Writes M.H. Miller, in "Where Have All the Artist-Addicts Gone? For much of the 20th century, before the dawn of our own wellness-focused era, madness and substance abuse were often considered prerequisites for great art" (NYT).
Artist-addicts continue to inspire curiosity and obsession, but as we move farther from the 20th century and toward a reinterpretation of substance abuse that places it in the context of wellness and mental health, this figure seems increasingly a relic of a different era, like beehive hairdos or fallout shelters....
By the ’90s, the question of whether artists abused their bodies more than the general public had gained additional layers: What came first, the art or the abuse? Could the art even exist without the abuse?...
Our culture now is one in which artists are less troubled geniuses than they are public figures, generally expected to respond uncontroversially on their various platforms to whatever the news cycle might bring. The compulsion for everything to be civil and inoffensive is now reflected in our curious relationship to drugs and alcohol.... [T]he act of becoming intoxicated... has largely become a question of self-optimization....
Everything and everybody — even while using heroin — must be bland and inoffensive... The junkie artist has become, if not entirely passé, then at least less visible.....
Lots of discussion of particular writers at the link. I've excerpted the high-level abstraction. The actual article is long — with many famous names and details about their substance abuse and how the culture used to relate to these tortured souls who were our artists. The thesis is: We don't do that any more.
We've got something else now, and maybe we miss those messed up artists as we live with writers who don't seem to have interesting, conspicuous problems. Are these people who expect us to read them cowed by the cancel culture? Has social media put them in a worthless dulled state where all they do is "respond uncontroversially"?
Where have all the geniuses gone? We — as a group, a stupid group — decided we preferred bland inoffensiveness.
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Where have all the geniuses gone? We — as a group, a stupid group — decided we preferred bland inoffensiveness.
81 million of us beg to disagree.
"Where Have All the Artist-Addicts Gone?
Serious Question: Is there an artist, ANYWHERE that ISN'T on drugs?
hints
ADHD drugs, like Adderall.. Are DRUGS;
selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, like Prozac.. Are DRUGS;
even Marijuana and Alcohol.. Are DRUGS
Just because most people are now drug addicted, does NOT mean artists aren't addicts too
Just for the record, I will also cite Musk.
"Where have all the geniuses gone? We — as a group, a stupid group — decided we preferred bland inoffensiveness."
What you mean 'we,' Kemo Sabe?
David Foster Wallace said that all of the alcohol abuse in his novel was a metaphor for addiction to television, which wasn't sexy enough to write about, and like he said, people have all become dopamine addicts now, slaves to media.
In early 80s spent three days working "security" for Hunter S Thompson (in reality, the job was more a fetch-it boy which included several trips to the liquor store).
HST was in decline by then, but he still had plenty of moments of great insight and brutal honesty. If drugs and booze lower inhibitions, perhaps it allows one to be brave enough to blurt out the truth to a society which does not want to hear.
Bird lives.
"blurt out the truth to a society which does not want to hear."
We don't "disappear" such persons in America, we make them invisible, which is why the culture is now dominated by toadies to the rich and powerful.
The bland inoffensiveness has nothing to do with the drugs. That has to do with opinion. Look at the way Jodi Piccault attacks writers who step out of bounds, or what JK Rowling goes through. Drug addicts and alcoholics aren't celebrated any more-- we try to help them. Not because we want people to be bland, but because we want them to live. But blandness comes from the left's thought policing.
(ps. Rest In Peace, Taylor Hawkins. A great drummer and artist and only 50 years old.)
We — as a group, a stupid group — decided we preferred bland inoffensiveness.
Some people prefer boring.
After all, better than no art is a pretty high bar.
Joe Rogan is an artist and talks very openly about his use of psychedelics, cannabis, alcohol and tobacco. He's also into all types of strong herbal and biochemical supplements.
Watch his podcast with Post Malone while they both trip on 'shrooms. Post turns 27 on this Fourth of July. Just sayin'.
Christopher Hitchins smoked cigarettes and drank Jonny Walker Black when writing. Apparently cannabis plugged up his creativity pipeline.
If drugs are supposed to aid creativity, it is wrong in a democracy to deny that anyone can be as creative as anyone else. "Genius" can apply to someone figuring out how to open a bottle of beer without an opener. On the other hand, this proliferation of geniuses will not necessarily produce anything controversial or interesting. They may want to avoid giving offence.
Aside from the diabolic promotion of death-by-drugs, we have a couple of generations who have embraced the teaching that everything that has come before is crap and that this is the Year Zero with a world they can create anew.
And they got nothing. They are coming up empty, blanks.
Once again existential radical "freedom" results in nihilism.
Where have all the geniuses gone?
Banned on Facebook and Twitter.
Addict artists can be as boring as the others. The young liked the Beats and Hunter Thompson because they were telling them something new. Today, addiction is nothing new. The bookshelves are full of addiction and recovery memoirs.
The fact that they are memoirs, rather than novels is a sign that the problem goes deeper. Cancel culture and the conformist mentality behind it is closer to the mark, but postmodern exhaustion, living in an era when everything had already been said, may be the real culprit.
Or maybe blame our faulty education. Drugs are less likely to give you angelic visions and more likely to bring back long-forgotten TV episodes.
It's much harder for artists these days. We now live in a culture that is shocked by nothing but offended by everything.
Comedian Ron White (notorious drinker while performing) tells Joe Rogan how he quit drinking via a combination of hypnotism and Ayahuasca trips. But plans to continue performing for at least another year.
👉🏽 https://youtu.be/lvb9X_3P5v4
When I was in college and thought I was going to be a writer, I found myself emulating the 'troubled artists' I was reading at any given time. Reading Brautigan I found myself abusing descriptions and metaphors. Reading Hunter S. Thompson I found myself abusing bourbon and drugs. Reading Kosinski I found myself abusing well...things I cannot say here. And I'm glad I read Hemingway from a distance, so as to not take on any of the authors struggles. I don't like messy endings.
I've wondered for years if it's the artist who is just a messed up person or if it's the process of becoming an artist- a great writer- that messes up the person, or if I'm just not reading the clear-headed, nice, normal people who don't abuse themselves or anyone around them. What I've found is that non-fiction writers tend to not carry as much 'artistic' baggage. Fiction writers are a whole different breed. Not always abusive of something, but...different. I'm sure that's a generalization, but the more I stare at my bookshelf, the more it seems true.
Musicians are still killing themselves with drugs. Maybe Art and LiFi has become bland and commercial because so much corporate money and related timidity is involved.
I’m right here completely overlooked by The New Yorker.
I think booze and cigs are still the most insidious.
Amy Winehouse, anyone? Or just scroll up to the Taylor Hawkins post?
Where have all the geniuses gone? We — as a group, a stupid group — decided we preferred bland inoffensiveness.
Just like humor/comedy, these troubled geniuses tend to say too many verboten things according to the progressive nannies. We can't have that now, can we?
In my early years I was fascinated by William S. Burroughs' books. Opened my eyes to people living life with a very, very different perspective. I found that useful to my worldview and a good test of my tolerance for people living their life their way so long as they are not hurting people. He's probably banned by progressives these days.
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