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The old joke was that the difference between Denver and yogurt is that yogurt has a living culture, but now it appears that the city enjoys a lively culture.
Out at the Imax Theater where the killer squirrels lurk, they're trying to decide whether a Rolling Stones concert film is suitable for the Museum of Natural History.
(My two cents' worth: I don't know anybody here who'd
drive to Denver to see Mating Habits of the Gallapagos
Tortoise
on a jumbo screen, but the Rolling Stones
would draw quite a few mountain low-lifes, who might even
spend money in Denver. Also, the museum has many mineral
displays; can't rock and Stones thereby qualify?)
Another issue is whether Opera Colorado should perform
Die Meistersinger
by Richard Wagner. Wagner was an
anti-Semite before his death in 1883; many Nazis, including
Hitler, later admired Wagner's work.
The sensible way to judge Wagner's work is by the music
(Mark Twain once observed that Wagner's music isn't as
bad as it sounds
), not by the composer's life or
fans.
I like to think that I can enjoy Chuck Berry's music without thereby announcing that I admire his troubled personal life, or that I can savor the eloquence of Malcolm X without someone interpreting that to mean that I approve of everything his fans have said and done.
If current standards prevail, though, we can imagine someone wandering into the library of the future: the PC Multi-Media Multi-Cultural Resource Center.
I'm interested in American history. Do you have the
Declaration of Independence?
Sorry,
the librarian replies. It was written
by a merchant of death -- a tobacco planter. Is there
something else I could help you with?
How about something by wholesome Charles
Dickens?
The home-and-family hypocrite who left his faithful
wife of 22 years for a showgirl? Are you kidding?
My grandmother often turned to the 23rd Psalm for
solace,
the depressed patron says. Could I see
that?
Of course not. The author, King David, was an
adulterer, polygamist, killer and opportunist. Further, the
book it appears in has been admired by colonialist
exploiters of indigenous cultures. That book has also been
used by every sort of bigot to justify inquisitions,
expulsions and tortures.
The gloomy patron mentions a cheerful song.
The composer was a profligate who left women
everywhere,
the librarian replies. Some countries
refused him entry. Respectable people protested his
concerts.
Gee, I didn't know that Keith Richards wrote
'Hungarian Rhapsody.'
He didn't. That was Franz Liszt, and you're not
allowed to hear his music, either.
And thus is culture promoted and preserved by enlightened modern analysis.
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