Re: ERIC CLAPTON, KATE, ART & EXPLOITATION

[ANGLTRED@aol.com]

<< I think that the turning of his son's death into a money-making venture is
<< offensive. It's not like he wrote the song to express his grief and kept
it
<< to himself. He exploited the situation, much to the pleasure of the NARAS
<< people (who give out the Grammys).
<<

Umm.... did I miss something?  I mean, isn't writing and painting and
creating, etc., out of your own experiences, including grief, the basis of
artistic expression?  If this is what you say, then "Moments of Pleasure" is
an exploitation of the deaths of all of Kate's loved ones who died.  I am a
writer, and a fair amount of the things I have written were written out of my
grief of the loss of loved ones, and ALL of the things I write are written
out of my own experience.  Personal experience is the root of art.  

To give Eric Clapton the benefit of the doubt, I'm sure he did not release
the song with the single-minded intention of making a few extra dollars.  One
of the reasons for sharing ones art is so that the artist might connect with
his or her audience.  If we only share the "happy-happy-joy-joy" experiences
of life with others, then they will only know half of us and we will lose an
opportunity to understand ourselves as artists by failing to reveal that
which is closest to us.  Losing a child is a tragic loss...the worst, from
what I hear.  I admire Clapton for making himself vulnerable by opening
himself up to the public and sharing his wounds, just as I admire other
artists, such as Tori Amos, who bared her sould with "Me and a Gun" and
opened herself up to the criticism of self-righteous, holier-than-thou, pious
ignoramusses (ignorami?) who have said she released that song as a ploy for
attention.  Perhaps that's partially true, we never fully know what's in the
mind of another human.  But just as I found healing from hearing Tori Amos
express so simply and eloquently a horror which I myself have experienced and
which has caused much pain in my life, and just as I have shed tears of
sorrow along with Kate as she sings "Moments of Pleasure" and I am reminded
of the loved ones I have lost, so I also must believe that others have found
healing through hearing the words of Eric Clapton dealing with the tragic
death of his child.  

If you think that artistic integrity means keeping ones own most vulnerable
and horrific experiences to oneself, than you have obviously not experienced
much suffering (or you stuff it and deny the pain) and while you may be
ignorantly blissful for it, it's probably also the reason you are so shallow.
 It's time you take a step back and re-think the meaning and purpose behind
artistic expression.  

~~~Samantha