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ben woestenburg's avatar

I don't really want to talk about Harry and Megs anymore. As a Canadian, I see things differently. But abstract art is a whole new ball game. I really liked that piece you put up. It's the same when people look at Jackson Pollock. You look into the painting and see other things. I'm not about to look at a square piece of canvas with a red triangle and say it's an amazing piece of art. But if I can stand in my shower and look at the tiles and see figures and characters, isn't that art? It's all interpretive, I know. And while I will always adore Monet and the Abstract movement, as well as the Romantics, modern art is more of a challenge to me.

BTW, I did read the Harry and Meghan piece, but, like I said, being a Canadian we see the monarchy different over here. If you say you want to leave and just want to live a private live, then for Christ's sake, shut up and stop whining about everything. The racial thing is fine, for a while, but don't get on your high horse about it. It's not just here and there, it's everywhere. Every race is the same. The blacks hate the white, the whites hate the blacks, the browns hate the Chinese, the Chinese hate the Japanese. It's just the way it is. And being in an interracial marriage, I see it myself. That doesn't mean I will love my fellow man any less. There is more love in the world than there is hate.

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Shemsi Frezel's avatar

I feel for Harry and Meghan. I think they've both suffered and endured a lot of what many people would classify as trauma. It seems that people are more keen to be critical of them than the systems and situations that produced them/put them in the position they're in now and I find that to be a little disappointing. In addition to race and media bias there's also the concepts of celebrity and fame at play here. This idea that they're overexposed or sharing too much countered with the media's relentless pursuit of them during their courtship suggests that the public wants to know people on their terms, to feel in control of a relationship with a famous person maybe even a sense of ownership. Once that celebrity or famous person starts acting in ways that don't fit your idea of them then that becomes the issue. People start to question if they even deserved the attention in the first place. I don't think we should ask something from artists that we wouldn't practice ourselves. Alexandra Bell's work is about looking and confronting - if you want people (like Harry and Meghan) to go away or you're sick of seeing them talked about in the media etc. you can't look or confront any larger ideas related to their presence. Whether considering Bell's work or what is currently happening with Harry and Meghan trying to bring a healthy amount of compassion in analyzing what you're witnessing is key but that's not always easy to do. At any rate I appreciate your writing and the connections you made here. Thank you!

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