To that end here are a series of questions concerning artist bad behavior that I don't have answers to:
The most obvious question is if we discount the work of everyone who is a shit or has done something questionable will we have any art? Considering everyone has a dark side and if we look we can find terrible things that people do- if we dismiss anyone because they have ugly nasty things in their closet are we going to be left with anything to see, watch, read or ponder?
I’m not defending Affleck who I’m told can be a horrible human being, or Parker, or Hitchcock or....Polanski … or Caravaggio or Egon Schiele or… anyone. Where do we draw the line? Can we draw the line? If we draw a line what are we to do with what they create? Do we dismiss whole bodies of work? Do we burn all of Hitchcock's films? Do we destroy everything Nate Parker or Casey Affleck was in? This is especially relevant since the shitty behavior more often then not has nothing to do with what they are creating.
Can some one explain to me how does bad behavior outside of their art disavow the art?
Another question is at what point are we allowed to raise a ruckus or not? Alfred Hitchcock’s behavior is well known to anyone who has read on him, Tipi Hendren’s recent "shocking" revelation wasn’t anything we didn’t know before, but she publishes her autobiography and the internet melts down. Casey’s Affleck’s behavior has been a source of talk for years with the lawsuits a matter of public record. Nate Parker’s alleged misdeeds were on his Wikipedia page well before he made Birth of a Nation but suddenly they are discovered and people go berserk. The same thing about the talk about the LAST TANGO IN PARIS tempest, it was an old interview. Why are we getting upset now?
We also have to consider historically is it really proper to get pissed off for behavior that with in a the historical context was okay? Should we really go back and impose our more "enlightened" views on the past?
I have no answers but I don't think screaming at every misdeed is going to actually work because it will leave us with nothing on any level because even most saints did terrible things at some point.
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The Oscar Foreign Language Short List titles have been announced to say the choices have blown the minds of the pundits is an understatement – any number of locks aren’t there.
The short list reads as follows:
Australia, “Tanna”
Canada, “It’s Only the End of the World”
Denmark, “Land of Mine”
Germany, “Toni Erdmann”
Iran, “The Salesman”
Norway, “The King’s Choice”
Russia, “Paradise”
Sweden, “A Man Called Ove”
Switzerland, “My Life as a Zucchini”
The lists most glaring omissions seem to be:
“Julieta” from Pedro Almodovar, which many people felt had a quiet chance to win.
“Neruda”, which many people have loved, I was mixed on (I love the first half) but most people I know really disliked.
“Elle” from Paul Verhoeven, which has gotten much critical love, to the point that the pundits are having minor strokes because they were betting the house on a battle between this and Toni Erdmann. Personally I found Elle empty and just a button pusher.
As for the list of actual possible nominees Its intriguing. Yes it has the grossly over rated “Toni Erdmann”, but it has “ A Man Called Ove” which I’ve heard good things about and most interestingly “My Life as a Zucchini” which is awesome. Zuchinni may end up as the first film ever to get a Best Foreign Language nom and a Best Animated one.
I won’t guess what the ultimate winner is but based on what I’ve heard I’m going to say Toni Erdmann, My Life as a Zucchini, A Man Called Ove, Salesman and Land of Mine will be the nominees
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Randi's Links
The evolution of Disney Animation from Snow White to Zootopia
Tattoos in Jordan
Mystery of the Gold Finch
JFK conpsiracy
BATMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES Writers Guide
Black List 2016
Bedlam
Star Trek The Animated Series Storyboards
The algorithms that are closing our minds
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