The Current State of the Arts

In these modern times, many people enjoy being entertained by seeing a movie, watching a favorite TV show, or going to see a play. So many people use this as a chance to get away from everyday life and get lost in the magic of entertainment. However, it has become more common for people to critique a show and point out its flaws, rather than appreciating the art of it all. As more criticism comes from the productions that are put on, the idea of federal funding of the Arts seems useless to some.
There are people who think that the Arts should not continue to be funded by the government. They feel that it is not important enough in society for the government to spend the tax dollars they pay, and use it to support these kinds of programs. However, there are many who think otherwise. The NEA (National Endowment for the Arts) uses the money that it receives from the government to allow performing arts group to travel among the United States. People do not realize that these productions help to make other people aware of the different cultures in this world. When people see plays like “The Color Purple” and “Les Mis”, they are able to get a better understanding of what those different people went through at that time, and are able to have more appreciation for what they went through. When the NEA was created in 1965, Congress stated, “An advanced civilization must not limit its efforts to science and technology alone, but must give full value and support to the other great branches of scholarly and cultural activity in order to achieve a better understanding of the past, a better analysis of the present, and a better view of the future." This shows how, when it comes to the progression of society, the arts are of equal importance to business and new inventions. The arts explore different aspects of life that are not covered elsewhere. For many people, theatre gives the ability to solve real life problems, and to learn to be comfortable with oneself and speak with confidence, which is especially important in interviews for jobs. Through the arts, people learn to view these aspects of life with a new perception.
A lot of the entertainment industry is based off of perception. The way a director sees something may be different than what the audience believes. This can cause conflict, because many people do not like going to a show where their views and opinions are refuted. Others believe that that is the magic of entertainment. It is supposed to cause the audience to leave with a different set of opinions than what they came with. Those who are offended do not need to see the show. On the same subject, those who are not meant to see a show should not view it. A 10 year-old boy should not see an R-Rated film about anti-Semitism or drug dealing because he is not mature enough to comprehend that material in a healthy manner. The content in shows should remain the same; it should not change based on the various views of the people. At the end of his article about censorship, the author writes, “Displaying questionable content is not a crime; the crime belongs to the people who try to censor that content.” This describes how the entertainment industry should be able to get away with displaying these ideas, because it is their freedom and duty to do so.
The entertainment industry takes advantage of this freedom, because it has become more common to see content in shows that would have usually been outrageous for the view of the public. One of these more common aspects is nudity, not only onscreen, but onstage as well. Male nudity, in particular, has become increasingly popular, especially with shows like Monty Python or Equus. There are some who believe that nudity is not necessary, and that it is only used to make a show more unique, but others, like director Richard Greenberg, believe that it is just another artistic choice. He says, “Nudity is the right metaphor for what the play is about." This shows how the use of nudity acts as a tool to help tell the story of a play. It is not just for show, it has a purpose.
Besides nudity, there are other aspects in entertainment (movies, in particular) that some viewers are not comfortable with. A major worry among these people is the portrayal of sex in movies, and how it does not display the healthy ways of sexual behavior, as well as the consequences of those that do not. They feel that, too often, movies like He’s Just Not That Into You show the unhealthy ways in which people make love, without taking the time to show what really happens in real life when this occurs. Then there are others who believe that the entertainment industry does not need to do this. They note that there are films that do display safer ways to have sex, and that there are also films that show what happens as a result when a couple does not. In rebuttal to those that believe that safe-sex situations are not displayed in movies, David Goldenberg, the writer of this viewpoint essay says, “There are plenty of serious movies with major actors who suffer consequences as a result of unprotected sex, and it's not Hollywood's fault that more people want to see There's Something About Mary than Philadelphia. This shows how the movie-making industry does take notice of these real life situations and how they are applied in film. Earlier, he also says, “Maybe people would simply rather see escapist movies that didn't stop to explain that a pus-filled infection could result from careless sex.” This is a key argument against the other side, because one of the main reasons people go to any type of show is to get away from reality, and to forget about consequence. The audience cares more about what is going on in the story rather than the reality of the situation.
As more shows are featured, there will always be those who disagree with the ideas of them and their content. But entertainment is not meant to go along with the ideas of the public. It is meant to question those ideas and come up with different ones in alternative situations. Some will disagree with these views, and others will be able to identify with them. As long as there is entertainment, the productions will continue to challenge the audience, and the audience will accept that challenge by enjoying the show.