Russel, this is excellent. Your observations apply to every profession in our culture. Several years ago I retired from a career as a psychotherapist. Before that I was a print journalist and teacher. When I began working as a journalist in the late 70s that was the end of the era when college grads were the rare exception in newsrooms. Most of my colleagues were working class, with many having worked their way up to the newsroom from the loading dock or the press room. They had a range of political views and all had a discerning ability to call out bullshit. I was lucky to work with them ... and have them call out my bullshit.
In my college years I was lucky to have so little money I worked a series of factory jobs and was a member of a union. The presumptions of my comfortable suburban upbringing were challenged by shop floor realities. In many ways, I learned more from those jobs than my college courses.
I am still surprised at the things I am learning and the presumptions that turn hollow. But one thing I know for certain, the current struggle is -- as always -- one of class, not diversionary distractions the left keeps spinning its wheels about. Until the left -- whatever that is these days -- grasps that fundamental truth we are doomed to a grim future.
Again, thanks for the column.
BTW, if you have need of it, I make original political art free for use at mark192.substack.com
Greetings from Germany, where the Victorian lady in high dudgeon made one of her more absurd recent appearances at last year's super-fancy documenta art exhibition (yes, in case you are wondering, it is "stylized" with a lower-case d). A Skandal erupted after the Indonesian artists collective hired to curate the show and give voice to the "global south" turned out to be not such big fans of Zionism. Their art was labeled antisemitic and ended up being covered with a giant, four-story black curtain. That shit actually happened in 2022. I know because I just googled it as I second-guessed myself and thought, wait a minute, jesus christ, no, did that really happen? Well, I'm pretty resigned at this point to sitting back and watching all of western culture implode under the weight of its own stupidity. Cheers, Russell. Another great piece of writing.
Well said! It's not just the arts scene. We're all being played and have been for decades. Talk about boiling frogs! But once you see the truth it can't be unseen. I see a trend of folks waking up(not "woke").
There's another aspect that's maybe different because I'm in Canada, but the "radical-minded" artists from a few decades ago have been literally run out of town and have very few venues to work from.
There's zero public funding of desperately needed rehearsal spaces, and in many communities there are so many noise bylaws and whiners that it's nearly illegal for musicians to rehearse without a major investment in a soundproofed studio - which none of us working class musicians can afford. The infrastructure that once allowed working class artists a base from which to work off of have been eliminated or made so expensive that Canada produces next-to-nothing of meaningful music or theatre anymore. And that's not by mistake - the ruling class doesn't want your "art" if it pisses them off in any way - and they also don't want to subsidize anything as basic as rehearsal space because "if you can't afford to rent your own space, then you're too poor to be a musician."
If you can't appeal to a bourgeois donor class with your art, then you're never going to get access to a stage. You can't even busk or perform for free in the park (that requires a permit - which is often denied - especially if your art has offended the donor class - and our political class are typically just puppets carrying out the donor class' dirty work).
The guys I know who could get regular gigs openly say they stay away from anything "political" because they just love performing - and if they cross that line they'll never get to play at any of the "cool" gigs again.
Reporters will even refuse to interview you (one self-described "lefty" journalist refused to interview me saying it was "too close to the election and my music was too political" - no shit - that was the point - and I was actually a CANDIDATE in that election - so she said she'd do the interview about the music after the election, and then she ghosted me and ran for office herself.) Our ruling class has successfully eliminated all working class messages from the arts community. Or like JD points out, if you get a gig and you say the wrong things, you're never gonna get that gig again, and in Canada there's really no alternatives to the mainstream venues because only the wealthy can afford to sponsor such places.
Very good. I saw this happen in theatre over forty years. There are no more radicals in the arts in general and certainly not in theatre. If they are, they dont work. Identity politics, a cliche, but true, and the basic drift to the right in american politics has managed to fully kill the arts. Culture in general is in collapse-. Where are artists protesting the genocide? Before that the pandemic protocols, the growing restrictions on everything. I see artists supporting NATO aggressions, something unthinkable forty years ago.
Another theater director who grew up on welfare here... and yeah, I have pretty much walked away as well, and for some of the reasons you cite. Excellence and talent matter far less than class and connections - and this is especially true in leadership positions. More annoying though is the newer generations of actors; brought up wrapped in cotton wool and already neurotic and insecure the smallest critique of craft or believability can set them into a panic attack or crisis. So attached are they to their “safe spaces” they often have grave difficulties in exploring the dark, often painful areas good art takes you. There is an unwillingness to be uncomfortable or sit with discomfort. Because of their nearly uniform class backgrounds, they often lack the life experience required to really plunge into the lives and psyches required to do classic literature.
