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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFranken's Vaudeville vs Trump's Villainy
Has anyone noticed the schism between the arts and the political sciences playing out in the Franken story?
Al Franken was, and still is, a member of the creative, emotionally skilled, and often humorous classes. Political science types, however, have skills of a different kind. No wonder Al's vaudevilian send-up of groping, which in essence was a satire, was taken literally by many politicos. Furthermore his overt, affectionate photo ops were distorted into something which prompted him to say "I remember those incidents differently." He never got his ethics review after his incredibly tender admission that maybe someone, somewhere was hurt by something he did. Until that point few public figures had handled such accusations so well. And Al's were even spearheaded by political operatives like Tweeden and Roger Stone who were associated with the increasingly debased and corrupted Republican Party.
As we continue to withdraw funding for the arts from our schools, and as the contemporary arts of motion picture production and internet publishing lags behind traditional arts instruction, we may be creating a nation of emotional and aesthetic illiterates. I cannot explain Al's media lynching in any other way.
Another thing: Franken is Jewish and his huggy body language may be untranslatable to many of the white, Anglo-Saxon Protestants who make up a large percentage of the Senate.
Our country must separate the creative vaudevillians from the actual villains or we will go insane. We need serious emotional development and cultural evolution. As the machines advance, we seem to conclude "more courses in computer programming!" But what we need, I believe, is media, design, humor and cultural literacy.
pandr32
(11,446 posts)KY_EnviroGuy
(14,483 posts)I'm a particular advocate of music, which experts say is very helpful in child development and learning, even for math and science pursuits.
We're going to regret losing Al Franken because he was a powerful, effective voice for the left.
yardwork
(61,408 posts)nuxvomica
(12,360 posts)There was a study that found people who lacked empathy could actually acquire it by reading literary fiction. Such literature is distinct from genre fiction in that it focuses on the inner thoughts and feelings of the characters instead of just plot dynamics. Another study found a correlation between empathy and a sense of humor: people who lack empathy also fail to get sarcasm. The arts and humor can nurture and reinforce empathy so our need for them, as a society, is urgent yet they are threatened. Literate, jocular Franken expressed such empathy in his response to accusations, and his accusers were unsatisfied, his condemners, unmoved. Yet somehow he's the bad guy?
DemocracyMouse
(2,275 posts)Yes, good point! Indeed literature teaches empathy. So does learning to write screenplays based on literature (then inventing original scripts). Producing well-researched (and fact checked!) high school news broadcasts as part of reintroducing mandatory civics 101 classes, would create a generation of discerning media consumers. The human body should not be ignored in the education of the future. There is nothing like theater/film acting classes for jump-starting sensitive, insightful and empathetic teens. Acting is mostly about RESPONDING to other actors (and also considering the audience or camera's point of view).
This "Vaudeville vs Villainy" was my first post on DU and I'm heartened to see so many sympathetic responses. Talk about empathy! Thank you!