Time to get real. The more I put it off, the more I feel like a hypocrite. Although I’ve just been too busy to start writing about this type of topic. This may be only one article in countless more to come about it, dropped every now and then.
For too long I have been observing what has been going on and considering different points of view. So much that, at one point, I felt as though I could be hired just for that - to sum it all up and save others the trouble. What do people claim is progressive now? What could get you canceled today? What will give you points with the X, Y, or Z crowd? But eventually, I had to stop following so closely to preserve my sanity. I still keep up with it, as I prefer to be informed, but I’m no longer consumed by it. Phew!
And that’s probably the worst thing about it, how consuming it is. People are constantly moving the goalpost, doing mental gymnastics, and having you bending over backward just so that they’ll be dissatisfied regardless. What creative freedom do you have left if you aim to please such an audience? Can you create anything out of genuine inspiration? Hardly.
You see, art has always been there to get us to think and feel more. To push the limits and step outside of the box. To paint pictures and tell stories that haven’t been told before. To be original and innovative. To be creative. Granted, there’s art that’s mostly about appealing to the senses, but even that kind can be stimulating in one or more ways if you let it. Art doesn’t have to be micromanaged to be on the side of progress, to be exploratory and experimental, breaking patterns, it may merely require a few nudges and pointers to not stagnate.
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| Antebellum (2020) |
However, nowadays, you can frequently come across all sorts of opinions in regards to what should or shouldn’t exist in the media, quite aggressively voiced too. And quite frankly, I find it seriously concerning. Because while there are people that are indeed giving constructive criticism that leads to more conscious, diverse, and higher quality work, a vast amount of people is just being over-controlling for no good reason. And they can be loud.
A lot of them now sound almost indistinguishable from what your narrow and close-minded uncle or neighbor sounded like decades ago, when bitterly complaining about whatever was on T.V. that clashed with their outdated views and beliefs. But no, in this case, it’s justified. “Because I’m a member or self-proclaimed representative of an oppressed minority and I said so.” Well, I could say the same but I call b******t. So much. It’s everywhere. I’d have a never-ending job if I devoted myself to clearing it all up.
It’s a relief, then, that various people have been speaking up about it, going against the nonsense, and even more are beginning to do so. That not everyone is rolling with whatever is said in the name of progress in order to appear 'woke', whether they take a stand or not. Sure, there are well-meaning people that simply do not know any better, agreeing with and parroting whoever seems to be right and righteous. Yet, you really have to stop and contemplate on whether what you’re doing is truly helpful to humanity or not instead of being reactive and assuming that it is. At least if being helpful to humanity is what you’re striving for and giving yourself credit for.
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| The Hunt (2020) |
Horror has never been a pleasant genre. It is not a genre for everyone to be fine with. It is the genre through which the most messed-up things can be shown. Real or imaginary. And at this rate, we might soon have a new horror subcategory consisting solely of the horrors of living in the era of 'wokeness'. That is, unless it gets so bad that horror will be completely banned from serving that along with anything else deemed problematic. I figure that heavy discouragement is already present, even though The Hunt did well enough.
I can only speak for myself, and whoever else also happens to coincide with me in this, when I say that stories that try too hard to be 'woke' lose their appeal. I’m no longer looking at a work of art, at something someone somewhere went, “Hey, wouldn’t it be great to tell a story about this and that, where this and that happens? I would love to do it! And we could blow people’s minds and/or move people’s hearts with it!” I’m looking at an awkward formation spawned from worries and misguided attempts to people-please that’s ultimately soulless.
If you’re an artist, please don’t let yourself fall into the latter, no matter how much people nag at you. Chances are that they have little to no clue what they’ll actually enjoy anyway. You definitely can take input, but it’s still your job, as the artist, to create something that you and/or others will appreciate.
Have you ever wasted time and energy giving what was asked of you when you could instead have given what you believed was best?