I’ve always been of the opinion that you should separate the politial opinions of old composers and actors and authors from their works. At certain times in history, certain ideas held sway. I bet if you interviewed pretty much any composer or artist from the 14th Century about their views on the equality of Christians and Jews, or Whites and Blacks, you’d get opinions that would be considered flat out racist and anti-Semetic today. They might even be more extreme than the KKK (as in, “all Jews should be killed”). The issue with Wagner is that he was born in an age when those views could be broadly publicized. And he happened to be a Hitler favorite. The fact that he was a Nazi favorite is not his fault. I’m not Jewish so I don’t have a vote in the matter but my opinion is that any religious or ethnic or racial groups should play any music or put on any play or read any book no matter what the political opinions of the creator were.
well put...
well put...
well put...
That’s a really good point. Should we condemn a previous society based on current understandings of morality? Things like this are fluid and tend to change drastically over time, but generally unnoticed when happening, kind of like erosion.
I remember in High School we were debating 50’s TV stereotypes, and my opinion was the same as yours. The characters were not bad guys because their actions are based in the era they existed in.