So for those who missed it, Glenn Beck apparently placed an effigy of Obama in a jar of (fake) piss on his show (although seeing as the material he used to fake it was Becks beer, your definition of fake piss may vary). This irks me. Not because he’s dissing Obama, mind you; that’s par for the course. No, what irks me is how insulting it is to the piece it tries (and fails) to mimic: “Piss Christ”.
What did the piece mean? I don’t know, personally; I’m no expert on modern art. But let’s keep something in mind here - it was created in the 80s, and when it was produced, it was revolutionary. Not just because a guy put an idol of christ in piss, but because nobody had successfully used mere shock and disgust as an art form beforehand. It’s kind of like with Marilyn Manson; yeah, now they’re nothing special, but when they started, there was absolutely nothing like it! It also shares a few qualities with things like John Cage’s music; if someone were to make a concert piece whose entire content was 4 minutes of rests today, they’d be laughed at, because it’s been done before, and as such is senseless to do again.
So what does “Piss Obama” offer, as a piece of artwork? Well, aesthetically, it’s utterly pathetic; it has none of the same composition or beauty of the original. In terms of shock value, it missed that society has moved forwards, and that “popular figure in piss” isn’t even as shocking as “deity idol in piss”, while these days, Goatse barely counts as shocking. In mimicking a piece of art created 30 years ago, Glenn Beck completely missed the point of that piece, ignored that the “shock threshhold” of society has risen to the point where this would barely register if they had dunked a live baby into that ()()()(), and implied that Obama supporters view him as a deity, which is simply insulting.
I don’t like modern art, but I like even less when partisan hacks make a lousy political point and in the process insult that art.
I have no issue with Piss Christ. I have no issue with Piss Obama. But Beck had a big problem with Piss Christ and he doesn’t seem to have any problems with Piss Obama.
Proving once again that you learn a lot on this message board, I had to look that word up. I now know I never want to read the words “abnormally placed urinary meatus” ever again. Thanks … I think.
There are people in this world like Glen Beck whose jobs it is to manufacture controversy and outrage. That’s what keeps them relevant and pays their bills. Hell, this is Fox News’ entire business model.
If you disagree with them and are outraged by it, GOOD! That only helps keep them relevant, keeps them in the spotlight, makes them more money.
Stop buying outrage from people who make a living creating and selling it.
Conservatives place high value on sanctity, patriotism, loyalty, and purity. Freedom and individuality, not so much. Piss Christ really pushes some of their buttons, and freedom of expression for the artist doesn’t compensate.
Beck is of course playing to his audience, but there is probably a part of him that assumes progressives will be really deeply offended by this, because he would be if it were an effigy of Ronald Reagan. He assumes progressives are OK with Piss Christ because they are godless heathen hippies, not because it just isn’t worth getting upset over.
If Beck wanted to piss off progressives, he’d start a campaign to persecute the artist and other artists. This is what happened with Mapplethorpe. Conservatives never figured out that it wasn’t a matter of approving of the art, but a matter of defending freedom for the progressives.
My reaction is not “That’s horrible”, but “Glen Beck is an idiot, dog bites man, sun rises in east”
