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Why the mindlessness of the gifted?
Why do so many artists and intellectuals give support to really evil forms of political radicalism? Artists, writers defend Castro. How does one explain the shameless hypocrisy of someone like Garcia Marquez, who says he opposes the death penalty “in any place, for any reason, in any circumstances,” claims to have given secret aid to Cuban dissidents for years, and asserts general intellectual and moral leadership, but refuses to give an account of himself — “answer unnecessary and provocative questions” — with regard to his inveterate friendship and support for Castro? It seems to me part of the answer is that artists and thinkers must put their
work in relation to something ultimate to complete its significance and
understand what it is. Unfortunately, they’re not all universal
prophets. Most have a particular talent that consumes all their effort
and skill. On other issues, and on matters of ultimate significance,
they must rely on other people, and to think critically would be a
distraction. Emerson observed that “the greatest genius is the most
indebted man.” It is equally true that a lesser genius can be the most
imposed-upon man, if he has the misfortune to be born into a corrupt
intellectual culture.
Comments
Why not recognize that celebrity - no matter the type of endeavor by which it was obtained - turns into a terribly seductive master. Oh, to find people hanging one one’s lips, even to hear pronouncements utterly disconnected from the source of one’s fame … It’s POWER. It’s more than intoxicating. And although having an audience is essential to being a writer or a Hollywood actor, other professions can be equally afflicted. In their own fields, Charles Lindbergh and Henry Ford were great men - who sullied their reputations by pro-Nazi activities. Posted by: Wim on May 5, 2003 11:25 AMI agree that the ability to do something — like make stupid and aggressively evil public pronouncements — with impunity is corrupting. Still, there’s a better side to the issue. We really are dependent on each other, and the more difficult and demanding the thing we are doing the more we must rely on other people. So it seems to me that silly comments from artists and such on things that are not their special area of concern should usually be judged charitably. They can’t help but have views on such things, because they are human beings and because what they do touches on fundamental human issues, but they’re usually in no position to be astute about the particulars. Posted by: Jim Kalb on May 6, 2003 10:21 AM“silly comments from artists … should usually be judged charitably.” The problem is, this country, and this age, worships celebrity. A hundred years ago actresses were seen as a disreputable lot, and they carried no weight in politics except maybe as chicken on the side for some politician. Today they are larger than life, subject to vast worship and adulation. Sure, most of it is undeserved; a movie actress doesn’t even have to memorize more than a few lines at a time, and out of endless takes the illusion of superwoman (or superman) is created. Since the illusion becomes reality in the popular mind, superman and superwoman do have influence, and with that, I believe, should go some responsibility. For that reason we should not shy away from criticizing popular figures when they venture to guide public opinion on matters they know nothing about. Posted by: Wim on May 6, 2003 12:24 PMThis thread brings to mind an excellent book by historian Paul Johnson, called “Intellectuals”. In this case, that covers artists and public figures. In it, he discusses particular artist-intellectuals of the past (many of whom later became icons for some period of time), but the observations he makes and the conclusions he draws have much broader application. A central thesis seems to be that often the gifted, in their commitment to theoretical ideas, lose sight of the importance for caring about/respecting actual, everyday period. You might consider the book worth a read. Posted by: Lori Hill on May 6, 2003 10:51 PM |