Let's keep art alive.

I was just listening to a song called Art is Dead by Bo Burnham. Now, this song is a complete satire, as are all of his songs, if you don't know much about him. But I think this song in particular brings up a good topic: How little people know about a career in the arts. Here are the lyrics:

art is dead, art is dead
art is dead, art is dead

entertainers like to seem complicated
but we're not complicated
i can explain it pretty easily
have you ever been to a birthday party for children
and one of the children won't stop screaming
cause he's just a little attention attractor
when he grows up to be a comic or actor
he'll be rewarded for never maturing
for never understanding or learning
that every day can't be about him
there's other people you selfish a******

i must be psychotic, i must be demented
to think that i'm worthy of all this attention,
of all of this money you worked really hard for
i slept in late while you worked at the drug store.
my drug's attention, i am an addict
but i get paid to indulge in my habit
it's all an illusion, i'm wearing make-up
i'm wearing make-up, make-up, make-up, make-up

art is dead, so people think you're funny
how do you get those people's money?
art is dead, we're rolling in dough
while Carlin rolls in his grave, in his grave, in his grave.

this show has got a budget
the show has got a budget
and all the poor people way more deserving of the money won't budge it
cause i wanted my name in lights
when i could have fed a family of four
for forty f****** fortnights, forty f****** fortnights

i am an artist, please god forgive me
i am an artist, please don't revere me
i am an artist, please don't respect me
i am an artist, feel free to correct me
a self-centered artist, self-obsessed artist
i am an artist, i am an artist

but i'm just a kid, i'm just a kid, kid
and maybe i'll grow out of it

As well as linking the video of this song here, I'm also linking a really great speech from Karl Paulnack, the music director at Boston Conservatory College, talking about the importance of music and performing, and about how people don't seem to understand the difference between musicians/actors and entertainers here.. It's quite long, but really worthwhile.

Back to the song, I think it's important to address the fact that many parents (luckily, mine aren't included in the mix) don't understand that music or theatre or any art of any kind is more than a past time. It becomes a need. We persue the arts not because it's just a fun little thing we enjoy, but because if we didn't, we would not be happy and would feel like we didn't have a purpose. In general, people respect the lawyers, the mathematicians, the doctors, the scientists, even the authors and filmmakers, heck, even famous movie actors! But the long revered love for live theatre and live music is quickly dying out.

People would rather go for a career that will be stable and earn them money than go out on a limb and take a chance on Broadway. By the way, this is by no means saying that being a lawyer or a doctor is worse than an actor, everyone has the crack they fit into. Back to the point, moving more from the arts in general to theatre, there is so much disappointment in acting. There are 100 yes's to one no. And like Bo said in his song, "I am an artist, please God forgive me, I am an artist, please don't revere me, I am an artist, please don't respect me, I am an artist, feel free to correct me. A self-centered artist, a self-obsessed artist." Actors are the ones who have the most insecurities because of all the rejection they go through trying to get the next job. In a slow phase, you would wonder, why didn't I become an engineer when I had the chance, like my parents always said?

The answer lies in scientific brain research. The brain does not mature until the age of 25. This means that when we go off to college, around the age of 18 or 19, we're only about 3/4 as mature as adults, even though we legally are adults then. Ever notice that young children are way way more creative then adults and teenagers? Brain chemistry. Because of the less mature brain, kids take chances and are much more willing to be risky and creative than adults. So when we go off to college, we take the chance that we might not make it to Broadway or might not do well in showbiz, and might have to give up. But because we took that chance, we find out soon enough whether we've got it in us. Adults will never fully understand our drive for something new and exciting and risky. It's our decision, and although we do take into account what people expect from us and want us to do, it's ultimately our final say because we are willing to take the chance even if there might be consequences. 

And that brings me to the last line of Bo's song: "But I'm just a kid, I'm just a kid, kid, and maybe I'll grow out of it." That's what some parents hope, don't they? That their little kid will grow up to make lots of money and be stable and happy? But if you're born to be a performer, you've got to be a performer. It's as simple as that. You'll never truly grow out of it.

All for now, stay creative. xx