http://blog.spout.com/2006/07/20/for-the-sake-of-art-or-the-cause/ Daily coverage of what is truly interesting in the film world Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:17:10 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 http://blog.spout.com/2006/07/20/for-the-sake-of-art-or-the-cause/#comment-122 Kristin Tue, 25 Jul 2006 00:30:09 +0000 http://blog.spoutblog.com/2006/07/20/for-the-sake-of-art-or-the-cause/#comment-122 I like to think it doesn't have to be an either-or thing—the cause OR the art. But maybe I'm just an idealist. It seems, though, that in our culture we're guilty of trying to get to the point too quickly and too concretely. We want to "tell" everything rather than "show" it. As a result, people come to either expect and demand that things be clearly spelled out for them, or they just resent it and shut it out. Neither response is good for the cause, it seems. I think it's the responsibility of the artist/filmmaker to place viewers in sometimes uncomfortable places in order to push them toward a new, deeper way of seeing things. In the process, both the art and the cause become more real and compelling. I like to think it doesn’t have to be an either-or thing—the cause OR the art. But maybe I’m just an idealist. It seems, though, that in our culture we’re guilty of trying to get to the point too quickly and too concretely. We want to “tell” everything rather than “show” it. As a result, people come to either expect and demand that things be clearly spelled out for them, or they just resent it and shut it out. Neither response is good for the cause, it seems. I think it’s the responsibility of the artist/filmmaker to place viewers in sometimes uncomfortable places in order to push them toward a new, deeper way of seeing things. In the process, both the art and the cause become more real and compelling.

]]>