Defined by the worst possible

April 05, 2002

Defined by the worst possible example. What if all singers were judged based on a character study of Mike Love? All husbands held up as Ike Turners. What if we were only as good as our worst moments? Firstly we would never see the mass of beauty spanning down into the depths below the little boat of evil. In Mike & Ike’s case there were a lot of boats. Repeat karmic offenders. I choose musical examples because then I stick to criticizing my own. That, as we all know, is a popular sport with musicians. How do you enjoy someone’s art when you find out they beat their spouse during the period they made their best work? I once went with good friends to see Kurt Vonnegut speak in Toronto. Big fan. Afterward I asked another friend why she didn’t go and she explained that ever since she found out he left his wife and many children for his administrative assistant it had changed how she saw his work. Any Picasso biography reveals his penchant for firing off guns while walking alone in the darkened streets of Paris...oops...that’s the part that makes him cool to some...I mean...abusing women both mentally & physically. I don’t think I ever recover from these discoveries. For what its worth I usually have to write the person off because I can't erase the new mental pictures. Sometimes it makes me realize how different my life is from people who’s work I admire. Other times I’m just depressed that muckraking has once again narrowed the sphincter that greatness must pass through. You cannot create mentors if you’re going to want to know “all” about the person who inspires you. Great art that comes from lives of misery can create gorgeous martyrs but what does art mean when it comes from people who do bad things? Is it just macabre rubbernecking at the scene of the crime? Forgiveness may be the only way to achieve anything in the modern world. I think that extends way beyond art and music. Not big on the topic but ....I’m sure there is someone else out there who agrees that its hard to see the beauty in the wonderful parables of several organized religions right now what with all the crimes being committed. I don’t think we need to hire a private detective to find the flaws in these governing bodies. Right now...defined by their worst possible examples.