Hustler of Culture
“A great promise was contained in the moment when Madonna kissed Britney at the MTV Awards. She in a sense was saying,”I’m passing the torch to you.” It was a fabulous moment. Britney looked toned, in control of her career and it was up to her to take the next step. Literally from that kiss, from that moment onward, Britney has spiraled out of control. It’s like Madonna gave her the kiss of death! Britney is throwing it away!” (via Salon)
Thanks to a friend who knows more about this world than I, the post I wrote earlier this week about press coverage of classical music needs some fixing up.
In response to an editorial in the San Francisco Classical Voice I wrote the following…
Please release yourself from the tired old paradigm of classical music as something we should support and tranform it into something we want to support. No one owes you media coverage. How about instead demonstrating why you deserve it?
My friend points out that I paint this article’s author Robert Commanday as a relic, hostile to the changes that define contemporary culture. My friend further informs me that Mr. Commanday founded SFCV as an alternative to the lack of coverage of Classical Music in mainstream media and while his paradigm of newspaper-coverage-above-all-else may be limiting, Mr. Commanday is not ignorant, simply frustrated.
In rereading what I wrote, I see my friend is correct. Scolding a point of view, however crusty it may seem, is not only immature but unproductive. Should we seek real change in the arts, drawing mustaches on the old way is not the answer. Instead it’s a process of understanding and education that begins with the notion that, young and old, we’re all in this together. The arts has precious few friends as is. Infighting helps no one.