be noice
Both Theatrenotes and Supernaut have picked up on John McCallum's blazingly good essay. I only wish that all those colossal wastes of tax-payer's money from Nugent on, had concluded the same.
Apparently, this is to be the first in a series of essays in The Australian. Can't wait. Meanwhile in The Age, resident Grand Poo-Bah of Everything Michael Shmith has strayed from his usual arts beat into political territory...now, I've made a few New Year's Resolutions one of which I can't bear to break so early in the year, so I will not comment, but read it for yourself.
And a little congratulation to acting graduate Beth Cleary who was a deserving recipient of the women@minterellison Rising Star Award. Her body of work in 2006 included my gore-fest, Touch Me, I'm Sick. Pictured above is a (live-videofeed) photo of Beth singing a rousing version of "Johnny Appleseed" to a soon-to-be-mutilated Japanese exchange student.
2 comments:
Dear Daniel,
Great blog. All hail Alison Croggon and her holy blogroll.
Hate to coax you into New Year's resolution-breaking, but let's face it it's almost 10 days into the year so if you haven't broken them by now it's about time...
Ergo: please DO comment on the Martin Shmith piece. I'm interested by both the divided opinion that Borat seems to have created, and Shmith's musings on cyber-heads-on-spikes. What are your thoughts?
Ben.
Ben, sorry about the delay. Michael Shmith has, with his cd reviews, enriched my musical appreciation no end over the years and Borat is a creation of genius. So I can't help you with those, but I am going to quote from today's Age.
Under the title "Sundance courts controversy with child rape film" a reprinted NY TIMES article quotes Dakota Fanning's co-star Afemo Omilami as saying, "I don't know what people are so upset about...Believe me, Deborah [Kampmeier, the director] is going to be so tasteful and subtle. She's handling this in such an artistic way..."
To which I say, "I bloody well hope not..."
Compare this with Shmith's, "A fine writer is able to tell us enough, but not enough to rob the event of all its ghastly power."
It's a classic trap that a particular breed of critic (and artist) fall into; the insidious confusion about the role of art, and the idea that art is somehow better, more "moral" when it shields us from, or "ennobles" reality, that I am worried about.
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