The artists speak out against the awakened mind virus in two distinct circumstances.
Some realize its toxic effect on the creative process and lash out accordingly. Think of Bill Maher, Russell Brand and John Cleese.
Others remain silent until it has a direct impact on their career.
It happened to Sarah Silverman, who cheered on Woke Revolution until it cost her a role in a plum movie. Someone connected to the No Name Project learned that the comic previously wore a black face to mock racism and cut it from the project.
Suddenly, Silverman had some not-so-kind words to share about awakening’s overreach.
“I think it’s really scary and it’s a very strange thing that it has invaded the left mainly and the right is emulating it,” adding that she dubs it “justice porn.”
(Once conservatives rallied en masse against revival, however, Silverman embraced it again)
Something similar happens with Martin McDonagh.
The famous playwright directed “The Banshees of Inisherin” last year. The dark comedy earned nine Oscar nominations.
This is not new territory for McDonough, one of Ireland’s most famous scribes.
His 2017 drama, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” earned seven nominations, including Best Picture.
His films don’t make super profits, but his plays sell a lot of tickets, he says. Now, however, he is struggling to get them produced.
McDonagh told the BBC’s ‘Today’ that some of his plays cannot be put on now because the theaters in question require him to change some of the verbiage.
And that’s something the artist won’t do.
“They wanted to make certain words more palatable to them or who they think their audience is.”
McDonagh attacked woke censors for their “small outrage” and suggested the theaters in question are now “dangerous” for writers. Except he didn’t use the word “awake.” He didn’t have to given the context.
Artists, he said, should be bold and thought-provoking with their work.
“I think it’s a good idea to write something dangerous or explosive.”
McDonagh’s comments come after “sensitive readers” deleted passages from iconic authors like Ian Fleming, Roald Dahl and Agatha Christie. The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “Gone with the Wind” has just received a “trigger warning” on new editions.
The film adaptation was briefly pulled from HBO Max two years ago, and the new Blu-ray releases also feature “trigger warnings.”
Some authors, like Stephen King and Joyce Carol Oates, ignore the question or shrug their shoulders.
This is in addition to artists in Western culture who censor themselves for fear of backlash, censorship or worse.
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