Art vs. Politics

Our vernissage was cut short last night by the arrival of the Socialists, who were having some sort of campaign meeting in the cinema. They set up this long table with pink buttons and rather uninteresting t-shirts sporting an outline of Segolene Royal's head (were they trying to copy the famous Hitchcock profile idea? Because what they drew was a blank). What was most interesting to me was the way the painting on the wall matched the pastel colors of the political paraphernalia on the table.

The whole dynamic between the two groups (us and them) reminded me of my high school days, when the Debate Team or Current Events club would take over the theater where we were rehearsing, and I would look at the other kids and wonder why on earth any teenager would choose to spend their time in such a dry preoccupation.

Now I'm an adult and I watch people involved in politics and I still wonder.

I don't vote in France and I don't want to use this blog to discuss politics (you can find a bzillion blogs that do that), but what is it about political people that so rubs me the wrong way? I don't know, but there's something about those stickers and t-shirts and pamphlets that makes me want to run screaming. Perhaps it's the unswaying belief that they all seem to be infected with. I'm not good at unswaying belief; my tendency is to sway. And I have a hard time with the whole crowd thing, being a fan of anyone, unless they are doing something that seems really thrilling to watch, like singing or dancing or playing the accordion on one foot. Talking isn't enough, I want to see real talent! (OK, oratory is a talent, but can you dance to it?) To be honest, I only got interested in Bill Clinton when I found out he played the sax. (If only he'd done more of that and less of that silly cigar business and maybe our country wouldn't be in the hole it's in now...)