And then, of course, there are the audiences - also increasingly unwilling to view things that are challenging or uncomfortable.
I COULD dedicate myself to only directing or producing fluffy comedies or musicals. (I happen to love fluffy comedies and musicals.) I could do as Sorkin has done, and take classics like “Mockingbird” and sanitize it for modern audiences. I could rewrite all of Shakespeare’s cannon to get rid of all the icky, uncomfortable bits and make all the language more ‘accessible’ - but that’s really not what the arts are for.
The tragic thing is that we need the arts more than ever. We NEED thinkers, dreamers, dissidents. We need works that challenge, persuade, and explore. The power of the arts lie in their unique ability to ‘comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable,’ Instead, the current state of the arts is simply to comfort the comfortable and ignore the afflicted (lest we make the comfortable uncomfortable.) It’s hardly a wonder that theater is dying.
Bravo, Russell! Your reflection called to mind a favorite quote from fellow artist/political wag, Tom Lehrer. "Political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel peace prize.”
The New Deal had publicly funded art as part of the overall jobs program. We need that again but this time we gotta go fully over into socialism. I am a Buddhist and a communist. The two things I see missing in American art/culture are socialism and genuine yogic spirituality. All we get is capitalism and existential humanism. What passes as Buddhism is really just mindfulness based existentialism. The Seinfeld show really was about nothing. And now Jerry is in Israel supporting the atrocities.
Russell, having spent a good portion of my early life calling myself some kind of actor, in my case out west, all I can say about your efforts here, is “bravo!” I have had something very much like what you’ve written here bouncing around inside me for some time and I did a cartwheel seeing it actually put to the page. Well done!
Russel, this is excellent. Your observations apply to every profession in our culture. Several years ago I retired from a career as a psychotherapist. Before that I was a print journalist and teacher. When I began working as a journalist in the late 70s that was the end of the era when college grads were the rare exception in newsrooms. Most of my colleagues were working class, with many having worked their way up to the newsroom from the loading dock or the press room. They had a range of political views and all had a discerning ability to call out bullshit. I was lucky to work with them ... and have them call out my bullshit.
In my college years I was lucky to have so little money I worked a series of factory jobs and was a member of a union. The presumptions of my comfortable suburban upbringing were challenged by shop floor realities. In many ways, I learned more from those jobs than my college courses.
I am still surprised at the things I am learning and the presumptions that turn hollow. But one thing I know for certain, the current struggle is -- as always -- one of class, not diversionary distractions the left keeps spinning its wheels about. Until the left -- whatever that is these days -- grasps that fundamental truth we are doomed to a grim future.
Again, thanks for the column.
BTW, if you have need of it, I make original political art free for use at mark192.substack.com
Greetings from Germany, where the Victorian lady in high dudgeon made one of her more absurd recent appearances at last year's super-fancy documenta art exhibition (yes, in case you are wondering, it is "stylized" with a lower-case d). A Skandal erupted after the Indonesian artists collective hired to curate the show and give voice to the "global south" turned out to be not such big fans of Zionism. Their art was labeled antisemitic and ended up being covered with a giant, four-story black curtain. That shit actually happened in 2022. I know because I just googled it as I second-guessed myself and thought, wait a minute, jesus christ, no, did that really happen? Well, I'm pretty resigned at this point to sitting back and watching all of western culture implode under the weight of its own stupidity. Cheers, Russell. Another great piece of writing.
Well said! It's not just the arts scene. We're all being played and have been for decades. Talk about boiling frogs! But once you see the truth it can't be unseen. I see a trend of folks waking up(not "woke").
There's another aspect that's maybe different because I'm in Canada, but the "radical-minded" artists from a few decades ago have been literally run out of town and have very few venues to work from.
There's zero public funding of desperately needed rehearsal spaces, and in many communities there are so many noise bylaws and whiners that it's nearly illegal for musicians to rehearse without a major investment in a soundproofed studio - which none of us working class musicians can afford. The infrastructure that once allowed working class artists a base from which to work off of have been eliminated or made so expensive that Canada produces next-to-nothing of meaningful music or theatre anymore. And that's not by mistake - the ruling class doesn't want your "art" if it pisses them off in any way - and they also don't want to subsidize anything as basic as rehearsal space because "if you can't afford to rent your own space, then you're too poor to be a musician."
