Thursday, October 01, 2020
The Responsibility of Creativity
Cultural Weekly: In 1981, the Hungarian film Mephisto won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film of the Year. The story, which begins before the outbreak of World War II, follows the arc of an actor who—when faced with dilemmas posed by the incoming Nazi regime—relinquishes his integrity and compromises professed personal values so that he could continue to practice his art as well as to assure personal survival. In every situation where pressure is brought on the film’s protagonist, he would rationalize that his duty was not to the world or other people but to the continuation of his art.
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This article is one that everyone should read – not because it has the answers to what is the responsibility of artists but because it is sparks a conversation about what different artists think their responsibility to society is. I think the author of this article does a really great job of structuring the conversation about the role of responsibility for creativity. Though, I see what Oscar Wilde means when he talks about how art is meant to just be beautiful and claiming that art is useless, I disagree. I think the most important thing about art be it a play, a painting, or a poem is that has interaction from people. I think it is impossible to separate art from society – yes people can read too much into things and art can be created for light purposes. The story about Robert Hobbes talking about how dictators come in and replace the art of the former regime is a pretty relevant example to today. Though our current president isn’t a dictator, he definitely uses political ads and speech writing to bring in his ideals. I think political ads and speech writing are most certainly an art and it is incredible the name-calling and childishness of these ads and speeches that clearly are being mimic by Trump supporters. I think this is a prime example of art controlling attitudes like what Robert Hobbes talked about.
I am so glad someone finally put this into words. I usually don’t mind seeing or consuming art that is made purely for entertainment value; that doesn't really dive deeper. Not everything has to be a serious critique of society or an exploration of the artist's trauma. But I completely agree with this article that artists have a responsibility to create responsibly. I believe artists are obligated to seriously consider how an artwork may be received and the impact it will have. I am all for freedom of expression, but if an art piece has a net negative effect on the world, it is meant to “start a conversation” but it is wasteful or graphic or unnecessary, I think it should not exist. I don't know if this is controversial, but we have a responsibility as artists (and people) to have a positive impact. Whether that’s just entertainment, or whether it's creating thought provoking works with deeper meaning, we always need to consider and prioritize the real world impact we are making.
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