Now being a bastard seems trendy but real snob value may come from being daughter/son of a brother or sister in a bizarre twist to Electra/ Oedipus complex.
Shock has always been a passing fad in art and literature. For those who take interest in modern art will recall a parallel to this phenomenon at the fold of nineteenth century. At the end of Nineteenth century when a tired post-impressionism was dying with the exception of Paul Cezanne (SizaaN) who in any case was not 'discovered' during his life time, a raucous movement led by Henry Matisse, known as Fauvism (Fauve, pronounced Fa-O in French, means wild beast) characterized by bold distortion of form and use of dazzling pure colors shocked public's sensibility. Not satisfied Marcel Duchamp moved one step ahead with Dadaism, which was to outrage public's perception of art. These artists would put up things like skewed piss-pot against pristine white wall and present it as piece of sculpture. But, thankfully public's capacity to absorb shock is very limited and brittle therefore soon fatigue set in and these movements quickly petered off. One positive spin-off of this shock and awe was to energize moribund artists and goaded them to think more innovatively. Soon more sedate cubism, abstract art forms of expressionism and also mystic dream like fantasy of Surrealism swept Europe.
Shock, some mavericks confuse with essence of art. Throwing mud at Amartya Sen gets you eye balls, critically judging him would evoke bored yawns. I have seen more humility in Sen than any other celebrity, if you confuse that with white-ass licking at least be fair, the man hasn't been snobbish with 'browns' either. Saddam Hussain is a good father, Gandhi was bad, can we draw conclusions from this?
Throwing stones at glass houses has been a great past time for those who do not live in glass houses but we must remember, when Salman Rushdie threw one, pat came back a bomb chasing him everywhere. Ever since no writer has dared to touch Al Islam with a twenty feet pole.
Shock does invigorate art and literature but we must distinguish between true thinkers and canister beating mavericks, belting out cacophony in the name of music while a bunch of naked juveniles dancing around them.
