Why we need spectacle and mass entertainment more than ever
As I watched the inauguration of Joseph R. Biden on Jan. 20, something stirred in my heart. Something that has been building and trying to find a voice for years. Something that resonated on the deepest levels of being a human being as well as an artist. What spoke to me loudest was not what a new presidency represents for the people, but the need for ritual and spectacle in our increasingly short-form society.
I, as many, found comfort in the solemn rite of the president-elect attending church before the inauguration. I found grounding in hearing the same oaths having been spoken that were heard again and again echoing through the caverns of history, and I know many people joined me in the wonder at the ceremony that was deeply connected to the past and simultaneously reaching out into the future.
As advertisers vie for us to glance in their direction, they have shattered our ability to focus, and we, ourselves, have decimated our attention spans on social media platforms: chasing the 280 characters of twitter, and the 60 seconds of an Instagram post or a TikTok video. Especially these days, we find ourselves scrolling aimlessly through bits and pieces of a performance, a lecture, or a newsreel, while simultaneously feeling in our bones that quantity does not always equal quality. We are left empty and directionless, half sedated by the mindless parade of infinite distractions.
In these isolating times, it seems technology connects us, and on certain levels it does, but it also scatters our focus and leaves us feeling less entrenched into and connected with the real world. What binds us more is the collective witness of the sacraments of our time: inaugurations, awards shows, sports events, grand theatre … Occasions that speak to our subconscious mind and force our attention on one singular, long-form, shared experience, instead of dissipating it into a thousand diversions.
As an opera singer probing for meaning in my art form in the current era, I have found it in this common need for age old ritualistic expression of our most profound emotions. An opera taps into the Jungian concept of a collective subconscious, daring us to laugh and weep with the performers onstage, using the most human and fragile instrument of all to convey universal truths that need no language to resonate within us.
As a singer, and especially as a Wagnerian, it brings me great joy that this powerful art form is hearing a call to action at this time. There is a hole in our hearts that has been laid bare by the pandemic, and we have the cure, should we open our eyes.
I strongly believe that we are in dire need of grand spectacle and mass scale entertainment, and have all the tools with current technology to make that possible even with ongoing restrictions and limitations. I call on my fellow artists, media companies, and entertainment institutions to bring back the glamour, bring back the pageantry and bring back the class. I, for one, am ready to get started!