On March 25th, I heard a story according to which a teacher at a school in Florida was forced to resign after showing her art class a sculpture of Michelangelo’s David from the Renaissance period. Mrs. Hope Carrasuilla was forced to resign after one of the parents complained that the image of David’s statue was pornographic. Two of the parents who initiated the action complained that the school did not notify them in advance about the content of this lesson, while the third described the lesson as downright pornographic. A new school rule required parents to be notified two weeks in advance of any lesson with a “controversial curriculum” in order to give them time to review the material.
So far, everything seems politically correct. We have a big problem when people confuse art with pornography. Art can be provocative, some can be controversial, but it is not the same thing as pornography. Art has an aesthetic, cultural, and historical value, while pornography is just an exploitation of human sexuality.
We cannot give up studying art because there are works that contain nudity. To exclude these works from education would mean truncating the history and culture of humanity. It is important to learn to see and appreciate art in all its forms and expressions, including when it is provocative or controversial.
What I don’t understand is when did Michelangelo’s work become controversial? If Michelangelo is controversial, what do we do with paintings in which everyone is naked, both men and women? Do we classify them as pornography and stop studying art? Do we kill culture and elevate stupidity to the level of art?
How can you have sex education in schools, but not be allowed to see a picture of a famous statue that is part of universal heritage and a true work of art?
In the age of Pornhub and video chat, three parents complain that their offspring saw a naked statue. I understand that these parents have never taken their children to a museum. The Louvre, Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze, or the Victoria and Albert are taboo areas for these prudes. When I look at what’s happening in the world today, I’m not surprised. Their kids are allowed only on Instagram and Tick Tock.
In the era of mass shootings in American schools, parents don’t seem to be afraid of death but of their children’s cultural education. I am the first and most fervent supporter of political correctness. Political correctness applied and interpreted by fools turns the surrounding universe into the tyranny of stupidity. In this example, we have a teacher whose career ended in a tie between her and a pedophile who showed his victims pornographic material to stimulate their sexual appetite. Only a fool, illiterate, uneducated person can interpret art this way.
We cannot give up studying art because there are works that contain nudity. To exclude these works from education would mean truncating the history and culture of humanity.
It is important to learn to see and appreciate art in all its forms and expressions, including when it is provocative or controversial, except for the genitalia picks from our kids phones, which I hope we can all agree, it was never, nor it will ever be considered art.
