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Metapsychosis

Journal of Consciousness, Literature, and Art

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Birth of the Uncool

By
  • Author Richard Andrews sitting on a rock, in the middle of a stream, holding a mouth harp, with a bridge behind him
    Richard Andrews
 |  6 Mar 2023
Cultural Consumption Music Miles Davis, art, ethics, jazz, moral dilemmas
Still image from Birth of the Cool, Netflix documentary
Miles Davis, still image from Birth of the Cool, a Netflix documentary

Netflix’s warts and all documentary, Birth of the Cool, has created a moral quandary and a questioning of judge the art, not the artist. Will I ever enjoy listening to Kind of Blue again knowing that Miles Davis abused and beat his wife when he was outside the recording studio?

I can appreciate the great art and inner torment of geniuses like Dostoyevsky and van Gogh. But what if the hurt involved other people, as in the case of Hemingway, Dickens, Orwell et al? Or the Victorian pedophilia of Lewis Carroll?

For me, 1984 towers as a warning against totalitarianism, regardless of Orwell’s personal life. But at what point does an artist’s behavior diminish the validity of their work?

For example, recent biographies of Carl Jung have described him as a “shameless adulterer,” “cruel father” and “sexual abuser.” If true, do these accusations negate him as a guide to individuation?

Author Richard Andrews sitting on a rock, in the middle of a stream, holding a mouth harp, with a bridge behind him

Richard Andrews

Born in Germany of Polish refugees, Richard grew up in Australia before moving to Canada. In between, he chalked up more than 40 years as a journalist, foreign correspondent, diplomat, and freelancer. His work and travels have taken him from piranha fi …

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Metapsychosis is a project of Cosmos Co‑op, a community dedicated to art, consciousness, and culture. We are building a home on the web, with local roots, where people of the Earth can band together to collaborate on creative projects, while contributing to the vision of an evolving planetary society. Visit our other projects: Untimely Books, Infinite Conversations, and Cosmos.Social.

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