Скачать или смотреть Rod Webber: "Do artists have the right/ duty to pursue unrestrained artistic expression?"

A Time to Fight... A Time to Heal...

The case of filmmaker, Remy Couture, known for his special FX work and shock-horror films has recently come to my attention. There are some older classic horror films that I enjoy immensely, but I'm not much of a fan of what "horror" has become. Call me a stickler, or an old bore-- but gore and guts doesn't fill me with "horror." It's just gross, in my opinion. So, needless to say, I wasn't aware of Mr. Couture.

That said, now that I've seen "Inner Depravity," I'd say Couture's work could easily be dismissed as "gross" or disgusting." To be sure, it is. But it isn't the government's role (at least in my opinion) to determine what is or what isn't art. In the US, it's not important that a film have a moral or even a plot. There's certainly no law that says a film has to be tasteful. If there was, there'd be an awful lot of jailed filmmakers-- (and not just for breaking probation or parole, as in the case of Nakoula Nakoula the anti-muslim filmmaker).

What's troubling is that the Canadians are taking legal action against Couture because he is "too realistic," and they arrested him for the crime of "corrupting morals."

Dima Ballin, my friend and founder of Diabolique Magazine (who brought the matter to my attention), recently posed the question: "As the world witnesses more and more real violence, such as the recent elementary school shooting, and the ruling elite clamps down more and more on its citizens, do independent artists have the right and/or duty to pursue totally unrestrained artistic expression? Where does everyone stand on this?"

Well- Couture probably isn't the guy to help heal the world's wounds, but I would hope artists and filmmakers would continue to have the right to unrestrained artistic expression. I've personally gotten into legal trouble over my films.

*In the nineties I was at the center of a case involving the use of a toy-gun in one of my films... that ended badly.
*Around 2008, while shooting my film "Northern Comfort," I was detained by the Canadian Mounties and Homeland Security on the Canadian border. They couldn't find us guilty of anything, so they let us go-- but they still wouldn't let us in.
*A month ago, my song "Cancer Kills Smoking, Why Don't Carnage Cure War?" was censored.
*This past November, my art show "The Church of Love & Confusion" was also censored via mysterious removal in the night.

I constantly hear people say, "well, there's no such thing as bad press." My response is firstly-- So what? And secondly, the amount of press the average censored-artist gets is zero. I'll be damned if any paper has ever covered any of my censorship stories. In 99 cases out of a hundred, I'm guessing censorship does the job. It simply shuts an artist down, and there's not a lot that can be done about it.

So, I'll speak out for even those artists who I don't particularly care for or have beliefs which I share. We oughta be able to express ourselves however we choose. But, back to Dima's question: Dima, if you're asking whether it's our duty to push the limits-- I'd say, no. Regarding the recent shootings in Newtown and around the country, there are children at the center-- and there are many grieving.

I'd say it is our duty to show unity, and give love. Just because something is "our right," doesn't mean it is responsible to necessarily exercise that right. Otherwise, we become like the Westboro Baptist Church protesting at a funeral. A perfect example is our right to bear arms. It may be our right to bear them, but unrestrained brandishing of art in times of grief is just as irresponsible as unrestrained brandishing of arms.

Right now, our only duty is to express unrestrained reasonability, unrestrained responsibility, and unrestrained love for those who have lost loved ones-- and unrestrained love to everyone everywhere. That is the only thing which is right. And when you are the side which is right, then you can make your stand as an artist.

In these times of struggle, I hope that we can all come together as a community, and put an end to these senseless acts of violence.

Give love and peace be with you!