談?wù)摳鑴fter The Opera

JUDY: Well, honey, how did you like it?

SCOTT: Do you want me to be honest?

JUDY: Of course.

SCOTT: I was bored to death. What a ridiculous art form!

I never want to do that again.

JUDY: Huh, how can you say that?

It was beautiful. You just saw one of my favorite operas.

SCOTT: I'm sorry. I know you like opera.

But it just isn't for me. I'd rather read a novel or watch a movie.

JUDY: But you don't know how to appreciate opera. That's the problem.

SCOTT: What you're saying may be true.

But listen. This opera was "Tristan and Isolde". I know that story. Remember?

JUDY: Yes, I know. You wrote a paper on the poem in university.

It was a medieval poem, wasn't it?

SCOTT: Yes. So I even know the story very well.

But I thought the opera was boring. It was pretentious.

JUDY: Pretentious? How can it be pretentious? Wagner is a great artist!

SCOTT: I'm sorry. I just think the whole thing is pretentious.

The singing is too exaggerated. And I will say something else.

JUDY: What?

SCOTT: I think a lot of people who go to opera don't understand what they hear.

They only go because they think it is high class.

JUDY: Probably you're right. But you're not saying I'm that way, are you?

SCOTT: No, not at all. I know you understand music very well.

But you can't say most of the audience understands, can you?

JUDY: No, they don't understand the story probably.

And they don't understand the music very well either. But I still think they enjoy it.

SCOTT: Hmm. Maybe. But don't you think they enjoy movies more?

JUDY: Yes, probably.

SCOTT: So why don't they go to movies?

JUDY: Because well...

SCOTT: It's because they want to appear cultured. They want to do something high class.

But to me it's just hypocritical. Because they don't understand it anyway.

JUDY: I know what you're saying. But I still feel bad that you didn't enjoy it.

SCOTT: Don't worry about that. I wanted to tell you honestly what I think.

I respect you, you know. I respect your appreciation for opera too.

But it's not for me. I'd rather read a novel.