Im certainly not going to defend mediocrity, but why is Elitism good?
In my experiences, elitism has always had less to do with actual merit and more to do with hip codification and social currency.
Elitism tends to base itself on a series of secret handshakes that people learn to make themselves appealing to others who are insecure enough to not allow themselves the contradictions that make up REAL character. All scenes have elements of this in them. A set vocabulary is established and is followed. Since the tenets of belonging are so deeply rooted in social necessity, its adherents are all the more rabid about making sure those bounds arent stepped outside of because they arent so much defending their personal scene as they are their own identity.
I wouldnt mind a real elitism based on REAL criteria, but too oftern what we get is just another bullshit clique.