10 mistakes conservatives make in art and entertainment

townhall.com ^ | 2/7/06 | Erik Lokkesmoe

[paudio]

Conservatives, by definition but not always by practice, are curators of the good, the true, and the beautiful. In the popular arts, however, we have become champions of the tame, the trite, and the temporal. (See “safe for the whole family” radio stations, movie reviews that count body parts and swear words, and paintings of nostalgic sugarplum cottages.) Wrong-headed in our approach, seduced by fashionable (and profitable) trends, debilitated by our passion for the cheap and comfortable, our “vision” for popular art and entertainment – if one can call protests and boycotts a vision – is doing more harm than good in the culture.

The remedy is easier than one might think. It begins by identifying and admitting our errors. Here are ten to start us off, no doubt there are dozens more:

Mistake #1: We try to improve art and entertainment from the top-down and the outside-in. For example, when well-meaning people, flush with cash but bankrupt on talent, attempt to “show Hollywood” by creating films that go around proven creative methods, the result is always the same: direct to video, a waste of time and money. Enduring change, meanwhile, comes from the bottom-up (working your way up from the mailroom) and the inside-out (working within the creative industries).

Mistake #2: We don't quite understand common grace – the idea that the good, the true, and the beautiful can be found in the most “unlikely” of places (Broadway) and people (liberal artists). Without a strong belief in common grace, we will either get angry at the culture or withdraw from it entirely.

[Blind Eye Jones]

Yes, they rioted at a Schoenberg concert but that is the exception rather than the rule. But today all art is equal and "The Muppets sing Verdi" is on the same playing field with Verdi and with Mona Hatoum and her art of "turning traditional kitchen implements into threatening objects with electrification and dramatic shifts in scale." There are no riots to see and hear any of these artists because, as Gloria Stein says, they know the art of how far to go in going too far. It's all very safe and the artists (with the exception of Verdi) are probably heavily underwritten and funded by grants. Flatter the people to believe that they are all "artists" that they are "creative" that they are "equal" and you have today's artistic world. Today you don't hear or see GREAT art but you'll hear about celebrities like Andy Warhol (who was famous for being famous). The romantic cult of novelty is very superficial.

[b9]

Crash was a very good movie, imo. In the last two years, The only movie I can remember walking out of thinking I got my money's worth.

The purity of that little girl outshines all the ugliness, huh. The best scene ever.

[Borges]

I'm not just talking about the traditional Arts. Movies and TV shows are art as well.

[ican'tbelieveit]

Did you see Tyler Perry's new movie coming out: "Madea's Family Reunion."