So… a ubiquitous spike public interest in a given topic isn’t a good reason to have an exhibit? Need it be loftier?
Ya know I love you, Sadie, but timing means a lot in the museum world. An exhibit on the art of Iraq is going to get more coverage, say, in 2003 than in 1999. An exhibit on biracial Americans is going to get more coverage around the 2008 election than it would before. Coverage means visitors, visitors mean money, money means you can keep doing what you do.
Were Jane Austen, Iraqi art, and biracial Americans worthy topics before the events that make them timely? Of course, but that’s not how you draw an audience. And the Morgan is a non-profit, and non-profits are hurtin’, and we need to draw audiences. I don’t see that there’s any shame in admitting it. #janeausten
@LaComtesse: My museum studies certificate and I agree with you. And frankly, we studied way weirder/more gratituitous/more offensive exhibits and advertising campaigns in the process. I don't really understand the objection here. #janeausten
@LaComtesse: And as thatsrealbutter pointed out below, a lot of it is manuscripts. Unless the subject is interesting to them, the average person doesn't care about manuscripts. They are not pretty or shiny or exciting the way dinosaur skeletons and artwork are. #janeausten
@LaComtesse: Does something that occurs over 20-30 years qualify as a ubiquitous spike? Why is it more timely now than, say, when the Pride & Prejudice was released? Or in the 90's when Emma was released? #janeausten
@Lymed: Emma has a new version in the U.K. it will be shown in the U.S. in January/February 2010, there are been new versions of S&S, P&P, Persuasion, Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park all this from 2003 to 2009... so I guess it's still going strong.
@Lymed: Because it shows a continued interest in the subject, maybe? It also takes some time to mount an exhibit, I think, so you can't always respond to cultural events and trends as quickly as one might like. #janeausten
@Ailatan: I'm not suggesting it is still going strong, but the idea that it is timely because there have been movies for 2o-30 years doesn't make sense. It might be timely because there has been an increase in movies in the last few years. Or it might show that there is a continued interest in Austen that there have been movies of her works made for 20-30 years. But it doesn't make it timely. #janeausten
To be fair, this is a manuscript collection. Finding a way to draw in people to come look at letters and manuscripts does require a draw (not for Austen lovers, but for a lot of other people). If the exhibit can inspire any of its visitors to check out Austen's written works then good on the Morgan Library for taking advantage those adaptations #janeausten
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a franchise in
possession of a good fortune made by Austen adaptations, must be in want of a Jane Austen exhibit." #janeausten
Becoming Jane was so unbearable it was one of a select few films I couldn't even bring myself to finish. Not even James McAvoy could save it for me. Anne Hathaway may be a talented actress but this was not a good attempt on her part. #janeausten
@EkaterinaBallerina: You know what's awful? I find the movie's content pretty terrible, and its consideration of her work and life inconsistent at best. But true confessions: I own the movie, I watch it not infrequently, and at the end, I cry every damn time. I know. It's embarrassing. But the thought of having McAvoy, and then losing McAvoy, is that earth-shattering to me. #janeausten
@jigglyball: oh, there's so much that's wrong with the film historically and whatnot, but it's hard for me to turn my nose up at jim mcavoy for any reason, much less maggie smith.
i think my love for it is precisely because it's not a happy ending. #janeausten
@jigglyball: Yeah and that was my problem as well. I could have probably suffered through her weak accent and the choppy story if there was the possibility of a good ending. But alas no. That's why I love Penelope so much, good story, good ending. #janeausten
@Ailatan: Oh, yes! That movie doesn't romanticize Jane Austen and has great performances. It affects me more emotionally than Becoming Jane any day. #janeausten
Translation: "We need to make money. People like Jane Austen. So we organized this exhibition hoping to make more money. Check out our gift shop!" #janeausten
@Mary McCarthyite: And sadly, this shit would work on me. Don't get me wrong, I love Jane Austen for plenty of intellectually valid reasons and whatnot, but an exhibit? With Jane Austen tchotchkes? Don't mind if I do. I mean, my dinner table has been calling out for a Pemberley centerpiece for ages. #janeausten
@clevernamehere: I have no objection to the exhibition. The curator's quote is just funny. In the last 20-30 years and the word timely together in the same sentence don't make sense to me. #janeausten
@jigglyball: Have you read Stephanie Barron's Jane Austen mysteries? They get kind of annoying by the end, but the early ones are actually really good. Way better than the sexay sequels to P&P that people keep writing. #janeausten
@theKP: I've never explored the sexy Austen fanfic, because I find plenty of, um, stimulation in the originals, but the mystery angle sounds cool! I'll check them out -thanks for the recommendation. #janeausten
Jesus Christ: Y'know, you should really be more careful how you treat beggars. That's all I'll say. Verily."
Sorry Jesus, not if they handle me; if YOU happen to be one of those bordering-on-mugging/getting-too-aggressive beggars, then that's YOUR problem.
Why would you tell someone about a stranger getting rough with you and then be aghast at a suggestion that you should have been violent right back? (I guess cutting off the hand is TOO violent?) #askadeadperson
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Ya know I love you, Sadie, but timing means a lot in the museum world. An exhibit on the art of Iraq is going to get more coverage, say, in 2003 than in 1999. An exhibit on biracial Americans is going to get more coverage around the 2008 election than it would before. Coverage means visitors, visitors mean money, money means you can keep doing what you do.
Were Jane Austen, Iraqi art, and biracial Americans worthy topics before the events that make them timely? Of course, but that’s not how you draw an audience. And the Morgan is a non-profit, and non-profits are hurtin’, and we need to draw audiences. I don’t see that there’s any shame in admitting it. #janeausten
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There are exhibits whose topic is entirely dictated by funders. WAY crasser than "We can get people interested in A because of B." #janeausten
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I can't see the objection to this at all, especially when compared with a sailboat. Or cars. #janeausten
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possession of a good fortune made by Austen adaptations, must be in want of a Jane Austen exhibit." #janeausten
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i think my love for it is precisely because it's not a happy ending. #janeausten
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[www.themorgan.org] #janeausten
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@jenilane: OOH! I want all of that, especially the mugs. #janeausten
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@jigglyball: Nice, but I would have preferred THIS. #janeausten
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Sorry Jesus, not if they handle me; if YOU happen to be one of those bordering-on-mugging/getting-too-aggressive beggars, then that's YOUR problem.
Why would you tell someone about a stranger getting rough with you and then be aghast at a suggestion that you should have been violent right back? (I guess cutting off the hand is TOO violent?) #askadeadperson
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