| re: feeling low about such bad behavior in the arts | |
| Posted by: reed23 04:23 pm EST 12/05/17 | |
| In reply to: feeling low about such bad behavior in the arts - bearcat 02:53 pm EST 12/05/17 | |
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| I grew up in a less naive time. Immediately upon arrival in NYC in 1980, I experienced what some are now terming "sexual harassment" in theatre jobs – from male directors, producers, musical directors, and older actresses. I know not everyone would have my reaction, but it wasn't that big a deal, either to experience or handle. I had already dealt with it from a family member as a child, got strong vibes from a drivers' ed teacher, and seen a high school teacher of mine suddenly disappear after he made a pass at a football player, etc. One could add it all up and say "it was a different time." Of course Fosse's exploits (and those of other A-list choreographers, like Champion and Robbins) were legion and universally known inside the biz. One difference – we didn't have an internet by which such matters could appear on the desk of millions of readers; individuals (like myself) handled it (or didn't, depending on the individual and their circumstances.) And then, as now, for every one who regarded themselves as a victim, there were ten others who went with it, either for professional or personal potential gain. I've personally known several A-list Broadway composers, Golden Age to the present, who "culled" their casts for sexual activity (some openly, some resulting in marriages, some under the radar.) The vast majority of gay men in my circle (and my age) had their first experiences either in their very early or mid-teens, almost always with an older man in a position of "power" – i.e. a teacher or Sunday School choir director, etc. Not only were most not traumatized for life, many took it as a lifeline in that distant time when homosexuality was universally excoriated and completely invisible in the world. When you say "there are parents who will say to their children...." – I recall the statistic that the vast majority of child abuse occurs in the family. The arts have never and will never be known as a "safe space" and "trigger-free" zone of sex-free "safety." I recall one of the funniest lines in Hugh Wheeler's libretto for "A Little Night Music" – Desirée: "I've invited some weekend guests." Mme. Armfeldt: "If they're actors, they'll have to sleep in the stables." "Sexual predation will impede arts education and exploration" – this does not appear to have been the case at any point in the past. "Sexual predation" (in whatever its definition-du-jour is) has always been there; the only thing new is its appearance in every newspaper and on every computer screen on a daily basis (for what I believe will be a short time.) Great art has always emanated from imperfect people who don't meet the moral standards of today (or their own time): Picasso, Manet, Rodin, Byron, Caravaggio, Michelangelo, George S. Kaufman, Busby Berkeley, Bernstein, Porter, to name but a very few. The internet has helped make Outrage a very enjoyable, fashionable, and morally unassailable emotion – and this year has made Outrage the #1 backdrop emotion permeating society. I can only speak for myself, but while I don't condone many forms of behavior that fall under the over-broad classification "sexual harassment," I don't agree with the bandwagon that it's even in the top five worst things that one human being can do to another, or that allegations should be publicly wielded to destroy lives or careers, that it's as common as the current barrage of revelations suggests, that everyone on the receiving end was or is traumatized for life or suffered career or personal damage, or that anyone with a lot of life experience and knowledge of the human race and its history would find the currency of the topic shocking. |
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