Cate Blanchett has been on quite the tear these last few hours. Earlier today she stated that because of identity politics she might not have been able to be cast in “Carol” and now she’s straight-up attacking "cancel culture."
You’d think Lydia Tár was getting interviewed. Speaking to the Radio Times, Blanchett makes the case that studying the works of famous artists and historical figures is crucial, regardless of whether people find them offensive or controversial.
Ironically enough, "Tár" is all about separating the art from the artist, and the Oscar-winning actress is now saying that cancelling great artists because of their "personal foibles” is a slippery slope:
"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.”
"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 […] So, therefore, we are destined to repeat that stuff."
Honestly, reading this interview I expected Lydia Tár to enter the conversation and give her two cents ("Don't be so eager to be offended”).
There’s that obvious, much-discussed scene in “TÁR” where Lydia sits at a piano with one of her students, Max, and asks his opinion on a famous piece by composer Johann Sebastian Bach. To which he responds, “Nowadays, White, male, cis composers, just not my thing."
This sets off Lydia, calling him a “robot,” as she castigates him with fastballs of acerbic wit: "The narcissism of small differences leads to the most boring conformity."
"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.
What a great movie, and Lydia Tár will absolutely, if she hasn’t already, become this iconic character in the cinematic canon. A movie for our times, as they say.
His reasoning is simple: Cregger sees himself first and foremost as a writer, and he has little interest in shaping stories around the predetermined “data points” that come with established IP.