If you can't appeal to a bourgeois donor class with your art, then you're never going to get access to a stage. You can't even busk or perform for free in the park (that requires a permit - which is often denied - especially if your art has offended the donor class - and our political class are typically just puppets carrying out the donor class' dirty work).
The guys I know who could get regular gigs openly say they stay away from anything "political" because they just love performing - and if they cross that line they'll never get to play at any of the "cool" gigs again.
Reporters will even refuse to interview you (one self-described "lefty" journalist refused to interview me saying it was "too close to the election and my music was too political" - no shit - that was the point - and I was actually a CANDIDATE in that election - so she said she'd do the interview about the music after the election, and then she ghosted me and ran for office herself.) Our ruling class has successfully eliminated all working class messages from the arts community. Or like JD points out, if you get a gig and you say the wrong things, you're never gonna get that gig again, and in Canada there's really no alternatives to the mainstream venues because only the wealthy can afford to sponsor such places.
Very good. I saw this happen in theatre over forty years. There are no more radicals in the arts in general and certainly not in theatre. If they are, they dont work. Identity politics, a cliche, but true, and the basic drift to the right in american politics has managed to fully kill the arts. Culture in general is in collapse-. Where are artists protesting the genocide? Before that the pandemic protocols, the growing restrictions on everything. I see artists supporting NATO aggressions, something unthinkable forty years ago.
As an art professor and artist for the past 30 years, I agree this story is an accurate picture of the current situation...sadly.
Another theater director who grew up on welfare here... and yeah, I have pretty much walked away as well, and for some of the reasons you cite. Excellence and talent matter far less than class and connections - and this is especially true in leadership positions. More annoying though is the newer generations of actors; brought up wrapped in cotton wool and already neurotic and insecure the smallest critique of craft or believability can set them into a panic attack or crisis. So attached are they to their “safe spaces” they often have grave difficulties in exploring the dark, often painful areas good art takes you. There is an unwillingness to be uncomfortable or sit with discomfort. Because of their nearly uniform class backgrounds, they often lack the life experience required to really plunge into the lives and psyches required to do classic literature.
And then, of course, there are the audiences - also increasingly unwilling to view things that are challenging or uncomfortable.
I COULD dedicate myself to only directing or producing fluffy comedies or musicals. (I happen to love fluffy comedies and musicals.) I could do as Sorkin has done, and take classics like “Mockingbird” and sanitize it for modern audiences. I could rewrite all of Shakespeare’s cannon to get rid of all the icky, uncomfortable bits and make all the language more ‘accessible’ - but that’s really not what the arts are for.
The tragic thing is that we need the arts more than ever. We NEED thinkers, dreamers, dissidents. We need works that challenge, persuade, and explore. The power of the arts lie in their unique ability to ‘comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable,’ Instead, the current state of the arts is simply to comfort the comfortable and ignore the afflicted (lest we make the comfortable uncomfortable.) It’s hardly a wonder that theater is dying.
Another excellent piece, Russell, even if terribly sad and discouraging.
Thank you for not being afraid to be awake Russell
Bravo, Russell! Your reflection called to mind a favorite quote from fellow artist/political wag, Tom Lehrer. "Political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel peace prize.”
Hallelujah, and kudos to you.
Brilliant piece, Russell -- I hope you will start posting more of your writing in the New Year.
The New Deal had publicly funded art as part of the overall jobs program. We need that again but this time we gotta go fully over into socialism. I am a Buddhist and a communist. The two things I see missing in American art/culture are socialism and genuine yogic spirituality. All we get is capitalism and existential humanism. What passes as Buddhism is really just mindfulness based existentialism. The Seinfeld show really was about nothing. And now Jerry is in Israel supporting the atrocities.
It’s a great delight and treat that you’ve both taken to publishing written articles again. Brilliant work!
As a kid from Westchester, now in middle age, who pursued a somewhat ill-advised career as a classical violinist, I feel so seen! 🥲
Russell, having spent a good portion of my early life calling myself some kind of actor, in my case out west, all I can say about your efforts here, is “bravo!” I have had something very much like what you’ve written here bouncing around inside me for some time and I did a cartwheel seeing it actually put to the page. Well done!
I know actors, and this here article is accurate and poignant. Nice one.