Trump’s Twitter outburst marks a trend in the intersection of art and politics
On Nov. 18, vice-president-elect Mike Pence attended a performance of the hit musical Hamilton in Chicago. After the performance, actor Victor Dixon addressed Pence in a letter co-written by the show’s creator and director, Lin-Manuel Miranda, calling on the vice-president-elect to be inspired by the themes of diversity and immigration in the show, hoping it would have an influence on the running of the country. In response, president-elect Donald Trump took to Twitter, calling the cast “rude,” the show “overrated,” and demanding that the theatre remain a “safe space.” The same week, Trump also called out Saturday Night Live for being unfunny.
While the most recent outburst from Trump seems bizarre, it is part of a long history of political interference in the arts.
Centuries ago, Shakespeare had to deal with pressure from the Puritans and had to relocate his theatre across the River Thames in order to continue performing. Voltaire was exiled to Great Britain for creating works that would contribute to the rise of the French Revolution in the 1700s.
A more recent example is the arrest of members of the Russian band Pussy Riot after performing their song “Holy Shit” protesting Putin in a Moscow church in 2012.
Canada’s history is not immune to issues of censorship.In 1694, 173 years before Confederation, the play Tartuffe by Molière was banned from being performed in Quebec by the local clergy. During the First World War, the War Measures Act restricted publications that conflicted with Canadian values at the time. In 1993, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre in Toronto was almost defunded by the City due to the themes of homosexuality in their shows.
Censorship continues to be an important and life-threatening issue in many areas of the world. Freedom of the press is practically non-existent in Syria, and countries such as Eritrea, North Korea, and Saudi Arabia are considered to be highly restricted in terms of free speech according to the Committee to Censor Journalists. In opposition, the United States continues to pride itself on having the right to free speech. While Trump’s tweets hold little influence in terms of the law, the backlash from his loyal followers may dissuade creators less successful than SNL and Hamilton from attempting to criticize his politics.
Television, movies, music, and theatre have always been reflections of political circumstances, and leaders are never immune to criticism. Previous presidents, notably George W. Bush, have acted as punch-lines for many jokes over the course of their time in office. As the Trump presidency begins, it will be interesting to see how he will interpret criticism embedded in art in the future, and whether his reactions will influence the production of said art.
Photo courtesy of Amanda Lucidon via public domain.