#Star Wars fandom has media literacy issues

[triggerthreestrikes]

Hey remember that scene where Kanan had that vision in the ancient jedi temple where the vision was like “Ezra’s going to turn to the dark side.” And kanan at first was like “NO CAUSE I WON’T LET THAT HAPPEN EVER!” And he failed? And then when he said “You’re right, He absolutely COULD turn to the dark side. But I am going to make sure I do everything I can to guide him, to help him make the best choices for himself and his relationships, because that’s all that I can do.” And then the narrative framed that as the correct answer?

Hey remember how that’s kind of similar to Anakin’s Situation in ROTS? And how he fucks himself and the rest of the galaxy over when he makes the choice to try and stop Padme from dying, leading to a self fulfilling prophecy where she dies anyway? And now he’s lost the Jedi, His wife, and his chances of living like a normal human being.

I refuse to believe that she “lost the will to live”. It was absolutely tracheal damage from ANAKIN CHOKING THE SHIT OUT OF HER when she said “You killed KIDS?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” And possibly Sidious siphoning the life out of her with sith force bullshit to keep Anakin’s stupid burnt ass alive.

Everyone says that the Jedi never put Anakin in therapy because he fell but if you're saying you never left a therapy session and immediately did all the shit your therapist just told you was bad and you agreed not to do you're a liar

[dotthings]

At this point it's absurd that spn fandom still whines about people who skip S1-3 as if that's the greatest sin spn fans could commit.

There are accounts who brag about having seen the entire series and have some of the worst, low media literacy, distorted, off-canon, character-mangling takes I have ever seen, and they do it while claiming to be the bestest realest spn fans.

Also, while I do think Kripke era is the strongest (in some ways, but without all that came after I wouldn't love it the way I do, I wouldn't have the extent of the spn brainrot I enthusiastically roll around in) my personal preferences are irrelevant, and there's so much goodness after Kripke that keeps getting brushed off, blown off, and ignored.

The denigration of everything-after-Kripke is exhausting. Y'all sound like the SW fandom menace waiting for their savior George to return and Make Star Wars Good Again.

Get over it.

Kripke is a brilliant storyteller in many ways but I could if I chose, unfurl an essay on his weaknesses.

Get over it.

And there are hateful stans still hanging around after all these years who hate everything after season 3 and I don't know why they are still here, blah blah blahing about eras of SPN they despise, but the fact this is an issue yet people are still being so damn condescending because there are people who don't make S1-3 their god

And people who try to tell other fans what they should think about it.

There's no hard binary to this. There are late-coming fans with legit better takes on the characters and themes and spn overall than some of the self-important old schoolers. (I'm speaking as an old schooler myself).

While personally I'm a completist who recommends watching all the seasons just to get the full picture, spn fandom facts are facts and the fact is that spn fandom has a whole lot of people who watched the entire series and do not understand the series they claim to stan.

So if you're going to complain about fans who skip early seasons, or who came into spn later so they're less interested in early seasons, and insinuate there's something wrong with them, you'd better also be going off about people who blow off the strengths of "modern spn," put Kripke era on a false pedestal, keep dishing out media illiterate bad takes on spn, and are committing canon hot take crimes on the daily.

Whatever it is Kripke tapped into in those earliest seasons, some indefinable x factor is not coming back. Get over it.

It's time to stop this defaulting of trashing everything that came after Kripke.

It's identical to the George Lucas vs "Disney Star Wars" nonsense.

It's the same stupid pointless thing.

Also every time someone does this in SPN fandom it's a pointed dig at Castiel fans designed to insinuate that "bros fans" are the ones who really know SPN and nobody else could possibly get SPN like the bros fans and I'm sick and tired of hearing it.

I've been here since season 1 episode 1 aired. Knock it off.

[izzyspussy]

About Me!

Hi, I'm Jack! I'm 29 and I use he/him pronouns. You might know me as @/calicojackofficial - which still exists as a writing and art sideblog, now @calicoy. On this blog you'll find fandom and personal posts. Everything is tagged for easy filtering.

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[pynkhues]

Do you think shipping culture has ruined or changed how some people consume TV shows.? Did it change for you?

That's a really interesting question, anon. I guess it depends on what you define shipping culture as, and whether or not you see it as an isolated component of fan culture or as a part of the tapestry of it.

