Talking about art: “Who’s to say?”
When writers do columns about, say, politics, they might hear from people who disagree with them. The comments might be vehement — even violent. Commenters might sling some digital poo — accuse the writer of being an under-evolved toad or something. But did you ever notice that, no matter how nasty the banter gets, no one ever tells a political columnist he is in error simply for stating his opinion at all? So, why is it that a guy who says what he thinks about matters relating to the arts sometimes gets told he should not? I’ll tell you why: art is incredibly dear to people.
Art means so much to people that they can’t overlook their connection to it and remain unemotional. What if I walked up to a parent — a stranger — and told him I didn’t agree with his child-rearing methods? What if I told him I thought his kid was sub-standard? You got it: I’m having a knuckle sandwich for lunch.
Let me say that I have had far more constructive and kind reactions than mean-spirited ones to this column and many people have been very insightful, even (or maybe especially) when they disagree with me. But there have been a few who have essentially said that I don’t have a right to say what I think about art. Their chief reason? Because everyone has a right to say what he thinks about art. (The odd paradox: no one has a right because everyone does.) “Who’s to say?” they object, when I present my opinion.
Does it come down to the column? If we were talking to myself on a train (which is highly possible in the near future), I imagine I could say whatever I wanted. But, as soon as I publish it, I’m crossing the line for some people; I’m sending down an elitist, pompous edict. But all this aside, what have I said?
I offer the following quotations up not as a defense of myself but to show that, regardless of the carefully written qualifications, some will see what they will: a pompous windbag who wants to force people to agree with him. (Even now, someone is reading this, ignoring the previous sentence and thinking: Ah! See! He feels the need to defend himself. He knows he is wrong! Sigh.) Nevertheless, some quotations from past pieces of mine:
From “In Defense of shameless pleasures”:
Have no shame, O lapper-up of the delicious and creamy confections offered to us by the purveyors of pop! What brings you pleasure brings you pleasure. If it connects, it connects.
Here’s how dictatorial I have been in terms of defining art as good or bad; from “If it ain’t, art, don’t call it art”:
Nothing is worse than someone saying a painting or a piece of music they despise “isn’t art.” It is art, (double-meaning alert) whether you like it or not. Gregorian chant, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, John Cage, Springsteen, NWA, The Beastie Boys, Metallica, Cher, Taylor Swift — all “art.” Whether you think some of these stink and some of these are brilliant doesn’t enter into it. If you want to call it shit, call it shit. But an apple is still an apple, even if it is mealy, rotten or bland.
In reference to high art versus low art, the only criterion I have put out there is sincerity. But you will notice I didn’t tag certain pieces or genres as good or bad. That’s up to you to decide. From “Sincerity: The endangered artistic ingredient“:
To me, there is a difference between showmanship and the pure communication of emotion and ideas. The latter is the higher art.
From “Does it ‘take on to know one,’ artistically?”:
Again, this is not about saying that people are not free to like what they like. And this is not to say that art with limited craft or talent is immediately bad. I just think that if you are going to label someone as “talented” or if you are going to label a work of art as one of the “best” you should prepared to back it up with some mojo of your own.
And far from elitist is my opinion of pop music, which I believe has the greatest potential of all music. From “Pop music: The (possibly) noble mongrel“):
When musical geniuses lose their egos and go for the heart instead of the head (but still stay smart), the greatest music is born. There’s no reason pop music can’t be taken seriously if the writers take it seriously first. The song has to be more important than the money, the parties or the “chicks” for this to happen.
Finally, from “All art is experimental” (after which I was criticized for making “sweeping pronouncements” about art, by a reader who was thoroughly “weary” of my pomposity):
Of course, the problem is that my opinion is my opinion when it comes to deciding when art leaves the realm of validity and crosses into the realm of novelty. There is no way for me to tell the world what it should think about art. That’s the beauty of art.
Did you ever see the Simpsons episode in which Homer goes to college? Homer is so conditioned by the college movies and cliches he has seen, that even though the dean is a twenty-something-year-old guy (formerly bass player for the Pretenders) who offers the students beer and pizza in his office, Homer is determined to “get that crusty old dean.”
Maybe people read past these example statements because they are automatically incensed by Homeresque expectations. (How dare I tell them how to raise their kid?) Simply having an opinion that differs with theirs makes me an elitist who is trying to bully others into my point of view, regardless of statements like the ones above. Do I want to convince people I am right about certain things? Of course. That’s why essays have theses. Right?
Art is so close to the heart, it clouds things for people. I get that. But I think the greatest artists and the greatest interpreters and critics of art have had the ability to separate their preconceptions and “baggage” — both emotional and intellectual — about their subject matter from the processes of discussion and discernment.
Is everyone entitled to an opinion when it comes to the arts, or is no one? Or is it just guys with arts columns who should shut up?
Who’s to say? Well, I really think everyone is. You might think I’m an ass; I might think you’re a cretin. But I would never dream of revoking your right to an opinion. In fact, I welcome any opinion that is based on sound reasoning and a careful open-minded reading (not “F-reading“) of whatever I write.
We should all talk about art. It’s one reason why I eagerly check for insightful comments — especially the ones that might help me evolve in my perspective.
Chris Matarazzo’s ARTISTIC UNKNOWNS appears every Tuesday.
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Well, you know what they say about opinions, and everyone having one, but I think there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be free to say whatever you want.
If your opinion is also backed up with some kind of reasoning and is informed by the facts, I’d even be willing to be swayed by it!