I left this out of my last post because I want it to be two different ideas:
Art has a context. Not only does art have a context, but its context should be vital in judging its merit.
Imagine all art as divided by the middle by a line. On the left side of that line is art that is inoffensive and socially acceptable, and on the right side is art that is offensive and socially abhorrent.
Toward the middle, you have art that teeters on the line between shocking or challenging and offensive or dangerous.
Great art exists in that space, and I believe artists have a right (yes, right) to explore it without fear of swift social execution from a small committee representing the interests of a narrow subset of the populace.
Hate speech exists on a separate plane. Racism exists on a different plane. Misogyny exists on a different plane. They sometimes disguise as art, but they exist to sow division or stoke anger.
That transport between these two planes is context. Sometimes the context is obvious. Nazis depictions of Jews as money-obsessed is clearly hate speech, whereas a Jewish comedian talking about his cheap uncle is clearly art.
Sometimes the context is less obvious. There’s a sub on Reddit called Gamers Rise Up that exists to parody how fringe/alt-right communities use niche hobbies to radicalize young white males. The jokes there push far-right talking points into common gamer memes, and a lot of it is hilarious. But what happens when someone posts a joke where the punchline is clearly meant to just be an offensive slur?
That’s not a question I’m trying to answer, but a point I’m trying to illustrate. Art has a right to exist. Artists have a right to explore their artistic space. Therefore, offensive art IN CONTEXT has a right to exist. Hate speech does not have a right to exist.
When we refuse to judge art on its context, I believe we are violating, in spirit, an artist’s right to freely express themselves.
I kinda wanna delete this but whatever I spent 30 minutes typing on my phone during my walk to work instead of listening to Big Thief, so send post.
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