People who ask "why read the classics" might not want to spend their time on something just because an authority (who decided what the classics are, and what ulterior motives did they have?) said that's what they are, or because it's good in-group signaling. For these people, addressing their concerns and making clear that there's value in reading classics beyond the potential problems, is a necessity.

I’m not sure why I would particularly need to address someone’s concerns. I’m not selling them a book nor am I forcing my choice of what is good on someone else. Take it or leave it. I’d say that is an issue which a particular person has with authority in general. “Who decided it was a classic” and “what makes them so special” and “what right do they have to impose their choice on me” are all questions that someone should answer for themselves. Likely some deep introspection about their relationship with authority is possibly required. I’m not sure.

If you ask someone what is the best book to read and they reply you now have someone’s preference for a great book rather than a mediocre one. That in essence is how a classic is determined, but at larger scale. Lots of people asked and a lot of people answered. Consensus formed and spread.

I’m fairly sure I can ask a film buff what classic movies I should watch and if I asked a lot of film buffs, some movies would begin to bubble up as being seen as commonly known classics. Others could be seen as just popular. I don’t think that would be a surprising outcome. I don’t think it needs to be much more complicated than that.