Listen now | I spent the weekend in Telluride. And I had a variety of conversations with people whom I love and like, people I don’t know, and even some people I don’t much care for. (If you are wondering where you fit in that, know that you may well be wrong, and I am happy to clarify with anyone… and even change that status, which also happened a bit this weekend.
As I wrote, hearing “it doesn’t matter” one too many times about one too many things. And I adore some of those who say it. It is an understandable human instinct. I just fear we will lose more than we can imagine if we aren’t more relentless.
It really was a stew that was cooking on the pot got a long time. It’s award season. The industry in transition. This is what came out of me today. If it was just one or two exchanges, it would have been lost in the sauce… my focus would have moved elsewhere this morning (like reviewing Tar).
Well, what I can glean of this reminds me of John Fowles’ notion of the essential uselessness of art. The importance of understanding that uselessness. The reason why good art is radical is because it defies utility: There can be something frightening about a work that exists only for itself, and operates on its own terms. It’s most radical when it can’t be used as a tool for some other ends or agenda. This can get confused with the quality of being purposeless, since good art (like good entertainment) has purpose. Art’s purpose I think is to bring us to a better, more acute, more attuned sense of who we are, individually or collectively or both. That can include who we are in the world. Entertainment’s purpose is to bring pleasure, and at its best, joy. That can be the joy of ecstasy, or the joy of escape, or the joy of our senses getting heightened. (I’ve always admired Graham Greene for knowing when he was doing one or the other in his fiction, though I think he could do both at the same time, like Fowles.) All of these suggest that this creative work can matter a lot, especially if it’s fulfilling its best level of expression.
What triggered this David?
As I wrote, hearing “it doesn’t matter” one too many times about one too many things. And I adore some of those who say it. It is an understandable human instinct. I just fear we will lose more than we can imagine if we aren’t more relentless.
That part was clear. It sounds like you have to avoid, um, specificity. Such as a specific exchange.
It really was a stew that was cooking on the pot got a long time. It’s award season. The industry in transition. This is what came out of me today. If it was just one or two exchanges, it would have been lost in the sauce… my focus would have moved elsewhere this morning (like reviewing Tar).
Well, what I can glean of this reminds me of John Fowles’ notion of the essential uselessness of art. The importance of understanding that uselessness. The reason why good art is radical is because it defies utility: There can be something frightening about a work that exists only for itself, and operates on its own terms. It’s most radical when it can’t be used as a tool for some other ends or agenda. This can get confused with the quality of being purposeless, since good art (like good entertainment) has purpose. Art’s purpose I think is to bring us to a better, more acute, more attuned sense of who we are, individually or collectively or both. That can include who we are in the world. Entertainment’s purpose is to bring pleasure, and at its best, joy. That can be the joy of ecstasy, or the joy of escape, or the joy of our senses getting heightened. (I’ve always admired Graham Greene for knowing when he was doing one or the other in his fiction, though I think he could do both at the same time, like Fowles.) All of these suggest that this creative work can matter a lot, especially if it’s fulfilling its best level of expression.
Beautiful words. We movie fans care, too.
Thanks. I know you do.