The Place of Politics in the Art World
By GRACE VAINISI ‘19
On September 17, the 70th Emmy Awards show aired. I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t watch them—or didn’t know they were airing at all. The show’s ratings dropped ten percent from last year’s, setting an all-time low.
Although we’ll probably never be able to pinpoint a precise reason for why the numbers are so low, we can identify a lot of factors that may have contributed to such low ratings. A big reason may be that it’s now so easy for us to watch highlights of award shows that it seems almost a waste of time to sit through the whole thing, commercials and all. Why would we, when we can watch sixty second long snippets of noteworthy highlights and funny moments compiled for us on one of the many social media apps at our disposal?
A more controversial reason, perhaps, lies in our population’s minimal interest in the hosts and actors’ speeches, which appear to be becoming more and more political with each passing show. Some viewers want to escape the polarized political climate of our world for even the short length of an awards show, so they will turn it off the minute they disapprove of some political occurrence. There’s a strong belief that actors should just act, that it’s neither their place nor job to share their personal opinions. It makes sense that the Emmys would want to avoid political topics altogether, as they would rather celebrate winning TV shows in an effort to unite an audience than alienate watchers who aren’t interested in the opinions of celebrities.
However, the hosts and actors at the Emmys have a unique opportunity to express messages to the huge audience they have access to. For instance, celebrities at the Golden Globes played a major role in the unprecedented acknowledgement that the #MeToo movement received. The speeches of winners are so widely spread—even if it’s mostly through social media and not through the live viewing of the event— they for can shed light on certain topics that may have never received the same attention.
The question of whether or not politics should have a place at an arts awards show also bleeds into the discussion of politics’ place in the arts world in general. The reality is that we waste influence and opportunities for expression if we turn away from statements made through art. Avoiding controversy is useless—in today’s world, anything we do or say will generate some level of controversy, so attempts to avoid it are futile. The rich opportunities for expression are not to say, though, that art should always be about spreading political messages. Art also provides a great refuge from our political climate, and we should remember to take advantage of that as well.
The Emmys this year had some really special moments: Regina King’s win, Ryan Murphy’s speech on behalf of “The Assassination of Gianni Versace,” and Betty White’s appearance, which took the entire event to the next level. If we choose to turn away from shows like the Emmys in order to take refuge from the chance that a celebrity will say something that challenges our own views, we will miss so many more moments like these. And we are all so blessed to have our lives overlap even slightly with the life of Betty White; to miss the light she shines onto us all would be absolutely devastating.