4 The News The RGS Gazette Does controversial art still have its place in society? My time in the RGS’s production of the fabulous musical ‘The Producers’ (beyond being vastly personally revealing) was an important exercise in how to handle sensitive topics as a performer. We were, metaphorically speaking, handling a live bomb in the form of a stage performance: presenting an incredibly risqué satire to a swathe of teenagers was perhaps a bold decision, but one that, in my neutral and objective view, paid off. It got me thinking however: how has controversial art and media’s role in our society changed over time? In the modern day, controversy has transformed from a debate into an all-out war. Undesirable topics are being purged from public consciousness. Art which includes messages of misogyny or racism are criticised and de-platformed with extreme prejudice, but there is a growing feeling that the goalposts on what is ‘undesirable’ are ever changing. For example, Toni Morrison’s ‘The Bluest Eye’ (1970) remains a challenged and banned text for its graphic sexual content and straightforward depiction of racism, but it can in no way be called an endorsement of either. This begs the question: where does controversial media land today, and has its purpose changed over time? Challenging art has existed throughout our history, as early as 1387 and beyond. Chaucer’s ‘The Canterbury Tales’ is often cited as a landmark of social criticism soaked in irony and satire. It intentionally challenged conventions of the time in order to push boundaries and expand people’s schools of thinking. Numerous other books and figures in literature could be used as examples: Oscar Wilde and Gore Vidal both spring to mind as writers and figures who strongly advocated for the rights of the recently termed LGBTQ+ community. Again, they published to push boundaries and advocate for unheard voices. However, we now live in an era of information, communication and representation. Chaucer could hardly petition the King, but, in the modern day, unheard voices can find a platform in activism rather than deferring to modes of art or other like media. Real change can occur through online activism, as Max Littlewood (Year 13) considers the changing role of controversial art in society from Chaucer to the modern day, and the manner in which such media informs our current discourse. The RGS' production of 'The Producers' in March.
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