Personally, I don't see it as isolated, so I don't really think shipping itself has ruined anything per se, but I do think the way it interacts with things like fandom going mainstream, capitalism, bigotry, social media, the erosion of the fourth wall, individualism and entitlement has a lot to answer for, both in terms of broader fan culture, media literacy and the death of the Golden Age of TV.

None of these things exist in a vacuum after all, and as a result, they all feed off and inform each other. Fandom going mainstream for instance is what made it profitable, which in a capitalistic society meant brands and corporations leveraged it to sell stuff, which in turn makes fans feel a greater degree of entitlement over characters and relationships and storylines, because they feel they've made a financial investment and they are now owed something. Pair that with social media eroding the boundary between celebrity and fan, brand and audience, and advertising and conversation, as well as the natural reactivity of social media call-out culture, and everything's out of its box.

To put it more simply, capitalism has turned stories into products and audiences into consumers, which means creative exploration and engagement matters far, far less than units sold.

That’s not to say that there was some golden age of storytelling where viewership didn’t matter – film and TV have always been a business after all – but the shift from the language of movie or show to content is a really telling one for me, and, as offered in many an anecdote by showrunners and critics alike, there’s no way shows like Friends or Seinfeld – shows that took a season or two to find their footing and their audience – would survive today.

I do think shipping's been affected by that cultural shift too. Not to be all ‘back in my day’, but - - y’know, back in my day, haha, it literally didn’t matter if your ship went canon! People multi-shipped! And I mean, I’ve said this before and will forever be the biggest champion of it, but I think gen fic was a lot more popular than it is now. People did don shipper goggles back then too, of course, but I do think there was less entitlement around shipping overall. Again, this is in no small part because corporations have learnt to leverage shipping and fandom broadly to market a show and sell merchandise, and it’s in that relationship where I think the story becomes less important than the product, and to a corporation, sometimes a ship becomes a tool to sell the product.

Look at the new Star Wars trilogy and everything that happened with Reylo, for instance, which is the perfect storm of capitalist intent, artistic de-prioritisation (to put it mildly), social media fan entitlement and pretty diabolical levels of bigotry (also to put it mildly).  

But y’know, even great shows do it to a degree these days – look at how Succession’s leant into Greg x Tom – and in cases like that, it’s not always a net negative. With good writers, they can balance that seesaw between artistic worth and commercial gain, but I don’t think it’s easy, which is why so many shows and movies these days feel like they’re pandering or trying to sell a Funko Pop.

So in answer to your question, no, I don’t think shipping culture itself is the issue, but I do think what audiences feel they’re entitled to when they turn on their TV has changed, which has in turn impacted the way they watch it, and the way a lot of networks make it too.

[not-equippedforthis]

yeah, what?

star trek at its core, at its premise (and yes this does include tos) is left-wing. in tos this can be quite hamfisted at times, its not perfect and it does have its fair share of issues, but the key messages are very much not?? right-wing?? the whole show is based on finding and making contact with new communities. its the 'leave your bigotry in your quarters, theres no room for it on the bridge.' its the ''a woman?' 'a crewman.'' its the 'go slow and make sure shes interested all the way', its the entire pro-choice allegory episode (yeah, very....right wing?? what), its the several episodes that are dedicated to 'war and fascism and eugenics is awful and our greatest hope for change is to leave them behind and work for peace and community between cultures,' which yeah, no shit, but its a 1960s show that the cold war era influenced so much and the anti-war stance is at the core of it because of that. for the time period, the messages were hamfisted and at times contradictory but the intent was there. the show is about peace and optimism for a better future, at its core. looking at that and analysing it is crucial.

also, telling people not to engage in a piece of media anymore because it was progressive at the time but is now problematic is...the opposite of media literacy? finding nuance in old media and understanding why things are problematic and what impact that media had is. the whole point of media literacy. also, prime example: classic literature?? there are so many literary works that have deeply problematic elements that we still celebrate as good books because we're able to acknowledge both the good and the bad, and the important part IS to acknowledge it. you cant just shove that under a rug. looking at tos from the 60s and watching it and, whilst enjoying it, analysing why its now problematic is key!! you have to be able to look at that to learn from it!! people can do both!! you cant just shove that shit under a rug and tell people not to watch it at all omd

yes, tos is problematic: its a show from the 60s, it has its fair share of sexism and racism and there are a few episodes (looking at you turnabout intruder) that whilst having good elements are also...really bad as a concept. the whole implication of women being wrong and unfit for demanding equal power rights? yuckk. it was progressive for the 60s in parts but doesnt hold up now anymore. but, many things like having lots of female characters in STEM and the mini skirts were considered liberating at the time! the entire pro-contraception allegory, not to mention said by kirk, the main character of the show, a man! hamfisted, yes, but the whole point is to look at that and analyse the intent, and how weve moved on from that. you can still...enjoy the show. pretending like its not there isnt gonna solve anything. saying 'dont watch it cause its bad end of' is not. media literacy.

