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Actress Cate Blanchett has come out against "cancel culture" and claimed that studying the works of famous artists and historical figures is crucial, regardless of whether people find them offensive or controversial.
During a discussion of her new movie "Tár" with the Radio Times, which addresses the difficulty of separating the auteur from the art, the Oscar-winning actress was asked whether it is acceptable to cancel great artists because of their "personal foibles."
"You look at Picasso. You can only imagine what went on in, outside and around his studio. But do you look at Guernica and say: 'That is one of the greatest works of art ever?' Yes. It's a fact. I think it's important to have a healthy critique," Blanchett responded.
Blanchett also noted that engaging with older works is integral to understanding the historical context surrounding the art and its creator.
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Cate Blanchett, Goodwill Ambassador, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and Nicholas D. Kristof, Columnist at New York Times, speak during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland January 23, 2018. (REUTERS/Denis Balibouse)
"If you don't read older books that are slightly offensive because of what they say in a historical context, then you will never grapple with the kinds of the time," she said. "So, therefore, we are destined to repeat that stuff."
Tár, a film about a fictional world-famous maestro and EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) winner Lydia Tár, has been nominated for six Oscars, including Best Actress for Blanchett in the leading role. Blanchett has said the film used the concept of cancel culture as a thematic and plot device to tackle "existential" issues facing the modern world.
In a much-discussed scene from the film, the character Tár sits at a piano with one of her students, Max, and asks his opinion on a famous piece by composer Johann Sebastian Bach.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Goodwill Ambassador Cate Blanchett speaks during a Security Council meeting on the situation in Myanmar, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018 at United Nations headquarters. (AP)
"You play really well," the student, Max, replied. "But nowadays, White, male, cis composers, just not my thing."
"Don't be so eager to be offended," Tár snaps back. "The narcissism of small differences leads to the most boring conformity."
Tár also challenges Max's reservations about Bach and asks him to consider how those ideals could affect the young man's career.
"But you see, the problem with enrolling yourself as an ultrasonic epistemic dissident is that if Bach's talent can be reduced to his gender, birth country, religion, and so on, then so can yours," she said, pacing and addressing the entire class.
She continues a lengthy rant against Max's worldview before he gets up, grabs his bags, and calls the teacher a "f---ing b---h" before storming out of the classroom.
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Blanchett at the 2014 Academy Awards. (Reuters)
"And you are a robot," Tár responds.
The film also tackles topics like the #MeToo movement, with Tár preying on her favorite young female students. More than one critic has even suggested the character acts like a female Harvey Weinstein.
Other reviewers suggested there are glaring similarities between Tár and the real-life conductor Marin Alsop, who is name-checked in the film along with other renowned female composers.
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Alsop spoke out against the film, taking issue with the idea of portraying a woman in such a prestigious artistic role and then painting her as an abuser.
"There are so many men — actual, documented men — this film could have been based on but, instead, it puts a woman in the role but gives her all the attributes of those men," she said. "That feels anti-woman. To assume that women will either behave identically to men or become hysterical, crazy, insane is to perpetuate something we've already seen on film so many times before."