"Referring all questions on this to Salvador Dali." – Obama Campaign Press Secretary, responding to Clint Eastwood's speech at the Republican Convention, 8/30/2012.
I don’t know if Clint Eastwood’s performance last night was the greatest of his life – he’s got a lot to live up to. I do know last night’s was the greatest piece of performance art I’ve ever seen.
What’s the difference? Actors are zombies who perform what they have to, with the sure knowledge that every part of their mind and psyche gets recycled into the machine. Performance artists believe they can recycle the machine to their own use, like a cultural Mario Savio sticking his psyche into the machinery in order to stop it: “You can’t even passively take part.” Which means you have to actively take part; take your part and tear it apart. I once heard Dustin Hoffmann speaking at a rally against the Vietnam War. His was much the same logic as Eastwoods': that political courage does not consist in telling your audience what it wants to hear, but in saying what you need to say; and like Eastwood's his speech flew right over his audience: tearing the machine apart is not something you plan to do, or have others do, it has to be a part and parcel of your participation; otherwise you're just an actor mouthing somebody else's words.
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