also people like it cause. listen. a lot of it plot-wise is bad. not in a problematic way, but just bad in the way that a 60s show with no budget is bad. its entertaining as fuck. the stupid little boots?? the fight scenes?? the crazy ass noncensical plots and editing?? bless. the colourful sets, the really stupid episodes (that whole really usa patriotic episode (the omega glory) was fucking awful but goddamn was it Something to watch. sobbing). but, it is a good show. it has good episodes. the character writing and dynamics are actually insanely well written sometimes (i could talk about that for houurss). people like it for a reason!! also yeahhh people are mean to spock i wont contradict that 😭 (but then they break 9 federation laws and hijack and blow up a ship just to get him back from the dead. and then kirk says not doing so would be 'at the cost of his soul'. and then in the original script mccoy sobs his heart out at his funeral. so. shit man)

also also, im not surprised tos is still hugely popular cause it did kickstart modern fandom. looking at how this show developed so many communities and made such a massive cultural impact is really interesting.

youre allowed to dislike tos btw. there are several reasons why youd be entirely correct to do so. hell, its important for any fan of it even to recognise the bad parts of it and why they're bad. but its the 'you people have no media literacy you cant watch this show' thats flooring me.

also. amok time is a Thing. i think that speaks for itself, tumblr wise

tldr: tos is problematic, yes, but the entire message its trying to convey is very left-wing and telling people to plain-old not watch it is not. media literacy.

The fact that people like TOS more than any of the other Star Trek series is proof that the general population has no media literacy, and that nostalgia is one of the biggest driving forces of the media we consume.

TOS is sexist, racist, and just plain bad. I grew up on it, but watching it as an adult has been genuinely terrible. The women wear less and less clothing each episode and the men constantly dismiss and interrupt the women. The plots are just... nonsensical, to say the least. People promised me subtle gay chemistry between Spock and Kirk, but everyone is just mean to Spock! It's painful to watch!! It's genuinely not a fucking shock that this show got cancelled! It sucks!

The only good things about the show are the unique music, the adorable sets, and vaguely anti-religious themes (except those few times the crew of the Enterprise is explicitly Christian). There are no other redeeming qualities.

I don't want to shame people for liking TOS... but come on, people! This is Tumblr! Why do people like this show!? It's such a right-wing show!!

Moral of the post: Stop watching TOS, go watch Enterprise. The 1st episode sucks, but the rest of it is some of the best fiction I've ever seen. Don't believe me? Watch season 2 episode 23.

[fans-to-stans]

What is with the stigma surrounding fanfiction?

Fanfiction’s legitimacy has always been questioned thanks to traditional understandings and definitions of what literature should and should not be. However, sites like Fanfiction.net, Wattpad and Archive Of Our Own have brought up many aspiring authors, with various ones breaking into the literature mainstream: Cassandra Clare, E.L. James, and Rainbow Rowell. Despite this, fanfiction is never taken seriously as a medium, with many accrediting its popularisation to slash pairings from Star Trek or Harry Potter and self-serving rewrites of young adult series like Twilight. The connotation of young adults not being seen as credible themselves further amplifies the stigmatisation of fanfiction. Yet, even the Brontë sisters dabbled in fanfiction--though obviously not called that at the time. During an era where digitalisation has made this fan practice more accessible, surely this should benefit its image and help it be more mainstream. However the opposite is true, as many elites prefer to--in simple terms--gatekeep literature.

The digital revolution has helped the growth of many fandoms, sometimes exponentially. While fanfiction is still a niche subculture, as not every fan will partake in it, the reality is that there are hundreds of thousands of stories that can be accessed through the internet--which is a lot more than can be said for “legitimate literature”. In January 2021, Archive of Our Own’s 5 most popular fandoms (Marvel, Harry Potter, Supernatural, My Hero Academia, Star Wars) boasted a combined total of more than 1.35 million works. Of these works, some even exceed the word counts of mainstream literature. Here is about the time people commence with the “quality over quantity” argument.

