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Tim Robbins: Society Just Wants ‘Art to Die’ Amid COVID-19 Vaccine Requirements

The vast majority of the entertainment industry was quick to embrace COVID-19 safety protocols, seeing masks and vaccine mandates as a way back to work during a pandemic that would have otherwise shut productions down. But not everyone sees those rules as universally positive.

In a new Substack interview with Matt Taibbi, Tim Robbins expressed his concerns that too much pandemic-related caution could ultimately make the arts less accessible. The “Shawshank Redemption” star explained that the Actors Gang Theatre, a Los Angeles theatre company where he serves as artistic director, made the decision to postpone its reopening in 2021 because he did not want to enforce a vaccine mandate for audience members.

“We were capable of opening last September, but there were still all of these restrictions,” Robinson said of the vaccine mandates in California. “I had a problem with this idea of having a litmus test at the door for entry. I understood the health concerns, but I also understand that theater is a forum and it has to be open to everybody. If you start specifying reasons why people can’t be in a theater, I don’t think it’s a theater anymore. Not in the tradition of what it has always been historically, which is a forum where stories are told and disparate elements come together and figure it out.”

He added: “That’s what it’s been for. People figure out their relationship with the gods, with society, with each other. But at the door, you don’t say you can’t come in, because you haven’t done this or that. I had a problem with that. So I waited until everyone could be allowed in the theater.”

Ultimately, Robbins is concerned that preventative public health measures taken during the pandemic went too far and could ultimately be a dangerous trend for the arts.

“I almost feel like there are forces within our society that just want art to die,” he said. “It’s now not only just the scolds from the right, like in the old days when the Moral Majority wanted art to die. Now it’s unions and people that are, again, claiming virtuous reasons for all of this. The truth is a lot of local theater has failed, and the pandemic helped put the nail in the coffin.”

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by Anonymousreply 6October 30, 2022 5:43 PM

“Art” isn’t particularly on the radar of the far right these days.

by Anonymousreply 1October 30, 2022 4:21 PM

Art and free expression is the enemy of fascism. It requires non-conformist thought and going outside the norm, which can't be controlled.

by Anonymousreply 2October 30, 2022 4:31 PM

Jesus fucking christ, it was a once-in-a-century situation that well-meaning people tried to handle to the best of their abilities (until it became a political football for the trolls like Robbins among us). It's easy to judge now that we have vaccines and the current strains are less deadly.

by Anonymousreply 3October 30, 2022 4:41 PM

[quote]Art and free expression is the enemy of fascism.

Yes, but fascism can be found on both sides of the political spectrum.

by Anonymousreply 4October 30, 2022 4:50 PM

[quote]“I almost feel like there are forces within our society that just want art to die,” he said. “It’s now not only just the scolds from the right, like in the old days when the Moral Majority wanted art to die. Now it’s unions and people that are, again, claiming virtuous reasons for all of this. The truth is a lot of local theater has failed, and the pandemic helped put the nail in the coffin.”

I suppose what he says is partially true, on the other hand, the inherent job of any union is to ensure a safe working environment for it's members. There are all kinds of requirements for public safety - not smoking inside, for example - and now vaccination requirements are another one. Big deal

You can see now why Robbins was with Sarandon for years; they're two of a kind: a couple of limousine liberals who think they're being so edgy, so above it all by being contrarians, concerned only about their own wellbeing. They're both clueless, tone deaf assholes

by Anonymousreply 5October 30, 2022 5:22 PM

The one flaw in his argument which Robbins ignores is that theater is not a place where every can come together, regardless of differences. Unless his shows are free, then only those who can afford the price of entry are allowed the benefit of the free exchange of ideas he bemoans the death of.

Theater has always been an art a available only to those who could afford it. Just look at the price of a touring version of any Broadway show, a minimum of $100.

by Anonymousreply 6October 30, 2022 5:43 PM
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