Thank you for tackling such a vital and difficult conversation. Reconciling so many layers requires time and attention and a willingness to confront our own thoughts and behavior, not just that of those who’ve caused harm. It’s a point that often gets missed and needs the kind of open and honest articulation you’ve given it. Art is not a surface experience, so there will always be more to the conversation.
This is a topic that's been in a tickle in my mind for ages. Thank you for bringing it to the surface. I do believe in vibrational energy, and that energy is transferred from artist into the work. But I also think that energy can remain hidden, and your own thoughts and emotions and energy can, and will overtake any negativity. This is such an interesting discussion. I'm currently reading Ninth Street Women, and a lot of this is coming up in the book.
Thank you for taking on such a sticky wicket. There is no "right"answer, as you articulate so clearly. It might help to broaden the question to include all of history and humanity. The arts are only a small part of that. What about George Washington and Jefferson? They owned slaves (and pursued them when they ran) but without them there would be no United States, which for all of its faults has saved the world from worse. Do we dismiss all that they accomplished because they were, by our standards, deeply flawed? Do we trash the ideals of the Declaration of Independence because they came from the pen of a hypocrite? What about science? Do we reject Darwin's theory of evolution because he thought women were inferior? Do we refuse to turn on the lights because Ben Franklin also owned slaves? People are complicated and imperfect . . . and they are all a product of history which is also complicated and imperfect. If we are to make wise decisions, we must confront that fact because we are all--even the best of us-- complicated and imperfect. My vote is that we take what is good and great wherever we find it and do not forgo opportunities for personal enrichment and social enrichment whenever they present themselves. Why make ourselves and our society poorer? Yet, alway face and learn from the errors of the past. Being self-righteous can be like taking poison and hoping someone else dies. I am very uncomfortable listening to Wagner, but I can get wrapped up in his music, and I know that there would be far less of the music I love (Mahler, for one) had it not been for him (bastard that he was).
Thanks for this! Always such thoughtful takes on difficult topics. I felt both prickly and buoyed reading this (as I believe one should when interacting with difficult topics). Where I go with this conversation is always this: What greater harm might be caused by my support of this artist? Who is watching this artist in the public sphere (and folks’ support of them)? Whose traumas will be dismissed? Who will be further oppressed or silenced or victimized?
It makes me think of how Picasso said something like ‘great artists steal’ and the whole art world took that as gospel. I still hear people saying it in art classes. He gets more credit in the ‘great bank of the canon’, and the people and cultures he stole from fall another step from their deserved proper recognition. He did in fact steal. And while he is still credited for changing the face of western art, African art is still all-too-often viewed as a one-note niche in the western art collecting world. While we now at least half-acknowledge that he was influenced by African Art, his ‘genius’ is still what’s touted. The very nature of this narrative continues to steal from those he stole from.
What voices have we lost to even that this is an ongoing debate? The protection and defense of ‘genius’ over humanity?
What might the women Cosby raped have become? Or the people who knew and kept their distance to protect themselves? Who was silenced and denied their full potential by his actions, by people looking the other way? If he’d have been stopped, would we instead be at home wrapped in blankets watching reruns of their comedic genius? Soothed by the quick-witted dialogue written and performed by women who were believed, women who were safe enough to allow their genius to shine?
as always, you have me thinking in all the best ways. i know we've talked about our mutual love for mj and bc many times but this covering is particularly nuanced in such important ways. i read the post to my friend and we've been talking about the issues you raise. thank you so much!
thank you. i get really prickly when ppl talk about 'ah c'mon it's just a movie' re: woody allen. there are other movies to watch, people!
Thank you for tackling such a vital and difficult conversation. Reconciling so many layers requires time and attention and a willingness to confront our own thoughts and behavior, not just that of those who’ve caused harm. It’s a point that often gets missed and needs the kind of open and honest articulation you’ve given it. Art is not a surface experience, so there will always be more to the conversation.
This is a topic that's been in a tickle in my mind for ages. Thank you for bringing it to the surface. I do believe in vibrational energy, and that energy is transferred from artist into the work. But I also think that energy can remain hidden, and your own thoughts and emotions and energy can, and will overtake any negativity. This is such an interesting discussion. I'm currently reading Ninth Street Women, and a lot of this is coming up in the book.
Thank you for taking on such a sticky wicket. There is no "right"answer, as you articulate so clearly. It might help to broaden the question to include all of history and humanity. The arts are only a small part of that. What about George Washington and Jefferson? They owned slaves (and pursued them when they ran) but without them there would be no United States, which for all of its faults has saved the world from worse. Do we dismiss all that they accomplished because they were, by our standards, deeply flawed? Do we trash the ideals of the Declaration of Independence because they came from the pen of a hypocrite? What about science? Do we reject Darwin's theory of evolution because he thought women were inferior? Do we refuse to turn on the lights because Ben Franklin also owned slaves? People are complicated and imperfect . . . and they are all a product of history which is also complicated and imperfect. If we are to make wise decisions, we must confront that fact because we are all--even the best of us-- complicated and imperfect. My vote is that we take what is good and great wherever we find it and do not forgo opportunities for personal enrichment and social enrichment whenever they present themselves. Why make ourselves and our society poorer? Yet, alway face and learn from the errors of the past. Being self-righteous can be like taking poison and hoping someone else dies. I am very uncomfortable listening to Wagner, but I can get wrapped up in his music, and I know that there would be far less of the music I love (Mahler, for one) had it not been for him (bastard that he was).
Thanks for this! Always such thoughtful takes on difficult topics. I felt both prickly and buoyed reading this (as I believe one should when interacting with difficult topics). Where I go with this conversation is always this: What greater harm might be caused by my support of this artist? Who is watching this artist in the public sphere (and folks’ support of them)? Whose traumas will be dismissed? Who will be further oppressed or silenced or victimized?
It makes me think of how Picasso said something like ‘great artists steal’ and the whole art world took that as gospel. I still hear people saying it in art classes. He gets more credit in the ‘great bank of the canon’, and the people and cultures he stole from fall another step from their deserved proper recognition. He did in fact steal. And while he is still credited for changing the face of western art, African art is still all-too-often viewed as a one-note niche in the western art collecting world. While we now at least half-acknowledge that he was influenced by African Art, his ‘genius’ is still what’s touted. The very nature of this narrative continues to steal from those he stole from.
What voices have we lost to even that this is an ongoing debate? The protection and defense of ‘genius’ over humanity?
What might the women Cosby raped have become? Or the people who knew and kept their distance to protect themselves? Who was silenced and denied their full potential by his actions, by people looking the other way? If he’d have been stopped, would we instead be at home wrapped in blankets watching reruns of their comedic genius? Soothed by the quick-witted dialogue written and performed by women who were believed, women who were safe enough to allow their genius to shine?
as always, you have me thinking in all the best ways. i know we've talked about our mutual love for mj and bc many times but this covering is particularly nuanced in such important ways. i read the post to my friend and we've been talking about the issues you raise. thank you so much!