Is fanfiction a low quality version of actual literature? Why does it deserve to have recognition? How do you expect published authors to share the same level as fanfiction writers who indulge in ‘weird’ tropes or scenarios and can’t even come up with their own characters or universes? If original and innovative works are what makes them legitimate, that’s understandable. I’m not so delusional to believe that a 3k word ‘fluff with no plot’ work is equivalent to the likes of The Da Vinci Code, of course they’re not. Why should that devalue the former though? You might be surprised just how much character study or how many literary devices could be packed in the eloquent writings of a simple 3k fic. 

Circling back to originality and innovation, would texts such as Ulysses, Paradise Lost, The Penelopiad or Prometheus Unbound not be considered legitimate literature? They are rewritings, and thus transformative works, much like fanfiction, where the characters and plots are borrowed from another author. However, these works delve into character and story at a larger depth than the original--so what separates it from fanfiction that do the same? The truth is that many characters or stories in legitimate literature are not as well written or complex as they believe themselves to be, and it is often fanon (fan canon, aka elements not necessarily in the original story but widely accepted in fandom spaces as canon) content and involvement which brings them to life. There’s a reason why passive consumers of media are not as attached to characters or stories, because they don’t project onto these characters or develop a deeper personality for them. Fanfiction is simply a channel for fans to further expand on these scenarios and personalities, in ways the original creators failed to do.

As for the argument that fanfiction contains weird scenarios… surely there is plenty of legitimate literature that people still haven’t read because it doesn’t tickle their fancy. Surprisingly, the same idea works for fanfiction: if the summary or plot isn’t appealing to you, keep looking because there’s other works. Besides, plenty of legitimate literature contains worse concepts than most fanfiction I’ve seen. Flowers In The Attic is one of the most top selling works of all time, and its a story focused on generations of incest and mindbreaking. But fanfiction is inherently weirder right?

At the end of the day, elitism dominates literature. Digitalisation makes fanfiction accessible to anyone, and that doesn’t intrigue them because how will they turn profit from something anyone can see? Of course this pairs well with authorship issues as well. In any case, fanfiction and legitimate literature will continue to coexist so long as fans continue consuming and building on media, and there is a platform for them to share this; it’s a source of inspiration and comfort for young authors and those with an open mind.

References:

Berkowitz, D., 2013. Framing the Future of Fanfiction: How The New York Times’ Portrayal of a Youth Media Subculture Influences Beliefs about Media Literacy Education. The National Association for Media Literacy Education’s Journal of Media Literacy Education, [online] 4(3). Available at: <https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/jmle/vol4/iss3/2/>. 

Burt, S., 2017. The Promise and Potential of Fan Fiction. [online] The New Yorker. Available at: <https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-promise-and-potential-of-fan-fiction>. 

Leavenworth, M., 2015. The Paratext of Fan Fiction. Narrative, [online] 23(1), pp.40-60. Available at: <https://muse.jhu.edu/article/563645>. 

McCracken, A., 2015. Fic: Why Fanfiction Is Taking Over the World by Anne Jamison. Cinema Journal, [online] 54(3), pp.170-175. Available at: <https://muse.jhu.edu/article/579668>. 

Schiller, M., 2018. Transmedia Storytelling:. Stories, [online] pp.97-108. Available at: <https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv5rf6vf.10?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents>.

[thesevioletdel1ghts]

sorry for jumping in to reply randomly - I’m quite new to the Gotham fandom but I’ve been following your meta posts for a while and what you say really resonates with me. I’ve been in various fandoms since the early 2000’s, when it was mostly archives, websites and livejournal - the good old days! It wasn’t drama free by any means, we had BNF meltdowns and of course shipping wars since the beginning of time, but it was never about real life issues! And almost everybody calmed their tits enough to enjoy some quality smut without judging each other. I mean, there were kinkmemes with prompts that would make the more sensitive people around here run for the hills, for God’s sake.

