Missing the Point

Here’s Leonard DiCaprio on a bicycle in New York:

Here’s the U.K. Daily Mail headline:

A bit of a downgrade! Leonardo DiCaprio hits New York on bicycle wheels after filming in flashy cars for new movie ….

Obviously, to the Daily Mail, anything other than a car is a downgrade. That’s really just obliviousness.  To those for whom our contemporary aristocracy sets the standards, DiCaprio is repositioning the bicycle – away from the mode of transportation for the poor or recreation for the athletic elite towards something both more cool and broadly socially acceptable.

It doesn’t really matter what the Mail says so long as they keep publishing the pictures.