Allahpundit — Er, “Nick Catoggio” Opines on the Stone Salami
If you have read the Weekend Open Thread you saw Dana cover the controversy over a sixth-grade Renaissance art class being shown Michelangelo’s David in all its unclothed glory without prior notice to parents . . . and the forced resignation of the principal (as a result? We’re not entirely sure).
Nobody, and I mean nobody, covers this subject like Allahpundit over at The Dispatch, with more synonyms for David’s naughty bits than you can possibly imagine. Just a sample:
The debate that raged in the site’s internal Slack this morning had nothing to do with banning TikTok or the latest 2024 polling or the decompensating lunatic who’s taken to warning of “death and destruction” to come if he’s indicted. The subject was more urgent, and closer to home.
It was wieners. We were talking about wieners. One wiener in particular.
. . . .
Excluding David from a class on Renaissance art history because of a moral panic is indefensible, but it wouldn’t be the first time adults have gotten the vapors upon glimpsing a schwanz rendered in gleaming marble.
. . . .
There’s a second problem with the pat narrative. If you believe Bishop, the problem with the David episode wasn’t that a group of 11- and 12-year-olds espied a stone salami. It was that the school had a policy of notifying parents about “controversial” elements of the curriculum in advance and in this case that policy wasn’t followed.
. . . .
Call that the “tossing kids into the cultural ocean to teach them how to swim” approach to child-rearing. It’s not the style I’d follow if I had children and it’s not the style many, many parents follow either. The fact that some do—and that, as my colleague noted, they’re overrepresented in media—encourages some moms and dads to put their guards up and err on the side of overcaution about what goes on in schools.
Which, in some cases, means being sticklers about demanding advance notice before their children confront history’s most widely viewed willy.
I laughed out loud several times. Yes, I am an immature child. But in addition to all the fun with the phallus, it’s a nuanced view of the matter, in a world where most takes adopt the “pat narrative” and move on. How could there be any nuance here, you ask? Click and learn. And if you’re not a subscriber to the Dispatch, what are you waiting for?
I dunno why this “controversy” reminds me of a scene from Austin Powers, maybe because it’s just as silly. That, and the synonyms.
Paul Montagu (8f0dc7) — 3/26/2023 @ 8:49 amAnyway, I was going to read Nick’s piece, so thanks that I’m reading it sooner. His final paragraph has it about right.
Has anyone checked out this “Internet” thing? Lots of unwholesome images there, which most kids have found by the time they’re 12.
Kevin M (1ea396) — 3/26/2023 @ 10:28 amNuts!
nk (bb1548) — 3/26/2023 @ 12:21 pmYeah I said my piece there, but shorter AJ, parents should understand that a Renaissance Art class, even for 11yr olds, may picture some nudes, including the David. This sounds performative to me…as in the peeps aping the good governor and the frothing ex-president. The grievance is strong with these parents and the board, and we clearly can see whose team they play for. Yes, there might be more to the story. Yes, there should be a blanket “permission slip” at the start of the course. Yes, this is hyperbole and over-reaction. No, some other silliness does not make this unremarkable.
I was disappointed that the more erudite John Thomas did not make the cut.
AJ_Liberty (430c16) — 3/26/2023 @ 1:11 pmI’m sure some are offended by Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase on the name alone.
Rip Murdock (479f9d) — 3/26/2023 @ 1:31 pmOne of my clients had a neighbor who placed a bronze replica of flying mercury in their motorcourt that you could see through their gate. They’d improved on the original by quite a bit, but it was also substantially less aerodynamic. I asked my gay client who does that and he answered “he’s obviously a h___”. My client used to like to walk down his driveway in the morning and watch the wealthy ladies on their morning walks and I met him down their one morning to discuss his gate installation. I asked him what was going on and wondered if he was checking out their hair (he had worked for some of the top stars) and he said no, I’ve never seen so much bad plastic surgery- see this one coming on the left? when I first bought the property she was Asian
steveg (4bdd3e) — 3/26/2023 @ 2:16 pmWhile we fret about parents fretting about what’s shown in a sixth grade Renaissance Art class, maybe we should soak in the fact that a Renaissance Art class, which I would imagine features exclusively non POC artists, hasn’t yet been taken out of the curriculum.
