"There is incredible power in the arts to inspire and influence"
About this Quote
Taymor’s line reads like a simple affirmation until you hear it as a director’s quiet power claim. “Incredible power” is not the language of someone describing a nice-to-have cultural accessory; it’s the language of impact, leverage, even soft force. Coming from an artist who turned The Lion King into a global stage phenomenon and who repeatedly fuses masks, puppetry, opera, and myth into mass entertainment, the statement carries an implicit rebuttal to the idea that the arts are decorative, indulgent, or safely separate from real life.
The pairing of “inspire” and “influence” is doing deliberate work. Inspire is the clean word, the one funders and school boards applaud. Influence is messier: it implies persuasion, the reshaping of desire, the nudging of politics and identity without a ballot or a law. Taymor is pointing at art’s double operation: it can lift you emotionally, then quietly rewire what you think is normal. That’s the subtext an experienced director understands better than most: audiences don’t just watch; they absorb a worldview through aesthetics, casting, rhythm, and story structure.
Context matters, too. Taymor’s career sits in an era where the arts must constantly justify themselves against STEM utilitarianism, culture-war suspicion, and algorithmic entertainment. Her quote is less a platitude than a strategic defense: art isn’t extracurricular to society; it’s one of the ways society gets edited, staged, and ultimately changed.
The pairing of “inspire” and “influence” is doing deliberate work. Inspire is the clean word, the one funders and school boards applaud. Influence is messier: it implies persuasion, the reshaping of desire, the nudging of politics and identity without a ballot or a law. Taymor is pointing at art’s double operation: it can lift you emotionally, then quietly rewire what you think is normal. That’s the subtext an experienced director understands better than most: audiences don’t just watch; they absorb a worldview through aesthetics, casting, rhythm, and story structure.
Context matters, too. Taymor’s career sits in an era where the arts must constantly justify themselves against STEM utilitarianism, culture-war suspicion, and algorithmic entertainment. Her quote is less a platitude than a strategic defense: art isn’t extracurricular to society; it’s one of the ways society gets edited, staged, and ultimately changed.
Quote Details
| Topic | Art |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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