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During the Prussian siege of Paris in the winter of 1870, a rare restaurant menu from that time sometimes resurfaces online. With food scarcity plaguing the city, patrons were encouraged to try unusual dishes like stuffed donkey head or “le chat flanqué de rats.” Even the elephant consommé was not to be wasted, as obtaining the great beasts was no easy task despite the people starving outside.
Now, let’s juxtapose this glimpse of a living hell with the lasting art from that era. Degas presents us with “The Dancing Class,” showing girls rehearsing ballet at the Paris Opéra. Renoir captures a couple on a promenade. By 1872, when painters had processed the trauma of defeat and occupation, Monet offers “Springtime,” featuring a woman amidst lilacs, and Sisley showcases a couple of charming bridges. Despite the context of misery they lived in, this group of artists chose to focus on the frivolous. Their work, however, stands eternal.
The Impressionists saw no inherent value — be it aesthetic, moral, or intellectual — in suffering. One wonders if our own age possesses such clarity of thought. The recent normalization of discussing mental health issues and removing the stigma surrounding them is a highly positive cultural change. Less essential, however, is what Martin Amis coined as “one-downmanship,” a competitive negativity exhibited in the surge of confessional literature and endless psychobabble. As someone who identifies with Western values, I tend to reject the notion that the democratic world is “decadent.” But then I encounter advice on how to “break up” with a friend and start questioning my stance.
Linking Degas to George Michael might appear unconventional, but bear with me. For various reasons, the new Netflix documentary about Wham! is worth your time. The retouched footage from the 1980s is visually appealing, especially for non-obsessive fans. Moreover, the film provides fresh information about the group.
However, the documentary’s true value lies in its cautionary tale of how easily joy can be mistaken for emptiness, and suffering for depth. Despite being the cheeriest non-manufactured pop act of all time (their debut album was aptly titled “Fantastic”), Wham! managed to enrage critics. Some negative individuals even criticized the group’s perceived shallowness and materialism. It’s worth noting that Andrew Ridgeley, one half of the duo, is perhaps the breeziest individual ever to thrive in the sometimes neurotic creative industries.
Four decades later, the shallow ones have been exposed, and it wasn’t Wham!. Critics allowed themselves to be blinded by the group’s outward hedonism and fashionable attire, failing to appreciate their melodic craft and wit. The nerve it took to entrust “Careless Whisper” to an esteemed American producer three
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