Wednesday, August 20, 1975
University Daily Kansan
11
Criticism is positive, not negative
Editor's Note; Column W. Henderson writes a column on the arts for the Sagnaw (Mich.) News. This article is reprinted with the permission of that newspaper.
Bv JAMES W. HENDERSON
"Are critics ever very happy?" she asked, then explained her viewpoint; "I'd think that a negative outlook would make a person very unhappy."
Well, I don't know about other critics, but this one finds life immensely satisfying. Indeed, it is a conviction developed and honed by half a century of experience, effort and the observation of my fellow that a certain part of life of a race are caused by not being critical.
Had you been "critical" ahead of time, invoked firm criteria, asked enough questions, demanded enough or be less gullible, less compliant and supine, much could have been avoided. Or after the fact, if your life was in a state of at least improvement might have come about. Wars, disastrous diplomacy, sour marriages and a lot of other misfortunes
THAT IS A GENERALIZATION, I admit, but think of the last time you were disappointed in a commodity purchased; of the last time you were bored or offended during a social occasion; of the last time you exerted yourself; of the last time you elected official; of the last time you were affronted by a play, a book, a concert or some other public entertainment.
could very likely be avoided if we all were to develop the critical faculty.
My questioner is not unusual. she argues, I think, from misconception, perhaps from false premises. One factor is the meaning of a negative outlook, but it does demand satisfaction. Or, to put it another way, being dissatisfied is being dissatisfied with things as they are.
IT WAS THAT EXQUISITE crit, Oscar Fingal O'Lahertine Wilde, who wrote, "Discontent is the first step in the progress of a man or a nation." He might well have added the arts, craftsmanship, manners, the selfhood and a lot more.
But we have so long been conditioned to fear criticism. We swallow promotional ballyhoo. We thoughtlessly coincide with the judgments of those around us. We accept the conditioned response of public opinion, and we confess the fault of being different and shy from the taint of disagreement. Our sports-dictated loyalty or our mass-induced "patriotism" has us convinced that to doubt, to see fail, to demand excellence is unacceptable and we bow to the undiscriminating stance that gives giving "a big one for the team." Our atrophied critical faculty is nowhere better evidenced than in the frequent response to
any less than approving comment: "Whose are you on, anyway?"
TO BE CRITICAL IS to be discontented with less than what could and ought to be. And this makes two requirements that I fear most people are unwilling or unable to satisfy: One is judgment and the other is a frame of reference sufficient to provide it.
A single apple might impress us all with its form, color and flavor. If it is the only apple on earth our approval is justified. But place another apple beside it and the apples will become a larger collection of millions of apples of every variety possible, and the judgment becomes even more discerning. Add to the millions of apples some study of botany, horticulture, the history of apple varieties, the process of approval (or disapproval) attains increased validity.
There may be several reasons for our neglect of the critical faculty, and none is enviable: ignorance, prejudice, cowardice or gullibility, to name the chief.
ARE CRITICS UNHAPPY? I doubt it. The truly unhappy chap, I think, is the one who avoid criticism, is never skeptical and sifts the whole of living through a very large-apertured sleeve until things go wrong. He knows he has been so wrong that become quite too much to take. Then, and not until then, he begins to gripe and grow and wonder why he finds life so unspleasant.
Altman's 'Nashville'...
From page 4
Ronee Blakley. Blakey plays Barbara Jean, a fragile country music queen whose stardom is threatened by her emotional collapse.
BECAUSE BARBARA JEAN is such a central figure, her songs might be expected to have a similar feel. Blakey has written several songs that achieve an uneasy balance between parody and authenticity. She also demonstrates her talent by playing very early in Barbara Jeans's onstage breakdown.
Robert Altman is a collaborative director, and almost every actor in "Nashville" was his. He's an excellent filmmaker.
"I try to leave myself as open as possible to whatever accidents happen," he said, "or someone else. I don't want other people making the film with me. I may have the control, but if I could take the film that I create in my own mind and make it immediately to film, it'd be a movie law."
IN "NASHVILLE" ALTMAN received help from several veterans of his other experiences. He served in Ramses, Shelley Duval, Gwen Welles and Michael Murphy are on hand. So are such
name actors as Karen Black, Ned Beatty,
and Grace Decker in his first film role,
comedied Lily Taimi.
With a cast of this size and magnitude, the salary budget for "Nashville" might be expected to have been astronomically high. However, Almanet got all twenty-four of his actors to work for union scale, in the vicinity of $8,000 to $8,000 apiece. Even at the cost of $8,000, Almanet lost only one member of his crew. The expected to have赴安娜 Ansach in the role of Barbara Jean, but she demanded a higher salary and was dropped.
It is Altman's peculiar blend of humor, tragedy and dramatic honesty that makes "Nashville" work. Viewers coming to his films for the first time will be surprised to learn that before he had even been on stage, Altman was positive that he had a winner.
One of "Nashville's" subplots deals with a third party presidential candidate whose political advertising is everywhere, but who is never seen onscreen. A Howard K. Smith commentary on the man is even less revealing, but it is no accident that characters are overheard discussing the Kennedy and King assassinations.
Altman's treatment of his main material is peripheral, almost off-hand, but it is perfect for gradually building an uneasy portrait of a leaderer nation.
CONIDERING THAT "Nashville" is one of the two box office hits of the summer ("Jaws" is the other), it is amazing that it has made Nashville own its own independent film company, all of his films are financed in part by the major distributors. United Airlines owns Nashville through the shooting, but were in Nashville they saw, and withdrew their backing.
Paramount picked up the rights to the film, and with a well-planned advertising campaign, turned in turning it into one of the season's bestsellers. The success also guarantees Altman's continued independence, because his company, Lion's Lions, owns a large percentage of "Nashville."
Although this will be his only release this calendar year, Altman is already in Canada filming his next picture, a western based on the movie "Indiana Jones," which will star Paul Newton. Our customers for that awhile, at least, Altman's money worries are over.
Do you mistakenly assume the critic to be negative? On the contrary, he may be the most positive of us all. He affirms life and security in the world. Vietnam, Watergate, political corruption, environmental waste, junk 'art', degrading entertainment, poverty and many injustices might never have baffled us, we been critical and demanding enough.
I submit that the really negative mind and soul lives in that gulless, gumble and irrigating chap who refuses to practice discernment until disaster threatens. If the critic is unhappy . . . and I dispute that . . . he is far happier than those who must live with the consequences of uncritical agreement.
Photos, faculty art grace fall exhibits
Six different art exhibits will be displayed in the gallery of the Kansas Union during semester, according to Student Association President Howard Collinson, Lawrence sophomore.
Collinson said that the first exhibit, on display Aug. 18 to Sept. 5, will be Kansas Folk Art.
The second exhibit, tentatively scheduled for Sept. 10, will be the Painting and Drawing exhibit, which will feature the work of one or two University of Kansas faculty members, Collins said.
He said the third exhibit, to be displayed
Oct. 10, Oct. 15, would be a tribute to Raimer Maria Ricla, a poet who based her work on various art pieces. Collinson said this exhibit would be shown in connection with a German department symposium on Rikce. From Oct. 25 to Nov. 16, the annual Kansas Design Craftsman show will be held, he said.
No definite exhibit has been scheduled for Nov. 19 to Dec. 11.
Collinson said the final fall semester exhibit, a display of the SUA photo contest winners, would open Dec. 12 and would continue into the spring semester.
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If you already own a Volkswagen our service and parts departments are open 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. (Parts dept. Is also open 9 a.m.-12 noon Sat.) Stop by 2522 Iowa, or call 843-2200.
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