The shift to tumblr was huge and I did drop out of fandom for several years at that point, as I just couldn’t see it existing on tumblr on the same level as it did on LJ. Fannish activity was very much text based before, more centered on writing and meta. The number of your followers would depend on how good a writer or how active in discussion you were, which required a certain level of literacy and mindset. This and the more limited access to the internet (compared to now) meant that the average age in fandom was higher, I think. Nowadays every (pre?)teen with a smartphone can get on tumblr, and fandom activity consists mainly of gifs and vids and one liner memes.

(Now this sounds like “back in my day we had to walk uphill in the snow both ways” saltyness and while I do think that there is a great deal of immaturity in the Gotham fandom, I don’t want to claim that’s it’s all the fault of teens / ppl in their early 20’s. Hell, I was a teen when I first joined fandom.)

Also, I’m not from the US, nor do I live there, so I am talking out of my ass here - but I think that the “safe space” movement encouraged by universities, the fear of “cultural appropriation” (which is an unfathomable concept for most Europeans /Asians) and the general pressure to be PC all time had a huge impact on how the most vocal young SJWs on tumblr view the world. There is a reason the term SJW exists in the first place.

The internet and virtual media is not just for entertainment anymore, it’s an integral part of our daily lives. Creators and stars of a show will tweet and instagram and even be on tumblr - could you imagine a celebrity being on LJ like 15 years ago??

This accessibility makes us feel special but also entitled. I mean, you can tell RLT to his face that you are also gay and he inspires you and that is super awesome! But it makes people believe that they are entitled (and even obligated!) to tell him why Nygmob should happen or why Oswald should be gay/ace/bi, etc. They can send hate to the writers with a tap. It blurs the lines and makes people project their issues. Before we just wrote fanfiction and no one ever talked to the person they were writing fic about. Some of the biggest ships didn’t even exist in canon! (looking at you Harry/Draco.) Creators didn’t give a fuck about fandom or didn’t even know it existed. In this day, show runners and stars will not only listen to fans but actively try and engage them. (which I do think is a fantastic but scary thing, actually.)

Fandom is not a completely separate playground anymore, it’s an extension of real life. And in real life, everybody has an Opinion. And if they can tell it to the actual creators of a show, then sure as hell they can do the same to random other fans.

Don’t get me wrong, Gotham is not free from writing issues or being a bit shakey in handling sensitive topics. It is necessary to have minority representation and now that we have social media to help us, ojectionable or inappropriate content should be called out. But you’re right, there is a time and place for it. Sadly, because of this blur between RL and fandom, many people aren’t able to take a step back and separate fannish activity (kinks, shipping, etc) from actual issues or simply what they want to see on the show. They think that what you ship or like can have an effect on the direction of the show (bullshit, it can’t) or will influence other viewers (again bullshit, everyone should sort out their preferences on their own).

Now, this is not even such a huge problem. But why people feel the need to actually POINT IT OUT to someone who has no influence on the show and is just enjoying a pairing for what it is - that I don’t understand.

It just makes me want to scream “are you really having fun? is this what fandom is about?!”

I guess I’m just someone who cannot take “fandom issues” seriously. I’ll do that at a RL debate club or an election rally. Now let me enjoy my fandom in peace.

(And I actually do have a fic like, 80% written that fits the category you asked for in your rec post ;) I should post it sometime.)

Fandom Meta: Art, Fandom, and throwing rocks at Artistic Expression

Art is the medium by which we- as human beings- are able to relate to each other. Art allows us to understand things that are more than ourselves, and imagine life through the agency of others. (-Vikas Shah)

One of my very first memories was being on-stage for a performance of Beauty Lou and the Country Beast. I think I was 6. My mom thought I’d have fun with the children’s touring company as it came through our small town. I don’t remember much, just me singing away on a fake barrel with my little blue bonnet tied tight around my head. But that one moment changed the course of my life forever. I never left the stage. And now theater is in my blood. It’s not just what I do, it’s who I am.

To me TV shows are like a theatrical performance, only on a flat, rectangular screen. While it serves as a form of artistic expression as well as a mirror to society, to me the artistic expression comes first. I understand not everyone sees it that way. But art doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It needs a creator first and an audience second.

There is a saying in theater. One hundred people walk into a theater to see a show and they walk out with 100 different interpretations and all are valid.  So to me, all interpretations can be valid all at once. Each individual audience member, with their own perceptions, will experience the material differently. So when I see fans attacking other fans over their interpretations, I’m flabbergasted. I don’t get it. It’s so antithetical to what I do everyday that it makes no sense to me. 

