It’s something that we all think about from time to time, discuss it, mull over it without coming to a definite conclusion and yet we still wonder. I’m talking about dividing the artist and their work. Can it be done?
Musician, actor, film–maker, writer, whatever field of art is your main interest, what do you do when you find out the person concerned has behaved very badly during their lifetime. When I say behaved badly, I don’t mean they told a white lie, or parked on a no–parking zone, I mean violent and racist words and behaviour, sexist attitudes and homophobic words and actions.
Does the work stand separate from its maker’s actions or words? If I write some racist, sexist, homophobic lines yet produce a good piece of work that lots admire does that make it okay?. if I write some unimpeachable lines, and then beat and rape women, use my power to keep someone out of a job simply on the basis of their race, is that OK?,
Beethoven said that ‘strength is the morality of the man who stands out from the rest‘ and we know that this was one of Hitler’s favourite quotes, He agreed (of course he did) that morality can change depending on who has the power. We all know what happened then
We know that Mozart said that Jewish musicians only produced music that was shallow and artificial, again one of Hitler’s favourite quotes, and yet these two composers are held up as ‘stars’, ‘best in the world’ and millions of people go to concerts or performances of their works.
There are lots of other examples and you know them as well as I do. At the moment a British MP, when he was younger, dresses up in blackface. We’ve been round the block with Noddy and his mates and we know how racist history has been when written by the victors. The wars in Waikato between English soldiers and Maori are an example. Until very recently when the true story was written.
How do we manage any of this in 2019? We can’t deny these things happened. Along with thousands of others. Should we ignore them and say that the work makes up for it? Buy tickets for a concert? Read Raymond Chadler and admire the way he broke new ground with The Big Sleep and other crime novels? Revere the work as clever, accomplished and ground breaking and ignore the sexist, racist and homophobic lines and attitudes?
Do we just turn the page on the words the composer or the writer or the artist uttered and believed and think oh well things were different then and we can’t put today’s ideas onto the past? Or do we remember that people found them offensive at the time they were spoken or written but were outnumbered. Or were sent to the camps?
Over to you…
