Of course it was performative, all public art is performative. This is no different than tv promoting the “traditional american family”, or statues “honoring the troops”, or memorials, or any other art promoting propagandized values.
But life imitates art. Even if the intent was insincere pandering, it still has an effect on how people perceive their society. We should want our propaganda to reflect our values. We should want statues of MLK and Harvey Milk instead of Robert E Lee and Jefferson Davis. We should want rainbow streets and pride flags in public spaces. We should want their agenda to match our values. We should want the next generation growing up in a society that shows it’s support for marginalized people, instead of nationalism.
It took me a long time to get that, but I really feel it. Like, don’t get me wrong, putting up a rainbow crosswalk doesn’t mean much if the government that does it is v coding trans prisoners, but the statement “these people had to fight for their rights, and we’re glad to call them our neighbors” is still important.
And hell stuff like this adds to the vibes in the same way having a bunch of Chinese aesthetic in Chinatown does. Yeah, you should make the gayborhood feel like it. And while you’re at it hire black artists to help beautify the blacker parts of town. I actually used to live in a neighborhood with a ton of black art and it absolutely made it a nicer place to live, even as a white person.
This mindset always frustrates me.
Of course it was performative, all public art is performative. This is no different than tv promoting the “traditional american family”, or statues “honoring the troops”, or memorials, or any other art promoting propagandized values.
But life imitates art. Even if the intent was insincere pandering, it still has an effect on how people perceive their society. We should want our propaganda to reflect our values. We should want statues of MLK and Harvey Milk instead of Robert E Lee and Jefferson Davis. We should want rainbow streets and pride flags in public spaces. We should want their agenda to match our values. We should want the next generation growing up in a society that shows it’s support for marginalized people, instead of nationalism.
It took me a long time to get that, but I really feel it. Like, don’t get me wrong, putting up a rainbow crosswalk doesn’t mean much if the government that does it is v coding trans prisoners, but the statement “these people had to fight for their rights, and we’re glad to call them our neighbors” is still important.
And hell stuff like this adds to the vibes in the same way having a bunch of Chinese aesthetic in Chinatown does. Yeah, you should make the gayborhood feel like it. And while you’re at it hire black artists to help beautify the blacker parts of town. I actually used to live in a neighborhood with a ton of black art and it absolutely made it a nicer place to live, even as a white person.