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I am mesmerized by Jay Cantrell's Runaway Train, and congrats to him for a well written, great story. There's a passage in the last chapter I wanted to comment on:

"The life of a songwriter isn't an easy road. You have a story to tell in your heart but too many times there is just nobody that wants to listen. They want to hear their story in your words. They want you to bring out the emotions they want to show. They don't want to be offended; they don't want to be made to think. The listening public - and the corporations that control our work - they're like newborn babies. They want what they want when they want it. And they pitch a fit when they don't get it immediately."

At least in how I interpret these words (which may or may not be what Jay intended) this is so true, and also applies to writing, fine art, and all arts. It makes it very hard to be authentic and true to yourself when creating, unless you just don't care how the recipients like your end result. Somehow we hope to dance in the middle ground, and make what we like at the same time we bend it enough to make it sellable. That leads to anything different or unusual being sidelined.

I'm looking at this from the point of view of the artist. Now from the other side, does the audience have the right to demand what it wants without regard for the process of creation? Our economic system says that not only does the consumer have the right to demand, but the maker has the duty to respond in kind in order to make the profit necessary to make a living. Doesn't that mean both sides of this equation are missing an awful lot? Mutual greed is supposed to make capitalism click, but that's supposing we are all equally motivated by the desire to accumulate. For those motivated by other incentives, life in our system can be incredibly stultifying unless we really do like making the kind of art that also incidentally fulfills the demands of the mainstream, or unless we are not authentic and don't care about staying true to ourselves.

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