And then I end up in a discussion about Doctor Zhivago† That movie, yes. The classic from 1965. Given the horror in Ukraine, can it still be shown? A few group e-mails quickly agree. No, that’s not a good idea. Why not? Well, the film is inappropriately Russian romantic considering the war in Ukraine.
I only see the conversation between people I care about in retrospect. I’ll let you know my objections. It remains silent. No answer. What did I do wrong? Should I have given a disclaimer? Should I have stated emphatically that I of course reject Putin’s abhorrent terror against Ukraine from A to Z and back?
In the meantime, it’s final: Doctor Zhivago is parked in purgatory. But why? Yes, he is lavishly romantic, that’s right. But is that a reason?
First there was Boris Pasternak’s novel – for it he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature (1958), which he was neither allowed to recognize nor receive from the Soviet regime. The word cancel did not yet exist. But it happened to him, through a strangling state smear campaign. Should Pasternak be rejected again? Not exactly, I would say and the same goes for the film. He is American and very Hollywood by the way. Directed by David Lean. With Julie Christie and Omar Sharif. But indeed, it is about a passionate affair. fur hats. sleigh. A field full of daffodils. But he also talks about the crushing of ordinary people with everyone’s desires through war and politics and blind violence, well, what is happening to Ukrainians now.
Also read Coen van Zwol’s column: Rather not boycott Russian film
if Doctor Zhivago if inappropriately Russian-and-romantic can be set aside, then I begin to fear Chekhov. The Cherry Garden† The three sisters with their hopeless desires, contained in the wail: “To Moscow…” Is that still possible? And Petipa’s ballet The swanlake† Is that only allowed on soldier boots?
Censorship, cancel, that’s what Putin-Russians do. We in Western Europe don’t do that, I think. We can tell those Russians that they can censor what they want, but that we celebrate their artists exuberantly.
I’m having a hard time with the wave of activism that puts art and culture from Russia in the not-now box because it “don’t feel right”. What kind of frame of mind is that? And: how do I defend myself against that? I have to be with the Russians for that. With the absurdists. At Daniel Charms for example. He was disturbed with every line he wrote: “Once upon a time there was a crow and it had four legs. He actually had five legs, but there’s no point in talking about that.” Or with the Flemish. Kamagurka and Herr Seele play the performance The Return of the Comeback. Crazy, funny, but I’m also laughing away at my discomfort. Faint? Yes. And scary. I’m laughing at wolves in soft clothes.
#Art #doesnt #belong #nowjustnot #box