PROPAGANDA VS ART
ONE DIMENSION VS THREE
Politicians screaming their points of view,
lecturing, threatening, interrupting, shouting…
that’s single dimensional simplistic propagandising
insisting there is only one way to understand,
one was to attain freedom,
one way to live righteously
and therefore there is only one truth.
That is the path of the fundamentalist,
whether religious, political, ideological or economic.
Amongst our current social problems
is public education systems concentrating on teaching obedience,
on rewriting children’s schoolbooks so that slavery and racism are denied.
Meanwhile virtually the entire popular culture machinery and the 24/7 news
are owned and controlled by the same class microcosm
which runs the rich corporations,
the civil service and the political class.
They own and manipulate the opinion makers, the pundits,
and the authorities on all things.
In the US and the UK this has dumbed us down,
narrowed our ideas about individualism,
helped us to ignore and then to forget history
(especially the meaning of ‘NEVER AGAIN’).
This new right-wing leadership
has lowered our public standards,
established a vile and vitriolic political and moral tone
and appeals to the worst of our ‘me centred, anti-communal’ attitudes
which they have so carefully nurtured in us.
It is as if we have all become individualised puppets over the last 40 years,
strung along by the rich and powerful.
We have lost hope of meaningful change
because we recognise the threats of atomic war,
the climate crisis,
and the ever widening differences in wealth
We capitulate to the idea that all these problems
are all baked into their mean-spirited culture and economics
which run our lives.
“Greed is good” is more than a clever line from a film
(WALL STREET, written and directed by Oliver Stone, 1987).
Against all this,
I believe those who can stand up and be counted
must do so.
Throughout history artists have often been at the forefront of resistance,
as have some journalists, lawyers, trade unionists,
and sometimes a handful of politicians and religious leaders.
Showing not telling in the visual arts is central to successful creativity.
Showing not telling is about the artist implying, hinting, nuancing,
or suggesting but not insisting on things being their way.
This is what makes complex, multidimensional discussions
between the artist’s work and the audience.
We who are sceptical of hope
are not the enemies of hope
nor promoters of hopelessness.
We are the bearers of change,
the clarions of the call,
critics of the monstrous barbarians,
we who point our fingers
while risking they will be cut off,
we are the critical thinkers who shout repeatedly
‘wake up, stir your bones, get out and grasp a better fate,
save your children from a desperate future
warped by climate change and even worse.’
LESSONS FROM HISTORY
There were and there are still lessons to learn
from the history of photography and film.
The justifiably famous Russian film-maker, Sergei Eisenstein (1898 – 1948)**
connected the inner reality of people in collision with outer circumstances
(psychology meets history).
Eisenstein exposed how our inner psychodramas
encounter external social circumstances.
This conflict between ourselves and the forces which surround us
creates visible tensions in people’s bodies and facial expressions.
They can be seen and filmed or photographed,
and further, the intensified meaning becomes, in part,
created on the cut between two clashing images.
Eisenstein understood that harsh or brutal edits from one thing to another
evoked realities, attitudes and their intentions which otherwise went unnoticed.
BAT PERSON
And speaking of popular culture,
I recently watched, to my regret for the waste of time,
THE BATMAN by Matt Reeves.
For my taste, the millions spent on it were wasted|
other than for making profits for some corporation.
It pictured a remorselessly chaotic and violent world of immorality,
false heroism and endless justification for vigilantism*** .
It undermines social justice and the rightful place of the law
in a truly democratic society.
This undermines fairness and ultimately our freedoms,
and this is how the popular culture works to erode our rights.
On the other hand, I saw a powerful Chinese spectacle called THE GRAND MASTER
by Wong Karr-wai, a Hong Kong writer/director.
Like Batman, it is impressively filmed, in which every frame is stunning.
More importantly though is that it takes the story of a modest karate master,
places him in an anti-colonial struggle
and reveals the moral and personal tragedy and turmoil
of a violent era in Chinese history.
Tony Leung, who plays the starring role,
is dignified, believable, sympathetic and quietly heroic.
Of course the film serves the purposes of Chinese nationalism
and superior Chinese virtues,
but it is more thoughtful and,
except for the ability of the hero to tackle 30 or 40 enemies single-handed,
there are many moments of pure cinematic lyricism.
A friend of mine said he enjoys my essays but coaxed, ‘where’s the joy?’
In regard to that, watch this extraordinary speech delivered
by Michael Sheen at the Hay Festival about modern life, here.
It comes from the land of Shakespeare in the forcefulness of the language
and the beauty of the vocal delivery.
It is a wonderful moment of truth-telling delivered with passion,
vocal skills and conviction.
It is pure joy.