (Magic = middlebrow; myth = highbrow).
I do see why you'd take issue with James Bond. He's British (highbrow) but then so's Gervais. Unlike Gervais, however, Bond sometimes wears a tuxedo (v. highbrow). He should probably be demoted to just under the line, however.
One thing to keep in mind is that placement on the vertical axis has nothing to do with quality, even relative to other things in the genre -- if it did, The Office would be off the charts. It's more about how big the potential audience is and how high the pretensions of the creators. And, you know, X-factors like tuxedos and Britishness and magic.
Maybe that helps a little. Thanks for reading, and noticing.
Thanks for the thorough and serious response. I'm glad to be reassured that you and your colleagues take the brow-height issue seriously.
I don't know that it's fair to call sitcoms "an inherently lowbrow venture." Within the genre there's a range of brow-levels, with "Married with Children" right at the bottom and "Cheers" in the middle and "The Office" or "Sports Night" near the top. Of course, the most highbrow sitcom is lower than the most lowbrow Italian opera -- but asserting that "Seinfeld" is as lowbrow as "King of Queens" is to abandon the ability to make fine distinctions. (Likewise musicals: Andrew Lloyd Webber's brow is clearly lower than Stephen Sondheim's.)
James Bond reflects a firmly lowbrow idea of classiness, tuxedo notwithstanding. Does a suburban 17-year-old stoner elevate his brow when he puts on a dinner jacket for prom? And don't be overly impressed with Britishness. 90 percent of their sitcoms consist of nothing but boob jokes. (It's the other 10 percent that make it over here.)
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