[aristeides]

Virgil celebrated Augustus's regime, John Milton was the chief propagandist for Cromwell's. There's no reason to believe great art can't be at the service of criminal governments.

Leni Riefenstahl was indeed a propagandist for Hitler's regime, but she was also probably the greatest cinematographer of the 20th century.

Should Virgil and Milton have been shunned?

[rmlew]

Their greatest works were not propoganda peices for the regimes.

[Shermy]

I don't know if you've seen the film biograhpy about her, but here's my two bits:

Best scene - Her showing how she had to edit the films, all by herself, in the old days, without technology.

Most telling scene - She's outdoors with two fellows who worked with her on a foreign trip, I recall a trip to record a meeting with Molotov in 1939. She starts to lose her "I know nuthink" pose and gleefully recalls the supposed political triumphs of the event. The fellows sit, embarrassed.