Before you read this I should preface all of it by saying: It isn’t my intention to trash any of the people I mention, I’m just wondering out loud here. That’s it.
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With people like Louis CK making headlines surrounding a “return” to performing comedy after misconduct, I’ve been thinking about this topic a lot lately.
I’ve been thinking not about the usual discussion of “the artist vs. their art,” but rather, “should certain people just move on entirely?” That isn’t to say these people should be shun from society, and they should never be allowed to do whatever it is they like to do. What I’ve been wondering is: what the fuck is the point of them doing anything ever again when they really don’t need to? When Louis performed at The Comedy Cellar after his 9 months of silence, the owner of the club was quoted saying, “On principle, I believe that the man is entitled to his livelihood, and that it’s up to the audience to go or not go.” I guess I agree with that, but at the same time: what kind of livelihood are we talking about here? Are people like Louis CK really “making a living” anymore? There are tons of artists out there struggling to get breaks and to pay their bills, but Louis CK can still go to The Comedy Cellar and get stage time easily because of his reputation (even after everything that has happened).
It’s an unfair point, but people like CK really don’t need to perform at all. It’s like Jack Nicholson’s character says in The Departed, “I haven't ‘needed the money’ since I took Archie's milk money in the third grade. Tell you the truth, I don't need pussy anymore either... but I like it.” In other words, the “making a living” argument is bullshit; it is more about the performer getting off at that point than their audience. It isn’t about having a dream or needing to do it to make a living anymore, it’s mainly about just doing something because it’s fun to the artist personally. (Even Eminem, who I will discuss in a second, has recently said he is mainly just making music for himself at this point - the fans are just a plus).
In an interview Aziz Ansari once said, "I hope more people get very successful and then quit. Shouldn't that be the game? That you make a bunch of money and just move to Italy and live a quiet life? No one does it! You do a bunch of shit and you just want to do more shit. Tom Cruise! Look at that guy! He will not stop. He's still making these fucking movies." This is a great point: why don’t people in the entertainment industry ever quit while they’re great? Is it because they’re making so many other people money and they’re pressured to keep making stuff even if it’s crap?
Aside from sex scandal guys here’s an example from another dude that has been making waves again recently: Eminem. His career has had an interesting second half to say the least. Initially his work was shocking, and somehow felt like a necessary reaction to the world at the time. A white rapper who was actually good, introduced to the world by one of the greatest hip-hop producers ever, who was saying truly shocking and thought-provoking things. We had never seen anything like Eminem before ever, and with every song he released our minds were blown consistently. We all knew we were living through an important cultural moment when Eminem was at his height. But what happens when that same guy has basically said it all? Unfortunately, now we all have the answer to that question. When that same guy gets older, changes his musical style and voice a little bit, starts choosing instrumentals that sound like the same type of songs he used to make fun of earlier in his career, and struggles to break new ground....it’s tragic.
Sadly, Eminem has gone from one of those artists who felt like the logical “next step” for rap at the time to being a guy that feels like he has overstayed his welcome. Watching Eminem now to me feels like the last 5 years before my grandfather with Alzheimer’s died. People would just have to tolerate his presence even though we all knew full well he was on a rapid decline because nobody wanted to bring the topic of “euthanasia” up. I’m not saying we should all collectively join forces to peacefully kill Eminem, I’m saying artists should just be truthful to themselves and perhaps acknowledge the fact that they will never reach their same levels of success or relevancy ever. And some should maybe quit. The last time Eminem got anywhere near an accurate level of self-reflection was in his 2009 song Beautiful, when he rapped, “I just can't admit or come to grips with the fact that I may be done with rap, I need a new outlet.”
In his new video “Fall,” Eminem attempts to paint himself as something of an underdog. The rapper gets repetitive alerts on his phone informing him of the various negative things people have been saying about his work for the past little while (because apparently no one in Eminem’s inner circle has told him there’s a way to turn notifications you don’t want off). He starts off the video by informing us he has listened to all the remarks about him and his work lately, and now it’s HIS turn to respond.
The thing is, even as bad as Eminem’s work has been received critically, it is tough to feel bad for a guy who owns several luxury vehicles most people will never even get to see in real life. He has not been an “underdog” for awhile; his life has been pretty sweet for like two decades now. It’s also just difficult to like his music in general now, because he makes terrible choices from the instrumentals he chooses to using the word “faggot” in 2018. I mean...you definitely have the ability to say it and you can use that word if you want, but why would you really want to do that now? What is fresh or new sounding about a grown man making the same mistakes he was making when he hugged Elton John that one time?
It’s like watching what would happen if Biggie were to remain alive: he only really worked on two albums while he was around and everyone worships him, but can you imagine if he was making shit like Eminem is right now? If Biggie were alive and making songs with artists his fanbase don’t really like, I’m 100% sure his fans would turn on him. He wouldn’t be on all those t-shirts, and his name would not be mentioned in the same sentence with Tupac because no one likes seeing their heroes become lesser than.
So back to my original point: I would never say certain people are “not allowed” to ever return to performing their art. People should be allowed to do whatever the fuck they want artistically if they have fans that support it. But as my favourite comedians get older, and the best rappers of all time continue to age, I can’t help but wonder: why not stop if they can afford to?
It makes sense to continue making art if it’s a fun hobby for an artist, but when an artist has told their story already what else is there to say? What else does Eminem truly have to say that he has not already in his over two decade career? By the way, that seems to be the main source of conflict for people upset about Louis CK and Aziz performing: they have chosen to go back to similar territory in their acts since returning, and have not addressed their problems onstage. Louis CK did not acknowledge his past at all, and Aziz is still acting like some kind of “woke feminist.”
If Louis had a set about what he learned during his 9 months, the public may have been a little more accepting. Instead he chose to go with the type of material he would prior to being outed. What the fuck is the point of making work if it is not really interesting and feels completely irrelevant to the fucking world that is going on around you? Noam Dworman, the owner of The Comedy Cellar recently said, “I’m very upset with him because my life has been substantially affected and his life has not, and I’m not sure he’s aware of it. I’m not sure that he gave it sufficient thought. On the other hand, I think he’s been disconnected from the world and didn’t realize. I am upset.” Disconnected from the world? Louis has always talked about the various methods he has used to “quit the internet” and look at his phone less (Aziz has said this as well), but there comes a point where the artist in question cannot be too “disconnected.” Otherwise, what the fuck are we watching here? How are we supposed to relate to you as an artist when you have no fucking idea what is going on in the world anymore? How can you continue doing comedy when you skip over one of the most important moments ever in your public life?
There was a scene on Family Guy I think about from time to time: Peter Griffin reads that an older band from his youth is touring again. And then he says, “Why?” I feel like that hits this idea right on the money: at what point should our favourite artists move on? For example, what if a caveman who drew the world’s first emoji somewhere was somehow still alive. He was a big deal when he was in his prime: everyone stopped by his cave to see the groundbreaking poop emoji on his wall. But now he’s older, his contemporaries are all gone....what would be his inspiration to make shit that speaks to absolutely no one anymore, and has very little value in modern society? Everyone has a phone now, and his drawings that were once brilliantly innovative are now rendered null. His material is still good, it just doesn’t speak to where the society around him has ended up.
Some artists should gracefully leave and live with their millions of dollars, and as an audience we should let them go. This is not as sad as it sounds; it’s just the natural cycle of life that, for some reason, we do not apply to show business. Entertainment is a very Darwinist system, and there’s always an endless supply of new voices out there. It’s time we gave some fresh blood a chance...