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I'll Give You a Break...

Totally on board with Hillary on this one.

This past weekend's "Give Me A Break" segment on modern art really got under my skin (as per usual). In it, John Stossel is right to criticize art collectors and critics who seek to insulate their world from the unwashed masses. He lines up reproductions of work made by established artists next to finger-paintings by four-yr-olds and thrift store leftovers. Then he puts the black-turtleneck crowd on camera and, predictably, they proceed to make fools of themselves.

So but it was so obvious that his choices were set up to produce this result. The modern art pieces were the typical post-modern pieces, shown here outside of the context in which they were created. The thrift store piece evoked the well-known pop art of Andy Warhol. Plus, I have to say, the finger-painting they selected was really cool.

So why not just call it all art? Instead of denigrating modern art as a thing that mere four-yr-olds can produce, why not celebrate art when you see it? Why not spend two minutes of broadcast time actually listening to an artist explain what is so cool about the finger-painting instead of simply making an idiot out of him after the fact? Why not try to convince the art history drone that maybe she should rethink her assumptions about the inaccessibility of art?

This is just further evidence that I'm turning into my dad. I have clear childhood memories of seeing my dad get all flustered-grumpy while watching Sunday-football-delayed 60 Minutes. For my dad, it was Mike Wallace. For me, John Stossel is the man who makes me want to throw things at the tv.