IF WE HATE THE ARTIST WE MISS THE POINT. IF WE LOVE THE ART, WE MAY MISS IT TOO.
My point is that there is an aspect to Jim Carrey's art that transcends his message.
JC is a rare talent. While I don't agree with his point of view, he is brilliant and his art is pretty amazing. But as I see it, the most important thing about Carrey's art is that he needs to do it at all.
Carrey is expressing a deep emotional trauma. He is the quintessential artist who needs to release his complex feelings through his art in order to process and cope with them. He "has to" do his art or he would go insane. Or he IS insane and he uses his art in order to claw his way back. But either way, that is not the most important point either. That is actually a classic artistic process. Think Vincent Van Gogh.
The most important message about JC's art is in my opinion, that JC represents the cultural reaction to the phenomenon that IS Trump and Trump Derangement Syndrome.
Artists traditionally capture the human psyche and express it through their art. Their sentiments may be highly personal, but artists often tap into a more popular subject. When that subject is a relatable trauma, the artist "treats" their audience in a somewhat clinical sense through their art. Such is the "power of art."
Sometimes in history a large part of society or even an entire country can experience a shared traumatic experience, such as a war or a revolution. When this happens, artists invariably capture it and process it in various medium such as on canvas, books, poetry, music and even cartoons, for example Captain America and Superman. JC's art is very "cartoonish."
Society can experience a trauma from significant transformation from one "AGE" to another. For example, the legend or lore of Paul Henry captured America's psyche regarding the industrial revolution and the spread of mass transportation with the railroad, and Paul Bunyon did the same regarding deforestation. The movie the Matrix speaks to the fantasies and fears of AI and Virtual Reality.
JC's art is the artistic manifestation of one of the political/cultural phenomenons of our day, Trump Derangement Syndrome. Which in turn is the clash of multiple political ideologies.
Carrey has the guts to admit he is having a a difficult time coping. There are many who do not know we have a problem. To those in denial the problem exists outside of us - in Trump, his base, his supporters, Republicans. But the problem exists in us. The problem is our inability to cope with our differences. The problem is our inability to have respectful and meaningful dialogue with the "enemy."
Tragically, there are those with powerful influence that don't want us to cope. They don't seek resolutions - to the contrary! They profit off our discord. They exploit our anger. They revel in our rage. They add to and stir the pot of our emotions and make sure that there is just enough heat to keep them simmering. They feed us the drug of our addiction. They are literally in the business of promoting, fostering and maintaining our "nightmare," to put it as JC did. That nightmare has a name - Trump Derangement Syndrome.
Who are the "THEY" I keep referring to? They are certain people in the news media, and many partisan politicians. They truly are "the enemy of the American people."
