[NEohioPAL] An Open Letter To Critics, Reviewers, et al. (Steve Wojtas)
Steve Wojtas
gymnoid at msn.com
Wed Oct 10 13:14:24 PDT 2007
You may as well know from the outset that Im probably going to tip over a
sacred cow or two. Some may even say that Im tilting at windmills. Be
that as it may.
But what Id like to know is: By whose leave do you deign to hold forth in
judgment of the artist and his works? Are you his peer? Have you studied
intensively; have you practiced extensively in the discipline in which you
presume to sit in judgment? For unless you have, your pronouncements are
just so much balloon juice and worth as much.
Or do you see it as your sacred and moral duty to instruct the unwashed
masses as to what they must think? For myself, as part of the unwashed
masses, and as a thinking man who has it on good authority that I am above
average in intelligence, I prefer to think for myself, thank you very much.
To the theatre critic: Have you spent countless hours of countless days
honing your technique so that you can convey volumes of meaning with one
look or with that certain inflection? As director, have you spent weeks or
months coaxing just the right emotion, just the right interplay from as many
as a dozen or more actors? And while youre doing this, have you had to
keep in check the tempers of a cast and crew who are overwrought and
overtired from emotional and physical labors as you approach impending
deadlines? As a set designer or lighting designer, have you had to create a
mood or ambiance that is aesthetically pleasing to the audience as well as a
space in which the actors can move efficiently and safely? And have you had
to do it while keeping your creative vision within budget?
Unless youve done these things yourself, you have no right to judge those
who have.
To the movie critic: Have you ever had to stay awake late into the night,
every night, memorizing pages of dialogue only to wake up at an ungodly hour
so that you can spend hours in a make-up chair before going on set so that
you can convey the depth of emotion of a tearful parting as your lover
boards the train for the front? And have you done this while sweltering
under hot lights, and while dozens of techs and crew scurry around mere feet
from you?
Unless youve done these things yourself, you have no right to judge those
who have.
To the dance critic: Have you spent literally years practicing at the barre
to perfect your technique? Have you spent hours physically exerting
yourself, sometimes to the point of exhaustion, forcing your body into
positions and movements it was never designed to assume; only to go home
each night and spend countless hours unable to sleep because of the pain in
your muscles and joints? Yet you get up and do it all over again the next
day.
Unless youve done these things yourself, you have no right to judge those
who have.
To the music critic: Have you spent years practicing your breathing and
vocal technique? Or spent years in practice developing the muscles and
dexterity of your fingers and arms? Or what about the musician who spent
years developing his embrasure so that he is able to coax that clean, clear
note from his instrument?
Unless youve done these things yourself, you have no right to judge those
who have.
Have you ever sat in front of a blank page month after month or year after
year trying to create on it a microcosm that is both believable and
engaging? Have you sweated blood doing it? Have you suffered countless
rejections of your creation before your work is published?
Unless youve done these things yourself, you have no right to judge those
who have.
To put it in the vernacular, unless youve been there, done that, you have
no right to judge those who have. You know, I cant help but wonder that
sometime long past, someone somewhere got the silly notion that your opinion
matters. Isnt that a hoot? If I may coin a phrase: Those who can, do.
Those who cant, sit in judgment.
Well, Mr. and Ms. Critic, theres the gauntlet. Justify your existence.
Steve Wojtas
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