Huffington Post: I am going to go ahead and make an assumption about NBC’s (and our cultural) definition of “useful”: It’s based on capitalist dogma. It’s based on the money making machine, consumption and production. It’s based on social constructs that we created, and rests solely on paradigms that don’t exist beyond our own willingness to believe in them. Our economic and cultural structures seem so concrete that it’s easy to forget that we imagined them into being, that without us, they do not exist.
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I think all of us here have heard the “oh, but how are you going to make money with that?” or even worse “well, I guess it’s good that you’re going to Carnegie Mellon, you can marry a rich computer science guy”. And while to me this author sounds a little bit sensitive and otherwise preachy, they have a good point. Being human is about expressing yourself and doing what you love in order to foster a lifestyle that makes you happy. I understand that sometimes people just happen to like and find joy in the careers that are known to produce more money and feed into the economic system, but they are still thriving as human beings by doing what they love. I also feel that this perspective discredits the amount of dollars the entertainment industry circulates and how many lives it really touches. By helping people and providing a service, for an exchange of currency, we really are making the world better.
The value of education absolutely CANNOT be judged on its direct reward in terms of money. Education is about the nurturing of the mind, the shaping of cultural perspectives, and the building of relationships. At Carnegie Mellon (or universities in general), there is a lot of focus on the first job and the first salary -- if the graduates can immediately land a high-paying job, then it means that the school is successful. However, I think this is a very crooked notion and it is completely confusing the real purpose of education. When we look at more technical majors like engineering and computer science, yes it seems that a good number of graduates have good, stable careers, but we are ignoring the fact that many of these students are also extremely lacking in their cultural and political awareness, and in their ability to engage in these types of discourse. Indeed this is a huge generalization, but speaking from my experience as a student in the technical field, it seems very much true. In fact some of the brightest, most hard-working, most creative people I have met are all students in the arts. I think an education in art and humanities might not be able to fit the standard of a practical education, but it is definitely crucial for cultivating bright minds that would create wonderful ideas that would make the society a better place.
I saw posts about this NBC faux pas long before this particular article, and I am tired of hearing this rhetoric surrounding the artistic degree. The article draws attention to the not only the job and how it is important but the terminology we use to discuss important and draws focus to the fact that there should be no scale about what is and is not a ‘good’ education. In reality, if you think that way, you are limiting yourself and a whole new world of development. By pursuing passion over profit, you are more likely to put your best efforts into your job and therefore do your best to enhance that section of society. By all pursuing the things that we are passionate about (regardless of a stupid label), we as humans can advance society as a whole irrespective the degree you get or the industry you go into.
I’ve probably seen similar expressions a dozen times since I started doing theatre. I’ve seen it in TV spots, magazine ads (I’m thinking of the Wells Fargo ad recently featured on this blog,) and in conversations with everyone from strangers to family members.
I’m not sure why this article was so recently written because this image is four years old (it was aired on NBC in 2012,) but articles like these are click bait to those of us in the arts. Most of us know the “useless arts” perspective exists and clearly we don’t agree and it makes us angry. As the article mentions, it’s a flawed perspective based in a skewed concept of success based solely on immediate employability and financial gain. We know it’s an incorrect perspective because we know how important the arts are to the human spirit, beauty, education, community, and to activism.
The more interesting question to me is why is this skewed perspective so tenacious? Why is there such a widespread opinion that financial success is more important than vibrant culture? Is it because we ARE a nation of immigrants and we crave security? Is it because we just want stuff? Is it because we are terrified of being branded unsuccessful by society? Exploring “why” might help address a deeper problem.
The only thing I could think of after reading this article is "well that's ironic." If it weren't for the people who studied arts, theater, design, and every other major on that list, I am not confident that NBC would even exist. In fact, if it weren't for the people studying arts and creative majors, that list itself wouldn't even exist. Someone who studied graphic design probably designed the way that list looked, the logo at the bottom, and the rest of that appeared; someone who studied film and video probably broadcasted that entire program; someone who studied architecture designed the building that NBC was broadcasting from. In short, everything that NBC does couldn't be done without arts. In terms of being "useless," looking from simply a monetary standpoint (since that is what it seems like NBC is implying you look at to be "useful"), shows like SNL and the Voice (which are only 2 of many NBC programs) bring in thousands and thousands of dollars. All of which would not be possible without studying the arts. The only useless thing here is the list itself. I can't think of what producing this list was useful for.