I’m not saying that discussions about representation in media shouldn’t happen. Or discussions about what responsibilities artistic expression should have or not have. But from what I’ve seen, those aren’t the discussions that are happening in fandom on Tumblr. Now it seems to be a game of absolutes. There is no wiggle room. No compromise. No valid interpretations but the ones we agree with. It’s become glaringly obvious that Tumblr is ill-equipped to be the venue to have these types of thought-provoking discussions and probe at sometimes unanswerable questions.

Humans have been fighting over artistic expression since we were still in caves throwing rocks at one another for our cave drawings or the tall tales of victory on the battlefield. I shouldn’t be surprised to see the rocks continue to fly here. But one post after another where fan attacks fan, or all of the fandom, for something as simple as which character you like or not, is absurd. 

I once wrote out a very long post in response to a user that had called other fans vile and disgusting over something to do with shipping. I made many counter points, but was ultimately asking if they could tone down the rhetoric. I had hoped for, and dreaded, a response all at the same time. But I thought it needed to be said and I’d hoped that I was polite enough to maybe bridge a gap. I went back a few weeks later to see if they responded and saw that they had deactivated their account. Though some might have, I didn’t feel victorious. This wasn’t a vanquished foe I’d drilled out of the fandom by my acerbic wit and sass. I was disappointed and sad. Another member of fandom had decided they needed to leave. Perhaps they signed back up with a different name. Perhaps my comment had absolutely nothing to do with them leaving. I sincerely doubt it did. At least I hope not! That wasn’t my intention. But left, they did.

On the one hand, I adore the cacophony of fandom activity! The thrill when your favorite character goes up against a foe and wins. Or lamenting the heartbreak over a lost love. I love each and every excited exclamation point! The old interviews that a research obsessed fan digs up for all of us to enjoy. Or the art and fiction! Just all of the art and fic, all of the time. I will never get enough of it!

But then that cacophony turns inward in the worst way and we start ripping each other apart and there isn’t anything I can do about it but sit and wax poetic about my fandom times past. Which, granted, weren’t always as peaceful as I now remember them. Nostalgia makes the memory grow soft around the edges. I threw down with the best of them back in the day. But I didn’t get any enjoyment out of that so I don’t plan to do it again.

But what is happening now is a whole different kind of throw down. 

I rarely post anymore cause of the atmosphere here and then when I do it’s to poke the venue of Tumblr in the eye for its faults. Mostly because I’m frustrated that fandom has become so entangled with SJ that it’s almost impossible to see between them anymore. There is a place for both in society. Fandom as a form of artistic expression, separate from the source material’s own, and social justice all have their place. But they don’t need to all be in the same place at the exact same time.

I look forward to the day they each can find a home more suited to peaceful co-existence. Which, Tumblr is not. 

Whole swaths of fandom genres have collapsed under SJ’s constant assault. I requested dark!fic and kink!fic recs in my last post and though I received a handful of lovely comments in PM, nary a rec was to be found. It seems as if that form of artistic expression has been all but driven out of the fandom sphere and it’s not only troubling but disappointing as well. Those voices have been silenced. That art form lost. I take heart in that fandom, like life, is cyclical. I fully believe there will be a day when fandom’s artistic expression will be free from SJ’s stranglehold and thrive again. 

I’m not looking for any kind of fight with this. I’m tired of all the fighting. Maybe by linking to the below article about art and its relation to society, it will be an interesting read for some and thought provoking for others. Maybe it will help someone struggling to find a way to express themselves in our current fandom environment. And just maybe someone will find it so interesting they decide to look into a theater class and become just as enamored with art, as I myself have been since I sang my little heart out as Young Beauty Lou.

(It’s funny, as I was reading though the below article, they mentioned cave dwellers as well as the first form of artistic expression. I guess us theater geeks tend to think alike!)

Art is one of the most valuable assets of human society, yet the truth is that while we may attach art to a time and a place; it’s true provenance and relevance remain intangible. We can look at the raw materials (the paint, the instrument…), the composition (the brush strokes, the music) or even the act of consumption (viewing, listing…) – but the thing that we observe only becomes art within us. The phenomenon of art emerges within the intangible mix of experience and cultural inputs that create our mind. (-Vikas Shah) bolding mine

https://thoughteconomics.com/theatre-performance-and-society/ - Article and Interviews by Vikas Shah