Individuality.
Good or Bad?
It’s Great! Right? It’s what makes us the people that we are. We all think for ourselves, don’t we? We’re all our own person right? In our society this individuality is valued. Mamet in Theatre describes how in a democracy this is what essentially makes the democracy. The individual is what makes up the democracy and this individuality allows us to decide for ourselves what we choose to accept or reject. Therefore we have many views about politics. We are free to hold a political position and no one can force us to change this political view or force us to explain to them why we view things the way we do.
Individuality leads to us all having our own personal views on everything. As a result there seems to be much disagreement when it comes to addressing political issues. Individuality can be somewhat problematic when it comes to politics. Because we all are such individuals and think for ourselves, we all have our own values, ideas, and beliefs. That’s why there seems to be so many disagreements when it comes to politics.This is why so many people would rather avoid the issue rather than deal with the confrontation that results from the differing opinions. There never is a right answer to an issue, and this is why people often disagree. It’s not like math, where there’s only one correct answer to an equation, it’s just not that easy. Everyone thinks that they are “right” and that’s why conversations often turn into disagreements.
The artist has a very important role of exposing the political issues to the public. Because most people would rather avoid the issues and pretend they’re not there so as to avoid confrontation, the artist has to expose the public to the issues that are avoided. It is their role to deal with these issues in a creative manner. The artist is able to address political issues indirectly, which allows them expose what’s normally avoided. The artist is able to make a political statement without ever really stating a position. They never directly state their opinions, and yet through their art work their views can be determined. This is in essence the very beauty of art in itself. Art can be entertaining, and yet it can also be influential.
The beautiful thing about art is that it allows us to be ourselves. Who then has the right to decide if the artist should or shouldn’t be allowed to create art that may reflect their political beliefs. Just because it may cause some controversy, does that take away from its artistic value?
Take for example the song Stand up by the Flobots, this band is known for the strong messages present in their lyrics. However before I knew this I honestly just really liked listening to the song because I just really liked the beat. I thought wow this song is really catchy. However after playing it on repeat over and over I finally started to actually listen to the lyrics and realized that they were quite powerful. …now what would happen if I didn’t agree with what was being said in the song, would that mean that I would then hate the song? Well it just so happens that I didn’t disagree with what was being said, but I wonder, if I did, would I not enjoy listening to this song again, even though at one point I played it on repeat over and over again because I liked the beat.
Hmmm, really makes you wonder, what’s more important, the art or the meaning behind the art? After thinking about all of these things, one can see why it is so difficult for the artist to take on a political voice.
