rant · moment 23 of 37
Should We Sanitize Art? Pedophile Artists and Sopranos Comparisons
from Stewed Reunion (with Mike Recine) · #74
Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.
3 minTim argues against retroactively judging historical art by modern values, citing pedophilic themes in old paintings, then they extend the logic to comparing Kevin Spacey's ousting to hypothetically removing Tony Soprano from The Sopranos.
- 42:32Tim argues that real talent often comes from a dark place, and we're sanitizing art by removing work based on modern values.
- 42:49The Met removed a painting depicting a young girl because it supposedly glorifies pedophilia, raising the question of whether we can represent historical facts in art without endorsing them.
- 43:20Judging past movies and television through a 2017 values checklist misses the point—art should provoke an emotional and visceral reaction, not pass a moral litmus test.
- 43:53Historical paintings from the 1500s were made in cultures where relationships with young teenagers were normalized, but that context shouldn't erase the art itself.
- 44:04In the 2040s, today's accepted practices—like podcasters speaking freely on microphones—will likely be deemed unacceptable and purged.
- 44:42House of Cards fell apart in its final season without Kevin Spacey, despite Claire being a strong character, because you can't just remove the central figure and expect the show to work.
- 45:07The Sopranos without Tony Soprano wouldn't be the Sopranos—you'd need to make a different, separate show about Carmela running the family.
Camille PagliaHouse of CardsThe SopranosLindy West