But, this is Florida, not California. Yesterday, I referenced Mark Twain and my straight A middle school daughter asked “Who’s That?” I guess if we remove all references to Michelangelo, instead of just the borderline naughty ones, school districts can avoid ridicule from the sneering elites.
JF (38b875) — 3/26/2023 @ 2:21 pmPoliticians have as much business in education as carpenters have in cataract surgery. Just build the facilities.
But I don’t want to be too absolute about it. I suppose they could teach the kids how to live well without ever having to do an honest day’s work.
nk (bb1548) — 3/26/2023 @ 6:48 pm@5. I’m sure some are offended by Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase on the name alone.
Lest you forget this classic television moment:
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x857m69
‘”Marie’s Sculpture” garnered 21.21 million viewers of the 18–49 demographic with a 7.8/18 rating; it was the top show of the night, scoring the fifth number-one episode for Everybody Loves Raymond’s sixth season… Some critics have called “Marie’s Sculpture” one of Everybody Loves Raymond’s best episodes.’ – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie%27s_Sculpture
DCSCA (1bb265) — 3/26/2023 @ 6:51 pm“I suppose they could teach the kids how to live well without ever having to do an honest day’s work.”
Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden….that’s it….fill it in.
AJ_Liberty (8b5b6f) — 3/26/2023 @ 7:03 pmNever watched the show. Not really into sitcoms.
Rip Murdock (7376a8) — 3/26/2023 @ 7:18 pmIt’s hard to know for sure but based on what I have seen:
1. This is a private school.
2. It has a (relatively) new policy to provide notice to parents of changes to and/or unusual class activities.
3. Only 3 parents complained and 2 complained over the lack of notice and/or that the teacher told students not to tell their parents (perhaps because of the content but more likely because there was no notice).
4. Perhaps some/most students did not tell their parents if the teacher told them not to, so that may be why “only” 3 complained. Or it may be the parents weren’t concerned.
5. I am old. I am glad someone is still teaching kids Renaissance art. I don’t really see why this particular art was taught to 6th graders.
DRJ (0abb72) — 3/26/2023 @ 7:37 pm“I don’t really see why this particular art was taught to 6th graders.”
Yeah it sounds a little young to me. Now I never had an art class, so I have no perspective on what is appropriate and at what age. My sense is that 11yr olds probably should be focused on more fundamental concepts from reading, writing, arithmetic, science, history, civics, etc. Understanding art and artists within the context of history is understandable, but I would have likely preferred stories of war and invention instead. Maybe this is one reason why standard testing scores were lagging at the school and why there was a revolving carousel of principals. Sometimes avant garde misses the mark.
AJ_Liberty (8b5b6f) — 3/26/2023 @ 8:36 pm@13. Not really. Not for 6th or 7th graders… they can even be asked to contrast it with, say, Warhol or Rauschenberg-styled pop art, as with comic book art, which is not unfamiliar to 6th graders…
The saddest thing about these pieces of classical art today is how they have to be protected by shields or behind bulletproof glass or some other form of physical protection- like from hammers blows, paints, acids or other acts of attention-getting vandalism that isolates them further from being appreciated up close. Back in the day, at the Louvre for example, you could still walk right up to these treasures – even touch some of the sculptures to feel the texture of the marble- usually w/only a velvet rope line around most and an occasional guard on watch and offering directions… and w/t paintings, they only asked that you not use a ‘flash’ w/any w/photography… alas, no more…
DCSCA (7433b5) — 3/26/2023 @ 9:26 pmMichelangelo’s David was a statue of Goliath which he called that of David.
My proof:
1) He is uncircumcised!
2) He is giganic.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 3/28/2023 @ 3:03 pm