Highbrow

Used colloquially as a noun or adjective, "highbrow" is synonymous with intellectual; as an adjective, it also means elite, and generally carries a connotation of high culture. The word draws its metonymy from the pseudoscience of phrenology, and was originally simply a physical descriptor.

Applications

"Highbrow" can be applied to music, implying most of the classical music tradition; to literature —i.e., literary fiction and poetry; to films in the arthouse line; and to comedy that requires significant understanding of analogies or references to appreciate. The term highbrow is considered by some (with corresponding labels as 'middlebrow' 'lowbrow') as discriminatory or overly selective; and highbrow is currently distanced from the writer by quotation marks: "We thus focus on the consumption of two generally recognised 'highbrow' genres—opera and classical". The first usage in print of highbrow was recorded in 1884. The term was popularized in 1902 by Will Irvin, a reporter for The Sun who adhered to the phrenological notion of more intelligent people having high foreheads.

Highbrow (Transformers)

Highbrow is the name of three fictional characters in the Transformers series.

Transformers: Generation 1

Highbrow is an Autobot Headmaster who turns into a helicopter. His partner is the Nebulan Gort. Highbrow considers himself above warfare and prefers to talk out differences, and is a bit of a snob. Gort is a cheerful and courageous young Nebulan.

Marvel Comics

Highbrow also appeared in Marvel's accompanying Transformers comic, where he was one of the Autobots under Fortress Maximus who fled the war on Cybertron. Scorponok's Decepticons pursued them, and the war began anew on the planet Nebulos. Highbrow was amongst those who surrendered his head to the Nebulans as a gesture of peace, eventually becoming Headmasters. He served as one of Maximus' troops throughout the rest of the The Transformers: Headmasters series, but accomplished little of note other battling the Decepticons on several occasions.

However, while he would receive little notice in the U.S. Transformers comic, Highbrow became the star of several Marvel U.K. tales written by Simon Furman. One of these, set in the events of the Headmasters miniseries, would have Highbrow and his fellow Headmasters being captured by the Decepticon Targetmasters as part of a scheme by Scorponok to discern the flaws in the Headmaster process. Scorponok chose Highbrow as the subject of his experiments. Highbrow was unable to fight back as his mind and Gort's were struggling for supremacy. Chromedome arrived and managed to convince them to work together, forcing Scorponok to flee. (Marvel U.K. #130-131)

Highbrow (disambiguation)

Highbrow may refer to:

Entertainment

Music

Performers