Be the Change You Want to See

Critics - whether professional or layperson - you got to love 'em. I suppose it has always gone with the territory but sometimes you just have to wonder about them. A lot of them seem jaded, sometimes for good reason, other times not. There are times when you just have to wonder whether certain people just make it their mission in life to tear down rather than build up. For the artist, the critic is something of a double-edged sword. We love them when they praise us, hate them when they slam us and wonder what their purpose is. I see their purpose: to help spread the word about what's worthy or to steer us away from what isn't. The problem is that it's purely subjective. We've all read reviews and critiques about our favorite artists and we don't always think the critic knows what he/she is talking about. Other times, we agree wholeheartedly - and that depends, of course, on your own sensibilities. It isn't so much that we take a critic's word as gospel. We often use their critiques to validate what we already think. 


Perhaps I should stop clicking on links and visiting various websites about writing - and the arts in general - because all it does is serve as a frustrating experience for me at times. But I can’t help it. It’s a topic that interests me greatly and I’m always curious to read what others have to say about a particular topic. The great thing about the advent of the internet is that it opens up the world to voices that would have remained anonymous otherwise. Some may argue that perhaps that’s the way it should have remained but I tend to think the more voices out there, the better. There’s always plusses and minuses. But when it comes to the arts, there is no shortage of opinions, critiques, theories, etc, and sometimes if you give someone the ability to have something to say about it, their first instinct is to slam it and tell everyone how much something sucks rather than what’s good out there. I happen to think there’s a hell of a lot of good things out there - both via the corporate avenues and independent avenues. You just have to look for it and focus your attention on that rather than what “sucks.” Perhaps this problem can be solved by critics who point out what’s right, rather than always pointing out what’s wrong. That would be a start.  

I realize there is a difference between a professional critic and someone sitting at home with a laptop and the ability to string a sentence together but ultimately they’re both dealing with the same thing: opinion. Okay, one may have had years of study in their particular department which gives them a sort of “expertise” on the matter, but essentially what you are getting is one person’s opinion and we all know that even professional critics don’t always agree on the same thing. For the “layman” or for a person who just wants to get an idea about what’s what on a particular thing, they are often left bewildered, not knowing what to think. I read criticism all the time, or even just the capsule reviews you’ll find in a magazine or in the Village Voice, or wherever else. Most of the time I find that the “critique” is more about the critic than it is about the thing he or she is writing about and you’re left with 500-600 piece of namedropping and carefully constructed snark and very rarely much about the film, or book, or musician, or artist. This is why I have never based my own opinion on what a critic has to say about it. I have enough confidence in my own critical abilities to determine whether something is for me or not.  We all do - and with art being such a subjective thing by its very nature, it’s truly difficult to come to a conclusion with any sense of “certainty.”  

Some of us out there are exposed to more than others and that will often determine how and what we think about a particular thing. I’ll admit that a literature professor has more knowledge and has been exposed to more than the average reader who just randomly chooses a book on the shelf and then writing about it on their blog. I’ve admitted that much for myself. I’m no “expert” in any of these matters but I feel I’ve been exposed to enough to get a general sense of what I’m talking about. Some disagree. Whatever. We’re dealing with opinions here, regardless of how much knowledge on a particular subject one may have. Subjectivity is at the heart of all this. But I'm speaking more of the lay-critic, the bloggers, the zine writers (if they even exist anymore), the website critics than I am of the professional critics, although they, too, have some culpability here. 

There are a hell of a lot of people out there decrying the current state of art, music, literature, film, name your topic. A lot of the time, I tend to agree with them about it but the one thing I've also noticed is that no one is doing anything about it other than crowing about it on their blogs, websites, newspaper articles, speeches, etc. This is particularly true in the realm of literature. If everything is so bad, and everything is in such dire straits, what’s being done to actually change it? You hear about the desperate need for "Gatekeepers" yet they are  always complaining about the very thing the "Gatekeepers" are letting in.

Here’s where any creative person comes in - and particularly young people. Instead of crowing about it, be the change you want to see, as Gandhi once said.  The current state of literature is dismal? Then write the books that will correct the problem. The state of visual arts is pathetic? Then create the art that will be more meaningful and appealing. The state of films are nothing but Hollywood schlock and cynical attempts to just make money? Make the films that will be of more importance. And so on. All the energy that is expended writing endless articles and essays about how bad everything is does nothing to make the changes they want to see and all we’re left with is noise and complaints with rarely anyone doing anything to make things better. Start the publishing companies that will publish better books. Start the production companies that will produce better films. Start the record labels that will issue better music. Open the galleries that will show better art. And those self-appointed critics? How about you come up with the very thing you wish to see yourself other than moaning about why others aren't doing it?   

Like with anything else - independent or corporate - the best stuff will rise to the top and will last. The rest will be forgotten. It’s the natural order of things. And perhaps what people consider crap these days will be forgotten and wither away into obscurity. We all have the ability to change it if one is willing to be proactive about it and make that change. Complaining about it alone will do nothing. Action will. That change will not happen if people leave it up to those who they are complaining about to do it. So be the change you want to see and use that energy and that fire to get things done rather than just complaining about it.