For a decade the hot ticket was Hamilton. The current vibe goes in the other direction, to that least Hamiltonian of Americans, Andrew Jackson.
Trump is a 21st-Century version of Andrew Jackson. Jackson moved political power from educated sophisticates to rough backwoods farmers. John Quincy Adams considered Jackson and his ill-mannered supporters crude and deplorable.
Trump leads a movement in opposition to elite sensibilities in politics and culture. Trump just dismissed the trustees of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He says he hasn't liked their programming of operas, symphonies, and ballets: "high culture." He said he wants flags and country music.
Jack Mullen grew up in Southern Oregon. We thinned and picked pears together in local orchards. In high school he played sports and practiced high jumps with future Olympic gold medal high jumper Dick Fosbury. Jack is retired and lives in Washington, D.C.
Guest Post by Jack Mullen
Washington is a very cold town, and I speak not just of low temperatures on wintry days in February. Washingtonians keep receiving daily buckets of cold water thrown into our faces.
We lament having no voice in Congress, but at least, thanks to the efforts of Oregon's former U.S. Senator Wayne Morse, Washington now has its own courts, mayor, and city council. Congress may vet any action taken by our D.C. government, but, thankfully, for the most part Congress has kept its nose out of Washington’s Home Rule. That is until now, when our president decided control of our nation’s capital should be returned to the federal government. One element of that is putting the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts under his own personal control.
Mind you, Trump has admitted never having attended a performance at the Kennedy Center. The Kennedy Center hosts two million visitors each year, as it showcases arts and culture from America and around the world. Trump says there is nothing he ever wanted to see at the Kennedy Center.
Having grown up in Southern Oregon, I was exposed to Shakespeare's plays in Ashland and classical music at the Britt Music & Arts Festival in Jacksonville -- unquestionably "high culture." One of my proudest moments while working on U.S. Rep. Jim Weaver’s congressional staff was helping secure a Community Development Block Grant for the new stage at the Britt Festival. Britt has grown into a major Southern Oregon tourist attraction with its summer concerts.
Photo by Al Case from Britt Festivals website
I get it that some people call those who attend plays and concerts in the Rogue Valley "culture vultures." One of Oregon's culture vultures, John Frohnmayer, became the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts during the first Bush administration. The NEA pushed the boundaries of high art and sophisticated sensibilities. Frohnmayer became famous for being forced to resign after the NEA funded display of the works of photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. The religious right and conservative commentator Pat Buchanan objected to some images. Frohnmayer's resignation was an early sign of a growing backlash to government support of the arts and the fight over what kind of art is worthy of taxpayer support.
It is fun to consider what might be the new programming at the Kennedy Center. Michael Golden of Great Neck, New York suggested, in a letter to The Washington Post, performances such as:
“The Musk-eteers," with songs like “I Could Have DODGED All Night,” or “I Left My Heart in Silicon Valley,” performed by a chorus line of female Robettes.
Or, “A Day of Love," performed by The January 6 Hostage Singers. He imagined songs such as “Jailhouse Rock” sung by a quartet of Proud Boys and "Back on the Chain Gang" by members of the Oath Keepers.
The new Trump-led Kennedy Center will de-emphasize symphonies and Shakespeare's plays. They aren't MAGA. The irony is that high culture still thrives, but in places far away from our national capital, places like my old home town in Southern Oregon.
[Note: To get daily delivery of this blog to your email go to:https://petersage.substack.com Subscribe. Don't pay. The blog is free and always will be.]
6 comments:
Black tie for Kennedy Center performances by Kid Rock and Larry the Cable Guy? Blech.
Trump’s crudity isn’t his only similarity to Jackson. In 1830, Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act which resulted in the Trail of Tears, killing thousands of Native Americans due to exposure, starvation, thirst, exhaustion, disease and violence. The Supreme Court had ruled against the act and Jackson reportedly responded: “John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it.” Trump is now echoing that sentiment. It’s no coincidence that Jackson is his favorite president.
As a teenager in the early 1960s, I loved jazz and rock. My idiot high school music teacher kept telling us that the music I loved was crap and that the only music worthy of our attention was classical music.
I have never been particularly into “high culture“, and snotty attitudes like that didn’t help. The only time I ever went to Carnegie Hall was to see the Mothers of Invention. 😱😀
A worthwhile thought experiment is to consider what Frank Zappa would think about today’s political scene and the 2025 project.
Fortunately, our vulgarity-in-chief has no authority over Carnegie Hall (yet). I’m afraid the Kennedy Center may become another venue for a WWE Smackdown.
Zappa already expressed himself:
It Can’t Happen Here
Post a Comment