Shepard Fairey and the Left's hope-destroying double standard

by CynthiaYockey on October 21, 2009

I was reminded of the YouTube video, “The Patti Lupone Audience Freak-out Re-mix,” by the post today by Stage Right at Big Hollywood, which explains why Shepard Fairey’s appropriation of the work of an AP photographer for his famous “Hope” poster of Obama is plagiarism and threatens the foundation of artistic compensation, yet Left-wing Hollywood is not outraged:

Any director, writer or actor interested in making long-term money in the entertainment industry should be calling Fairey what he is: A plagiarist. But they won’t. And they won’t protest for an end to the Afghan war even though casualties are mounting under President Obama’s watch. And they won’t claim President Obama is taking away their freedoms even though he extended President Bush’s declaration of national emergency this past September 10th (something the left continually criticized President Bush for).

One wonders what fault, if any, the left will find in this President or his loyal supporters like Fairey.

Well, speaking from experience, the Left’s ideals are all about duping the vulnerable and the idealistic into giving their labor, money and unquestioning support. God help the fool that takes any of those ideals seriously and tries to get the Left to make good on them itself. All animals may be equal on the Left, but the Left only truly works for those divinely-appointed few who are more equal than all the others.

About Patti Lupone — when she was in Juilliard she toured with their company to the University of Michigan when I was a student there and double-majoring in English and theatre. Theatre students were required to do a certain amount of ushering for various shows and I remember ushering for something she was in and circling her name in the program so I could prove I recognized her as a star from the very beginning of her career. I’ve been delighted to see her achieve great success. Oh — and I think she was right to go off on the audience member who was taking photos — although I appreciate the irony that the only reason we have the recording of her righteous wrath is that the person making the bootleg audio didn’t get caught.

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Tagged as: Cynthia Yockey, Totalitarian liberalism, YouTube videos

  • http://www.alcove-one.blogspot.com Alcove-One

    I disgree here. It is totally unprofessional. She is a performer. The audience does not work for her; she works for them. She should refund their money for that stuntif she is so damn principled.
    As for the unauthorized photography, fine them $5,000, throw them out, ban them from the theater forever, take their camera but do not take it out on the audience who are paying good money to see a performance and not a diva hiss fit.
    .-= Alcove-One´s last blog ..Most Humane Army in World History =-.

    • http://www.aconservativelesbian.com Cynthia Yockey

      Alcove-One,

      Ms. Lupone specifically apologized to the rest of the audience, which included the audio bootlegger. I disagree; the prohibition against photos, video and recording is absolute and she loses control over her right to make money if she doesn’t enforce it be refusing to perform until the equipment has been confiscated. The ushers can’t be everywhere and often they are older adults who don’t feel up to confiscating cameras and recording equipment. But whoever is enforcing the prohibition, the malefactor is hoping to get away with the crime by counting on people not wanting to stop the show or make a scene. So there has to be a one-to-one correspondence between the crime and stopping the show.

      Cynthia

  • http://www.alcove-one.blogspot.com Alcove-One

    Interesting problem for theater owners and performers…….
    and audiences who one assumes makes the whole thing possible.
    Side note:
    I love your blog and I pass your site to lesbians, gay men and yes straight people who are looking to be politically comfortable and not politically correct. When I told a cute lesbian couple I met about your site they looked at me as if I found a unicorn in my backyard so expect a few extra hits from them.
    And they probably would agree with you about Patty.
    .-= Alcove-One´s last blog ..Most Humane Army in World History =-.

    • http://www.aconservativelesbian.com Cynthia Yockey

      Alcove-One,

      Thank you!

      Cynthia

  • http://shakeypete.blogspot.com Peter

    I’m not persactly the most artistical feller out there, the last live concert I went to was, I believe, George Strait before he was a humongus star. Still, I don’t get the no photos thing. If I’m going to pay a weeks wages for a grocery clerk for a concert I’ll take a damned picture if I want. Otherwise, I’ll keep my money and the artiste can go hungry.

    Well, if I still wanted to spend money for something I can hear over the radio for free. Tell the truth I’m not all that fond of being crammed into a big room with a bunch of folks that I don’t know.
    .-= Peter´s last blog ..Dear Experts =-.

    • http://www.aconservativelesbian.com Cynthia Yockey

      Peter,

      The fact that camera flashes and people moving around to get the best shot are distracting both for the performers and the other audience members are enough to justify banning cameras. But performers sell images of themselves and they are entitled to control that income stream. They have no way of distinguishing between the person who wants a souvenir photo for their personal use and someone who wants to sell thousands of copies of the photo with no compensation to the artist.

      Also, pirating video and audio of live performances and concerts and first-run movies is big business now. Everyone involved in the production loses money when their work is stolen from them.

      I’m still siding with Ms. Lupone.

      Cynthia

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