Jefferson, author of On Michael Jackson: “Am I chagrined and shamed that when I wrote my book I couldn’t push myself to acknowledge that this damaged man was almost certainly a sexual predator? Of course I am. As a critic I’m invested in believing I’m not in the grip of naivety or denial. … [But] the crises that have created #MeToo and similar movements show how little we knew and how little we chose to know.” – The Guardian (UK)
Author: ArtsJournal2
The Backstage ‘Nests’ Of Broadway
Harvey Fierstein (who prefers a riot of color): “Superstition demands that a dressing room cannot be decorated until the reviews are published. It’s the old ‘counting your chicks before they’re hatched’ deal. But some actors take the monastic approach even further.” – The New York Times
Gaudi’s Unfinished ‘Sagrada Familia’ Finally Wins A Building Permit From Barcelona
It’s only been 137 years since the builders, who had no permit, apparently, broke ground for the massive, and massively complex, masterpiece cathedral. Will it be finished by the year the work permit runs out – 2026? Maybe! “Barcelona official Janet Sanz said the agreement between the city and the foundation had put an end to ‘a historical anomaly in our city.'” – The Guardian (UK) (Associated Press)
Laura Linney On ‘Tales Of The City,’ And Leaving Georgia, And Its Retrograde New Laws, Behind
Re the return of Tales of the City for a Netflix generation, she says, “I hope that it does what the arts do, which is it makes you feel less alone.” And re the show Ozarks, which films in Georgia: “I don’t want to ever stop working in Georgia. But if this law goes forward … I think we’ll have to leave. Because if you don’t stand up for this, then what do you stand up for? What does it take?” – The New York Times
By The Numbers, U.S. Museums Are Overwhelmingly Male, And White
A new study says that, at 18 major U.S. museums, with 10,000 artworks analyzed, the numbers are overwhelmingly clear. “The study found that 85.4% of the works in the collections of all major US museums belong to white artists, and 87.4% are by men. African American artists have the lowest share with just 1.2% of the works; Asian artists total at 9%; and Hispanic and Latino artists constitute only 2.8% of the artists.” – Hyperallergic
Ballet Is Beautiful, And It’s Also A Sport
“The ballerina’s challenge is to hide how hard she’s working, which is why behind-the-scenes ballet stories are always so appealing — it’s satisfying to see the athleticism inherent to the art.” – The Cut
The London Olympics Poet Has Just Won A Major Free Speech Prize
Lemn Sissay says that the Pen Pinter prize, named in honor of playwright Harold Pinter, is welcome. “What I like about this award is that it is from a great writer and a great organisation. I accept it as a sign that I should continue. All I have is what I leave behind. All I am is what I do.” – BBC
Dear Kids, In The Late 20th Century, We Were Into This Thing Called ‘Human Rights’
The entire concept – and certainly the promise of human rights as a way out of suffering for millions, if not billions – appears to be disappearing. “The human rights idealism of the late 20th century has itself become historical. It is time to review and count our losses, to admit that, in light of the outsized expectations, human rights will always fall short.” – Los Angeles Review of Books
Suddenly, This Young Actor Is On 5,000 Screens
She’s in Booksmart as a mean but sexy love interest, and now she’s got top billing with Octavia Spencer in a new horror movie. That’s a lot in a short time for an actor who has had three movie roles – and she’s refreshingly excited that Taylor Swift told her fans to see Booksmart. “I can’t even. She means more to me than she will probably ever know. Taylor Swift has seen my face. Cool! Sick!” – The New York Times
How Much Of What You Post Online Will End Up In Research Papers?
Our YouTube videos, Tweets, and other posts are public, but that can be hard to wrap your head around – and even harder to understand the long-lasting data-mining possibilities inherent in public posts. It’s not illegal, but “just because something is legal doesn’t mean it’s ethical. That doesn’t mean it’s necessarily unethical, either, but it’s worth asking questions about how and why researchers use social media posts.” – Slate