"Let's look at people as artists and try to support them; just because Picasso painted a couple of bad paintings, that's no reason to say he's a lousy painter"
About this Quote
Guttenberg’s line is a small manifesto smuggled inside a joke, and it lands because it targets a very modern reflex: the speed with which we turn a single misstep into a whole identity. By dragging Picasso into it, he borrows the ultimate cultural hall pass. If even the patron saint of genius can have off days, then your friend, your coworker, your ex, your favorite actor can too. The hyperbole isn’t subtle; that’s the point. It makes our snap judgments look childish.
As an actor who lived through the churn of 80s fame and the brutal shelf life of celebrity, Guttenberg’s subtext is personal: don’t flatten a career - or a person - into their weakest credit. Hollywood trains audiences to review humans like products: one box-office bomb, one awkward interview, one wrong-era haircut, and suddenly the narrative is “they’re finished.” He’s pushing back on that hunger for verdicts.
“Look at people as artists” is doing extra work. It reframes everyday life as an iterative practice, where the output is inconsistent by nature and the point is the trying. “Support them” is the moral ask, but it’s also pragmatic: artists get better when they’re allowed to fail in public without being exiled. The Picasso comparison gives permission to keep your standards while loosening your cruelty - a neat, humane counterpunch to the culture of permanent receipts.
As an actor who lived through the churn of 80s fame and the brutal shelf life of celebrity, Guttenberg’s subtext is personal: don’t flatten a career - or a person - into their weakest credit. Hollywood trains audiences to review humans like products: one box-office bomb, one awkward interview, one wrong-era haircut, and suddenly the narrative is “they’re finished.” He’s pushing back on that hunger for verdicts.
“Look at people as artists” is doing extra work. It reframes everyday life as an iterative practice, where the output is inconsistent by nature and the point is the trying. “Support them” is the moral ask, but it’s also pragmatic: artists get better when they’re allowed to fail in public without being exiled. The Picasso comparison gives permission to keep your standards while loosening your cruelty - a neat, humane counterpunch to the culture of permanent receipts.
Quote Details
| Topic | Art |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
More Quotes by Steve
Add to List
