I hear this argument a lot: “Well, if art is only about taste, than are you saying that Movie 43 has as much value as The Godfather?”
And… yeah. Yeah, I’d say it does.
Now, culturally, no. The Godfather has had a greater impact than Movie 43. That’s not disputable. But to say one has more value, has a greater right to exist? I disagree.
Now, I don’t like Movie 43. If you asked me on the street what I think of it, I’d say it’s terrible. This implies, of course, “…to me.” If you like it, good for you, but we probably don’t agree on movies.
Anyway. The “value” an artwork has is defined by the person beholding it, right? There is no “objective” means of looking at art. There’s just your interpretation of a work, and how you feel about it. The fact that The Godfather has a greater societal impact than Movie 43 isn’t inherently because it’s made better. It was made by people who cared about it, and was released at the right time to strike a chord with a huge amount of people. Movie 43 was made to make a quick buck, and maybe have some fun on set. It certainly failed to make money, and the only chord it struck was out of tune. The Godfather is more accessible to a larger number of people than Movie 43. This is a crucial distinction, because to us, who have been raised and conditioned to believe that more is better, clearly something that has a greater societal impact has a higher intrinsic value than something that doesn’t. What people keep forgetting is the simple fact that this value is just a collective of people who all happen to agree with each other.
A piece of artwork only has “value” so long as it captivates a large audience over a certain period of time. Times change, and ideals we used to value fall to the wayside. This isn’t a bad thing, it’s just how humans function. The way we see the world is constantly changing.
Am I saying that Movie 43 will one day surpass The Godfather in cultural impact? Of course not. What I am saying is something everyone has heard once or twice before: the only value a piece of art has is that which we assign it. And I don’t mean “we” in the collective sense, but in that deep, personal one. The only reason a piece of art is important is because it’s important to you, personally.
Art has no value, that’s what makes it art.
Corey Laisure 