I don't know that I'd be a functioning person today without the arts to guide me through my life. For as long as I can remember art has been a part of the world in which I live just as much as oxygen and water. It has been an essential part of not only how I perceive the world, but also of how I integrate myself into it. Sitting here in a house I've only lived in for two months, in a city far away from home, with friends I never knew I would have in the next room, I am overwhelmed by all that pursuing arts has afforded me. I wouldn't be here if not for my high school theatre program, which I wouldn't have gotten into if not for my studying fashion design, which wouldn't have happened if not for my studying art at a young age, which was all thanks to my mother's perceptiveness as the child of two artists herself. And through all of these different phases, as I have struggled from one to the next to define how I fit into the world socially and emotionally, art has been there. Art was there when watching my father drop me at the door of my preschool terrified me. Art was there when I got lost in the social wasteland of middle school. Art was there when high school proved me to just how little I knew of how to interact with people my own age. And art was there when I left home for an unfamiliar city and had to pave my way anew once more. Art is with me now, while I watch my roommates carve out their social sphere and wonder if I'll ever experience the world the way the people I love do. Art is not only the path I have taken, it is the guide I have followed toward understanding the complexities of an imperfect and wonderful life. I don't know that I will ever be able to make art as fully as it has made me, and I don't think that is the point. I'm just grateful to have had it as a constant companion. As far as I'm concerned, there is no degree more useful than one in the arts.
NBC posting this made me so angry. Most of the people working for NBC on tv have a degree in one of those fields. How could the reporters have any decency to say these things. If arts and theater did not happen NBC would not have a tv network. So many of the people that make them money are in theater and arts. It is so frustrating reading these things. And who gives them the right to say what is useful or not. People in theater can do so many things to help the world. Just like in the article theater can help in many ways. Hopefully NBC will no longer do reports like this.
Aw man this article was kind of upsetting to read, partially since working at NBC is my dream job. Mostly because this is just a fight that we will continue having forever and never win. People are always going to think the arts are unimportant, and that sucks. However, I'm not a huge fan of how the author justifies their career. They say that they perform for training people in medical situations by acting as someone going through some sort of crisis or emergency. While that is super cool and very important, that is playing right into the idea that the arts as entertainment are not important. It feels like in that case performance is important, since it is for the benefit of medicine. While I completely agree that this is important, arts purely for entertainment are also very important. People need entertainment. If society did not have theatre, movies, or television, it would be a disaster. People love to be entertained. Going to a movie or a show bringns families closer, brings couples closer, and generally just makes people happier. Stop saying the arts are useless when the arts make up a huge portion of society and culture.
This just pisses me off. I am sick of hearing that a career in the arts is not viable, useful, or secure. Art is essential to humanity. I am not saying that we need art in order to have our bodies move and breath, like we need food or water. What I am saying is that we need art to keep our humanity, what makes us human, alive. Without art, theatre, design, and architecture, we would not be who we are as a species. We would have no culture, nothing deeper than animalistic desires. Yes, I know that a career in the arts is not as monetarily rich as say, accounting, but it is rich in so many other ways. So, go ahead NBC, call my major “useless”. I have heard that before, and frankly, it is not that imaginative of an insult. Maybe you need to take some arts classes to develop your imagination.
Although I don't know why this author has chosen to write about this years-old graphic now, they do raise a good point about the importance of art in our society. Like Kim was saying we've all heard a thousand times that we're never going to get anywhere with our degrees, and that we should marry a rich engineer. It really hurts to have all of our hard work be completely discounted just because we work in the arts. Obviously making money is important as we all need to make ends meet, but that doesn't mean that it's all that matters. I couldn't even imagine what my life would be like without art and theatre. Outside of entertainment, art is present in all industries through their marketing and advertising. In fact, the image that the author is speaking out against was probably made by a graphic designer. Calling these degrees useless is just incorrect, and without people pursuing these paths our society would be a much duller place.
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