You are part of the reason art is fading away– Here’s why:
There is a sentence that illustrates the decline in the appreciation in arts that goes back to a decade ago, and just shows that young people today should act and not let this statement continue to go through. In Danny Gregory’s article on “Let’s get rid of art education in school” it mentions that “No Child Left Behind and Common Core programs prioritized science and math over other subjects, and in Los Angeles one-third of art teachers were let go between 2008 and 2012”—perhaps kids today will never know the true value of learning about other’s perspective, learning about ourselves, letting your imagination soar, the amount of wisdom, and knowledge are thought to end up being bullied for liking it or just find it boring.
Art can be expressed in many different forms: literature, painting, architecture, film, music, performance, etcetera. Young people today stopped reading books— which is undoubtedly a powerful piece of merchandise, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” starting a war, and “Odyssey” being passed on orally for hundreds of years”—because people “don’t know anything about art” and consider younger people that are interested in art to be “weirdos.” The ignorance for not seeking to read books is a problem because books were and are truly valuable in understanding others. It can help us put ourselves in others shoes, it helps us with our “philosophical, emotional, and political understanding.” Putting ourselves in others’ shoes also helped us see representation differently in media as of recent years, allowing us to see things from all sorts of perspectives. In an article by John Marchi called “Tenet has a serious woman problem”, he mentions that “There are just three women in Tenet and their roles are relegated to plot devices.” and that “this film doesn’t show two women speaking to each other at all.”, meaning all women could be lifted off the script and replaced with men and it “would not be drastically different.” This article helps demonstrate that even a man, who earned a master’s in cinema studies, was able to see the real problem and put themselves in a woman’s shoe and be able to see things from their perspective, developing emotional connection.
In a survey done by Ty Samphorthvicheka and Choun Channa, they ask people who study/plan to study something in art why they think traditional art is fading away, to which 18-year-old Ngoun Srey Roth says “I think some teenagers aren’t interested in learning traditional art because they think it doesn’t have a huge market.”, and that it needs “a good deal of talent” and “isn’t an easy skill to learn.” which is why writers and readers alike are slowly losing interest. The real problem is, bad books are the ones that get popular, thus giving the actually good literature bad reputation pushing readers away. Award winner Michael Krüger states “the problem is that most of the readers love bad books!” and that “horrible books are much more loved than the good ones.” which takes away the credit from actually great books from the likes of Dante Alighieri, William Shakespear, Tolstoy, or Hemingway.
School programs mostly prioritise math and science over any other subjects, even English literature and any form of art. Young people are made to believe that those two subjects are the ones that get you a career, because as previously stated it is thought that the arts are something unsustainable and that they don’t have a huge market. A possible solution for this would be for schools to open up opportunities for trips to museums and theatres, letting people explore the various forms of arts; architecture, sculpting and performance arts.
Why we think that young generations are not interested in culture and how to make it ”cool”
There are different opinions about why the young generation is not interested in culture. One of the
opinions is that the social media and the internet is to blame. Young generation today spends most of
their free time with phones and tablets in their hands, chatting with dozens of their friends, sharing
useless information over the social applications, reading only headlines on Facebook. Alternatively, they
listen to commercial music most probably on Spotify or watch the newest series on Netflix.
Many young
people think they can get all their cultural needs from the internet. Social media possibly has the effect of
making isolation tendencies worse, while culture is supposed to connect people together. Yes, social
media has increased the connections between people and created an environment in which you can
share your opinions, but we could be doing these things by just meeting with each other. I have never
seen a kid or a teenager, voluntarily go to a museum or an opera unless it is an event organized by
school and who would not want to skip the school for a day. Even cinemas are empty because kids have
Netflix and other streaming services at home these days. One of the other opinions may be the fact that
people are embarrassed to be interested in art or culture, because not everyone agrees that culture is
needed and that it should be appreciated. Teenagers can be subject to ridicule or taunting by their peers.
Let us make culture more interesting for young people – “Let’s make culture cool again”.
How to make it cool? I think more younger people would go to museums, art galleries and theatres if
they were made more fun. For example: museums and galleries would be more fun if they had a short
film about the things that are inside. It’s easier and more fun to learn about the art and historic findings
when you see a short film first because if you don’t fully understand the first time and it is interesting for
you then you can read it again at the place where its exhibited. It’s more fun because for most young
people reading is boring so if they don’t have to they will not read it but if it’s in a short film/documentary
there is a much bigger chance that they will listen. Theatres would be more fun if the actors would
engage the audience more in the play.
I think best would be if there would be more museums where
people could interact. For example: as you are looking at the art and historic pieces there can be a small
game/quiz where it would help the person remember what they just read about. I really believe that
younger people would start going to these places if there would be more of them. They could go there
with their friends or family. And maybe, today’s pop/rock/rap stars could help popularize the opera. Or
maybe social media influencers could share the responsibility and instead of only promoting products for
money, they could help to make “culture cool again”.
WORKS CITED
Danny Gregory. “Let’s Get Rid of Art Education in Schools.” Danny Gregory, 3 Jan. 2019, dannygregorysblog.com/2016/04/15/lets-get-rid-of-art-education-in-schools/.
Channa, Ty Samphorthvicheka and Choun. “Why Are Young People Today Not Interested in Traditional Art?” Why Are Young People Today Not Interested in Traditional Art?Phnom Penh Post, Post Media Co Ltd The Elements Condominium, Level 7 Hun Sen Boulevard Phum Prek Talong Sangkat Chak Angre Krom 12353 Phnom Penh Cambodia, 14 Sept. 2011, http://www.phnompenhpost.com/lift/why-are-young-people-today-not-interested-traditional-art.
McNamara, Robert. “Uncle Tom’s Cabin Made Slavery a Personal Issue for Millions.” ThoughtCo, http://www.thoughtco.com/uncle-toms-cabin-help-start-civil-war-1773717.
Worrall, Simon. “Author Says a Whole Culture-Not a Single ‘Homer’-Wrote ‘Iliad,’ ‘Odyssey’.” National Geographic, 16 Mar. 2016, http://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/1/150104-homer-iliad-odyssey-greece-book-talk-travel-world/.
Why Are Young People Less Interested in Art and Culture?, talkwithme21.blogspot.com/2015/04/why-are-young-people-less-interested-in.html.
About the AuthorAmanda DeMarcoAmanda DeMarco is a freelance writer and translator living in Berlin. Originally from Chicago, et al. “‘The Problem Is That Most of the Readers Love Bad Books!”.” Publishing Perspectives, 17 June 2013, publishingperspectives.com/2013/06/the-problem-is-that-most-of-the-readers-love-bad-books/
SeeKen. “Why Are Books Important?” SeeKen, 16 Jan. 2019, seeken.org/why-are-books-important/.
arielbloomer, Author. “Why Not Reading Is a Big Problem.” The Unintentional Explorer, 7 Oct. 2012, unintentionalexplorer.wordpress.com/2012/10/07/why-not-reading-is-a-big-problem/.
Marchi, John, and John Marchi (3 Articles Published) John is a freelance writer who speaks in film/television references and wonders why he is never the life of the party. He earned his ma. “Tenet Has a SERIOUS Woman Problem.” CBR, 2 Oct. 2020, http://www.cbr.com/tenet-lacks-women-characters/.
Global Issues and their Solutions 