I remember my Polish teacher telling us that "reading books for relatability is reductive, if not childish". I was barely 15 at a time and I remember that sentence upsetting me. How could he say that relatability is bad? I thought about the good aspects or relatability, of how one can learn more about themselves through fiction and how that can help you grow or overcome problems. Those aren't bad things, I thought, and classifying self-discovery as childish is ridiculous.
I disregarded my teacher back then, thinking he's just an old man who cannot understand the complexities of my soul and the ways fictional characters could touch my heart. I was very much a fandom teen, I'd draw fanart and read fanfics and have a grand time making 32972 AUs (all the classics, the coffee shops, the modern AUs, the fantasy, all that stuff). I associated fandom with self-discovery, since it helped me realize I'm queer, and expanded my horizons (being 15 and Polish can only give you so much cultural exchange).
Polish lessons forced me to read so many books, ones I'd otherwise not pick up (many of which I wouldn't even hear about). I was very fortunate to have a teacher who taught us how to interact with texts, how to spot motives and themes, create complex interpretations and connect the text with politics, culture, zeitgeists and other pieces of media. All that taught me a lot about literature, history and philosophy, but it also taught me that reading for relatability is reductive.
If you read only for relatability, as in you relate to the character(s), plot, etc., you rob yourself of the ability to experience something completely novel. I didn't read—random example—One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest because I found the synopsis relatable. I have never been to the US, I had little to no prior knowledge on the mental facilities in the US, especially the ones from the 60s (for that matter I've never been to any mental facility), I am not Native American, not a man, I don't play cards, etc. etc.. And yet it's one of the the books that shook me to my very core. It's such a profound tale, I won't spoil anything if you haven't read it, but oh my god what an interestingly crafted story that is. It's still not relatable! But it's so immensely thought-provoking that eventually you'll circle back to applying it to yourself.
That also means that you read stories that upset you, and I find it to be equally valuable. I don't think you should only read feel-good stories. For instance, dystopias as a genre serve as cautionary tales, and can inspire change and new outlooks. I know 1984 is a bit of a tired example, but yo don't read it because it's awesome to see people get tortured and Winston is an epitome of greatness. Me and my classmates (all 15 at the time) admitted to our teacher that we thought the story will be about liberation or uprising and he couldn't help but laugh. Babies' first dystopia (save for Hunger Games or Divergent) and they all have been fooled. Similarly, we didn't read Crime and Punishment because it's awesome to kill people with your big ol' axe and because Raskolnikov is a fantastic role model for maturing 17 year olds. We didn't read A World Apart: The Journal of a Gulag Survivor because it was fun: that book was fucking miserable and I'm glad Polish teens get exposed to it. They should!
You're not supposed to read "classics" (in a broad term) because they are relatable. You read them because they present a unique experience, one that is often not applicable to your life. The value in it is that you juxtapose those experiences and draw conclusions from them. While popculture and fandoms gave me a better understanding of my queerness, what I've learnt about the world and myself from "classics" and general "high culture" (big quotes here) is incomparable. Not only that, but the toolset it gave me is so much more varied. It's like a toolbox in here, which I can keep expanding until I go senile. Experiencing fandoms gave me a sticky hand toy (for grabbing stuff I like) and a big cartoon hammer to bash with (which is also a very valuable tool, I love blocking dumb racists as much as the next guy).
I am not saying that popculture is intrensically anti-intellectual or "low-brow" (whatever that means). I love plenty of popular media, I draw Naruto fanart, I thinking about women kissing and I nod my head and clap. Sometimes I watch actual trash for no other reason than laughing and making fun of it with my friends. Not everything you do has to be ambitious, and I see a lot of value in the simpler things. Avantgarde 1930s Italian Movie no. 69 is not by default better than Big Gun Action Movie no. 79582. I just think life is actually so much better if you allow yourself to have both, and if you make a continuous effort to broaden your horizons. Some of these books or movies are classics for a very, very good reason and they can change your life. Sometimes it's also fun to watch a toy train crash into a wall. It's actually even more fun if you mod your toy train and give it a ridiculously strong engine and unlock a whole new world of possibilities. But for that you gotta have a toolbox.
