In this case, the media has been thrust in the position of the literary critic, drawing lines between the artwork and the broader culture. This isn’t a bad development, exactly—it’s great that a short story is making headlines. But it is also worth noting that the boundaries of literary criticism, at least as they are traditionally conceived, are being exceeded across the internet. The response to “Cat Person” is the latest evidence that we have entered new territory for online criticism, and no one quite knows what to make of it.
Tag: 12.12.17
How Scammers Are Laundering Bitcoin Through iTunes
Some schemers are essentially laundering their bitcoins through song purchases on Apple-owned media store iTunes. Although it’s unlikely to be widespread, the approach results in a legitimate payment from Apple—meaning fraudsters are then largely free to use their ill-gotten gains however they see fit.
The Double Agent Classical Music Critic Inside The New York Times
John G. Briggs Jr. was a respected classical music critic and cultural reporter for the Times. But he had a second professional life that he hid from his bosses in New York. Writing under a pseudonym for a prominent South Carolina newspaper, the Times journalist delivered fire-breathing, race-baiting and occasionally anti-Semitic screeds attacking the “liberal” press and its alleged communist ties.
Why Are The Met’s Biggest Stars Dropping Out Of The New “Tosca” Production?
Since the Met first announced the new “Tosca” 10 months ago, the David McVicar production has lost its star tenor, Jonas Kaufmann; the soprano singing the title role, Kristine Opolais; its conductor, Andris Nelsons, who is married to Ms. Opolais; and his replacement, James Levine, who was suspended this month after being accused of sexual misconduct. Now the last remaining star of the originally-announced cast has withdrawn.
Neil LaBute, Katori Hall, Quiara Alegría Hudes, And Other Playwrights On How They Think Of Audiences
Hudes: “If you write solely to suit the audience, you’ll be chasing your tail. That being said, I study them very closely – where they laugh, where they lean in, where they ‘go fishing’ in their minds.”
LaBute: “I want to get close to them and make them feel the events in a real way – to break the fourth wall, to look them squarely in the eye, and challenge them to leave, but force them to stay.”
Four Factors Make The Classical Music World Ripe For Sexual Abuse
“Classical music institutions like the Met don’t have to dig very deep in order to understand where things went wrong. Through decades of research, the National Sexual Violence Resource Center – which rose out of the feminist rape crisis movement of the 1970s – has identified five problematic norms that contribute to an environment in which sexual violence takes place. As a workplace and as an art form, classical music is at risk in four of them.”
Why The Bad Sex In Fiction Award Is Just A Bad Idea
“Ultimately, the whole project gives the impression of being based on two simplistic and very flawed premises: 1) you can judge a sex scene ripped from context, and 2) a good sex scene evokes not amusement, disdain, or pity but rather arousal.”
Dances With Wheelchairs: Inside AXIS, The Company That Puts Disabled And Able-Bodied Dancers Side By Side
“Making the case for a serious art form for dancers who use wheelchairs meant a lot of advocacy. … ‘The first 10 years we spent just trying to convince people in the bigger dance world, the funding world, that what we were doing wasn’t ‘just therapy,” [said AXIS co-founder Judith Smith]. ‘We really wanted to be taken seriously as a dance company.’ … Today, AXIS’s work is fairly well known within the field of contemporary dance. It is less visible, however, to the general public for many reasons.”
Why The Getty Center’s Art Was Safest Inside The Getty, No Matter How Close The Fires Got
“Visitors come to the Getty Center in Los Angeles to see Vincent van Gogh’s irises and other great works. What they don’t see is the reason that these masterpieces could stay put while thousands in Southern California had to evacuate as multiple fires raged in recent days, one of which came within thousands of feet of the museum. The Getty’s architect, Richard Meier, built fire resistance into the billion-dollar complex.”
Bruce Brown, Documentary Filmmaker Who Directed ‘Endless Summer’, Dead At 80
“Hailed as ‘the Bergman of the boards’ and ‘the Fellini of the foam,’ Mr. Brown brought next to no professional training but an abundance of passion to his art form, which he used to popularize surfing far beyond the coastlines of California.”