In a message dated 3/25/2003 1:21:45 AM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > if you can't seperate the art from the artist, then > you should be consistent > > Hmmmmm. I thought Kakki's statement went something like this: > > "I do not want to take anything away from his sufferings as a > Holocaust victim and the horrible loss of his wife, and I do think he is a > brilliant director and The Pianist is one of the greatest movies I've ever > seen. Notwithstanding that, he has done, to put it mildly, inappropriate > deeds, when it comes to young girls."
So there are 2 truths here. 1. He is a brilliant director. 2. He has committed a felony in the drugging and rape of a 13 year old girl. Both can be true. I'm thinking that what sickened Kakki is what sickened me and that is the ease with which the Hollywood celebrity elite can make a controversial stand in their glamour gowns from the safety of the Kodak Theater, without having to answer to the family of the victim or to the victim herself. For me, it's the same feeling I get when I watch celebrities lecturing about how greedy and self-centered Americans are. Despite the relative truth of the matter, it just strikes me as odd to be lectured on such subjects by the most self-indulgent, pampered segment of society. Furthermore, it is impossible to remove the free publicity factor from the equation with celebrities, whose livelihoods are dependent upon being in the news. So it becomes quite easy to stand up for one of your exiled own, or for some cause, when you don't have to answer the hard questions and when you are getting valuable "face time." It's all sickening to me. For example, you can never really tell if Barbra Streisand was really thrilled for Eminem, or if she's just glamming on because he's the new hot thing. It's all about self-promotion, and it's all suspect. And you know what? It's the same way with politicians, both liberal and conservative. There's a common element of a desire for fame that fuels it. Yuck. I digress. I have to wonder what the late John Huston would think if we were honoring a director who drugged and raped a 13 year old Angelica and then fled the country. No doubt he would trot out the perpetrators wounded life as an excuse and praise his talent. right. Ken
