Art Criticism: Objectivity Objective
Imagine an ordinary comic strip story involving the fictional mutant superhero Nightcrawler (Marvel Comics) deciding to become an anti-hero and deface the Statue of Liberty (a socio-political symbol of democracy) but discovering that the more evil mutant super-villain Magneto is hurling metal objects at the statue to create pure terror and deciding to defend the statue from Magneto's malicious clutches.
Such is a creative and simple storyline in a very accessible and popular American art medium, the comic book.
We can look at this storyline and say one of two things:
1. "This is propaganda art meant to hype the social value of the Statue of Liberty"
2. "This is education and moralism-themed art meant to advertise democracy as virtuous"
Either way, we would express the notion that this piece of comic strip art is instilling in us some ideas about norms, values, and virtues.
It seems that it is in our
reaction to this hypothetical piece of comic strip art that we find the real social and/or political perspective. Bi-partisan journalism would therefore seem to save the day.
Ellis Island