Gene Edward Veith on the cultivation of taste:

To fully recognize both excellence and mediocrity requires experience and knowledge. Mortimer Adler, writing about beauty, distinguishes between "the enjoyable" and the "admirable." The enjoyable is subjective--what one person enjoys and another might not, and there are many reasons why someone may find pleasure in a given experience. The admirable, on the other hand, refers to objective qualities, to what Adler describes as "an intrinsic excellence of perfection appropriate to that kind of thing."

Many people find slasher movies "enjoyable," but even their fans would probably not consider them "admirable," either morally or aesthetically. A movie, to be objectively "admirable," would feature among other "perfections" skillful acting, effective editing and cinematography, a well-written script, a thought-provoking theme. To recognize these "perfections" requires knowledge of the techniques and aesthetics of film-making. Once viewers attain that knowledge, they find themselves enjoying movies even more, although they are no longer satisfied by third-rate products. Similarly, people who do not enjoy classical music usually do not understand it. Once they are taught how to listen to classical music--understanding its techniques, its forms, its history, and its meaning--the enjoyment comes.

This process of learning how to enjoy (subjectively) what is admirable (objectively) is known as the cultivation of taste. . . . Obscenity is "tasteless." Preferring ugliness to beauty is "bad taste." Solomon observes that "a fool finds pleasure in evil conduct," whereas "a man of understanding delights in wisdom" (Proverbs 10:23). What we delight in has a spiritual dimension. For contemporary Christians, at sea in a mass culture, taking pleasure in excellence may be an important survival skill.

Reading Between the Lines: A Christian Guide to Literature, p. 46