(no subject)

[sunliner.livejournal.com]

I watched Simon Schama's Power of Art thing on David and jeeeez, he really hates him, doesn't he? It actually bothered me. Like, to the point where I made faces at the TV.
Also I forgot to add that it is very apparent that Death of Marat just EXHUDES ~*evil revolutionary sentiments*~ that corrupt the minds of our youth, ya know?

Comments

[kurotoshi.livejournal.com]

I got a big review on it back on Maelicia's journal and frankly, as a Maratist - I am SO GLAD I decided to watch wrestling instead >_

[maelicia.livejournal.com]

Actually, I threw my pen at the TV right after he called him a monster. I also shout to him to go fuck himself and to suck George III's balls.

...

Vulgarity aside, I mean, even my royalist mother thought Schama was overdoing it with the hate. He's a frustrated and pathetic propagandist who supposedly "hates" propaganda through David without realising his entire show was Anglo-Saxon counter-revolutionary propaganda.

And of course, that painting exhudes teh corrupting ebilness. It's "witchcraft" directly from the "Church of Revolutionary Virtue". You didn't listen Schama's wise words? :P

More bashing on my journal (http://maelicia.livejournal.com/331535.html) if it interests you (since kurotoshi referred to it anyway) -- it's satisfying at least, somehow.

[maelicia.livejournal.com]

P.S. I friended you, because it was a F-locked ranting post.

[jonahmama.livejournal.com]

This finally aired on US TV now. I would love to read your rant, but what's up with the f-locked Revolution posts? :'-( [You have a bigger fan club than you know. ;) ]

[maelicia.livejournal.com]

...I hadn't realised I had a fan club. -_-; I just thought that my radical, intransigeant, impassioned jacobin-robespierriste rants were bothering the more moderate temperament... Hmm. I suppose we could do something to solve this problem.

[jonahmama.livejournal.com]

Who ARE these "moderates" being bothered by YOUR journal? Let us haul them before the tribunal presently! ;)

Um, yes, pleeeeeeze.

[maelicia.livejournal.com]

Hm. If there's one thing I learned over the last year, it's precisely that hauling a moderate to the tribunal because that particular citizen(ness) is bothered by my journal would turn out to be a bad idea with bad eventual consequences for everybody in general, but especially for the Republic.

The ghost of Tallien once stalked my LJ, after all.

Well, to be frank: I was speaking of Desmoulins' fangirls. I once offended one who, exactly like him, happened to defend nobles with questionable and unreliable allegiances. Okay, so it happened one year ago, but it was a very traumatising LJ experience.

I could unlock that entry. -_-;

[jonahmama.livejournal.com]

Or would you consider adding me? I am not easily offended and the only person I tend to defend with a passion is Robespierre. And I am happy to add you back, but my journal is exceedingly boring, I assure you.

As for ghosts, you know that sort of discontent is transparent. If they were so bothered they wouldn't be reading now, would they?

[maelicia.livejournal.com]

Okay, I added you. This will make the whole thing much easier. -_-;

Hmm. Of course. And that ghost was so easily pwned, he deleted all of his comments.

[jonahmama.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

A cowardly creature, wasn't he. ;)

[maelicia.livejournal.com]

^_^

He was logically and wonderfully in character. :P

[sunliner.livejournal.com]

Hahahaha, that is such a wonderful insult.

What's funny is that I've never in my life come across a person who hated David before. I mean, out of all the arty people I've talked to, only one of them really knew about his politics, which could explain it--but even if the others did, I can't imagine they'd care much, let alone film a one-hour TV special on how much he sucks.

[maelicia.livejournal.com]

I believe that's because they usually avoid to speak of the political ideas. When they do -- in biographies, for example -- they generally can't avoid to bash David, firstly for painting Marat, secondly for being Robespierre's friend.

There is an ideological and political issue with all of this bashing that keeps on fascinating me. All the revisionists (French or Anglo-Americans) have a thing in common, they all seem to try to condemn the revolutionary idealism as if it were "absolute evil" and therefore needed to be destroyed.....

[morgan-wang.livejournal.com]

I don't like David either. Sure he can draw, but polticaly he was a double-crosser. One day its, "I will drink the hemlock with you" to Robespierre, the next, "Oh, dear, it apears he's lost populatiry and will be executed, Time to go into hiding." (Okay, I made the last quote up. but still...)

[estellacat.livejournal.com]

There's really only one good reason to dislike David: for his disloyalty. But even that doesn't give one an excuse to spend an entire hour's tv show ranting about how much one hates him.

Also, I was at a bookstore in New York yesterday a few hours before Schama came to speak there. But I didn't stay for the lecture, since I might have been tempted to throw The Social Contract at his head and see if I could make anything stick...

[bettylabamba.livejournal.com]

Oh crap, I missed it. Well, I guess I missed teh wize vitriol o' Schama. Were the re-enactors any good?

[sunliner.livejournal.com]

They mostly looked like they spent too long in the sun and were really sweaty all the time, though there was a nice replica of Robespierre's pink stripey coat. But I am not a big fan of re-enactors anyway.

[citoyenne.livejournal.com]

Oh dear god. This episode just aired on a norwegian tv channel and in that way I was unfortunately able to watch it. #"¤%&/()=P?`=)(/&%¤#¤%&/()=!!! That man has some serious issues. And when he had finished ranting about Marat, he just had to mention Napoleon, didn't he? If he don't like David in the first place, why make a program about him then?! Immature, if you ask me, especially when it's so subjective. I have myself, many prejudices against royalists, but I don't go ahead and make a tv show about them, now do I?

You've probably put this behind you a long time ago, I'm still annoyed and will be for quite a time, although I know it's not worth it.

[pale-jonquil.livejournal.com]

I have to say that I personally love Simon Schama. But I think the point of the episode was...well, the series focused on different artists' masterpieces. Death of Marat happens to be David's masterpiece (despite his own belief that his greatest work was Rape of the Sabine Women). Even though Schama may not personally like David, he sees what a work of pure art Marat is. It's propaganda, to be sure, which adds a layer, but it's also beautiful and haunting and most of all, emotional.

That Schama can see this despite disliking David is the main thing, because no matter what people may think of David on a personal or political level, there's absolutely no denying Marat is a cornerstone of Western painting.

I don't mean to be rude at all, and as the lone dissenter here I feel like that's how I'm acting. :) But I just adore Schama! And David and Robespierre, of course. By the way: I think Robespierre was only in that episode for three seconds or so? Just long enough for it to click in our heads who that was and what he'd eventually end up doing. He looked so incredibly pissed off and ftwjacobin, it was marvelous!

[morgan-wang.livejournal.com]

How many people here have read Schama's book Citizens? I had to read it in my room, I kept yelling at when he got facts wrong or said somthing compleaty biased. (Which was quite often) Example: "...Robespierre's inhuman love of oranges" OMG he's a space alien! or about Saint-Just, "He was capable of Draconian acts when he caught soldeirs looting, which his excessivy tidy mind frowned upon." So, if he was like the rest of us, he would think looting is just swell? lol. Schama also needed to work on his reaserch. Camille Desmoulins was not in the Theater, that was Fabre.

I think it has to do with the fact that Schama isn't really a historian on the French rev. His first book was on the Dutch. (Why did Citizens have a whole section of the book devoted to the Dutch rev?) I think he just saw that the bicentennal was coming up and wanted to make some money.