La Times and the NEA -- Kill Me Now
Joshua Conkel drew my attention to this post on the Huffington Post by playwright Jon Robin Baitz, who apparently was asked, along with other "artists/cultural figures," by the L. A. Times "what they might do if they ran the N.E.A." The list of respondents: Bill T. Jones, Phylicia Rashad, Noah Wyle, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Frank Gehry, Tom Hayden, Tim Robbins, Tim Miller, Rachel Dratch, Neil Patrick Harris, Neil LaBute, Kurt Andersen, Kate Burton, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (?), Judy Fiskin, John Patrick Shanley, John Baldessari, Joel Wachs, Joel Stein, Eve Ensler, Edward Albee, Debbie Allen, Ann Coulter (WTF?), Bill Maher (abolish it), Bill Pullman (interesting viewpoint), Harvey Weinstein, Sandra Tsing Loh, and Rachel Maddow. No doubt Teresa Eyring will chime in in American Theatre next month suggesting more money for Facebook.
If you want to understand why the artistic life of this country is so superficial and unoriginal, I invite you to read the "contributions" of these assembled mental midgets. Let me summarize the lot: 1) more money; 2) more arts in schools; 3) more money; 4) money to individuals; 5) more money; 6) the WPA lives; 7) more money.
There were a few faintly interesting and vaguely original ideas from Tim Robbins, Bill Pullman, and Tim Miller. But for the most part, this should be seen as deeply embarrassing by the artistic community, who should hope that this isn't passed on to the Obama team (are you listening, oh great Obama-teamer Isaac?). Unfortunately, most of the artistic community shares this deep-as-a-kids'-plastic-pool philosophy, as any regular reading of the theatrosphere would reveal. This was an opportunity for artists to actually show themselves as worthy of funding, and instead we got Neil Patrick Harris burbling, "So long as they keep funding public television and radio, I'm good. I grew up learning lots from "Sesame Street" and "The Electric Company" -- everything from the alphabet and numbers to sharing and a sense of humor, and I still listen to NPR daily. Ira Glass? "Wait, Wait . . . Don't Tell Me!"? Great good times. Über-important. I can't imagine our world without them." For Chrissake. "Uber-important"???
Could we get some grownups to speak, please?
If you want to understand why the artistic life of this country is so superficial and unoriginal, I invite you to read the "contributions" of these assembled mental midgets. Let me summarize the lot: 1) more money; 2) more arts in schools; 3) more money; 4) money to individuals; 5) more money; 6) the WPA lives; 7) more money.
There were a few faintly interesting and vaguely original ideas from Tim Robbins, Bill Pullman, and Tim Miller. But for the most part, this should be seen as deeply embarrassing by the artistic community, who should hope that this isn't passed on to the Obama team (are you listening, oh great Obama-teamer Isaac?). Unfortunately, most of the artistic community shares this deep-as-a-kids'-plastic-pool philosophy, as any regular reading of the theatrosphere would reveal. This was an opportunity for artists to actually show themselves as worthy of funding, and instead we got Neil Patrick Harris burbling, "So long as they keep funding public television and radio, I'm good. I grew up learning lots from "Sesame Street" and "The Electric Company" -- everything from the alphabet and numbers to sharing and a sense of humor, and I still listen to NPR daily. Ira Glass? "Wait, Wait . . . Don't Tell Me!"? Great good times. Über-important. I can't imagine our world without them." For Chrissake. "Uber-important"???
Could we get some grownups to speak, please?
Comments
That said, can somebody please write a play about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Ann Coulter running the NEA?
COMEDY. GOLD.
"If I ran the NEA, I’d double down on this part of the NEA’s mission: “to bring the arts to all Americans.” If our artists are going to be badasses, we need to tap all our potential pools of artistic talent, we need to cultivate a national expectation of artistic literacy, and artists need jobs doing and teaching art. My NEA would fund arts education in every juvie, jail and prison in the country — creating those art jobs, probably slashing recidivism, making our big dumb prison system slightly less pointless, and maybe someday paying off down the road in the form of the next American international art star."
That sounds a lot like something I'd read here, if you hadn't given up entirely on offering positive suggestions instead of lashing out at people.
BTW: There's nothing shallow about people thinking the NEA needs a bigger budget. To accomplish its goals, it needs a bigger budget. It's an underfunded agency. If you want it to accomplish the things you want it to do, or that anyone else wants it to do, it needs more money.
Yes, Isaac, I have been cranky of late. The level of discourse is disheartening. This was another example of the superficiality of the art scene (or at least the art scene as defined by the star-centric LA Times).
Sure, the NEA needs more money. I have argued that here before, showing how the pathetic increase it received last year that everyone was crowing about returned it to the level of the first year of the Reagan presidency -- and that didn't account for inflation.
But that is not a vision. That is not an answer to the question "what would you do if you ran the NEA?" That is not even something that the head of the NEA controls. The problem is that when artists are asked to envision a national arts policy, they blurt out "more money" as if their knee had been tapped with a rubber hammer. Once they've gotten that out of their system, then they will parrot the Obama line about education, which suddenly has become popular -- as long as artists don't actually have to do it.
No, I stand by my assessment. However, I am intending to write my own answer to that question as soon as I get a few spare minutes. I hope you will take the opportunity to rip it to shreds. Have at it.
I've always maintained, and I believe I've said so on my blog that artists need to understand politics and they need to understand business. Every artist needs to be an arts advocate in a serous, informed way. Its how I became an arts advocate, actually, in trying to understand the social context of my own work.
I happen to believe that the Good Ship Status Quo is sinking fast, and whistling a happy tune isn't what is needed. I'm trying to interrupt the orchestra so we can start taking some serious action.