Roman Polanski, Oscar Wilde, The Dixie Chicks, Elia Kazan. A child molester, a homosexual, liberal country singers, and a ‘namer of names’. The controversies that follow these artist and many like them can at times overshadow the great works of art they have created. Do we know more about Polanski’s indiscretion with a 13 year-old or his  Academy Award winning film ‘The Pianist’? Did ‘naming names’ hurt the career of Elia Kazan who went on to direct Marlon Brando in ‘On the Waterfront’ and James Dean in ‘East of Eden’? What of the 5 Grammy’s the politically charged Dixie Chicks won this past year or the immortality Wilde has achieved even after imprisonment for committing homosexual acts?

While technology advances and allows for the easier distribution of content some of that content can be overshadowed by the personal missteps that the creators of content can make. I mention this because today is Tuesday and when looking through the list of new dvd’s and cd’s coming out today one in particular caught my attention. ‘Blackout’ by Britney Spears. I haven’t heard any of the music off the album, although I did see her MTV “performance” a few weeks ago, but I have heard a great deal about her personal life. Drugs, divorce, custody battles, etc. For whatever it is worth Britney Spears has sold over 83 million records and has had incredible success despite any personal failings. It does seem though that talent and success aren’t as connected as they used to be.

Wilde and Kazan are standing up to the test of time and even though Kazan received a cold reception when accepting his Lifetime Achievement Oscar how will Polanski or the Dixie Chicks be remembered in years to come? For their wonderful art or will they move to the ever growing category of tabloid celebrities? We can only hope that when the content is greater than the sin of the creators the future will remain bright.


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