This week I finished the Pultzier prize winning Maus. It’s a graphic novel where the author Spiegelman interviews his father about his experiences as a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor. The work utilises postmodernist techniques and presents Jews as mice with the Germans as cats. The harrowing story recounts Poland pre-World-War Two, the growing antisemitism and his experiences of Auschwitz before liberation. Weaved in between the narrative is the author learning the story from his father. Explored is their troubled relationship, the weight of his mother’s suicide, and his grapple with the book itself. The most harrowing image opens with a guilt-ridden Spiegelman atop a pile of corpses. Said corpses are of the six million Jews upon whom Maus’ success is built. The author reflects that his success depends on the Holocaust and the loss of so many lives.
This fortnight I also went to see Once Upon a Time in Hollywood which is Quentin Tarantino’s ninth outing. Film fans, at this stage in his career, already know what to expect from the director. At three hours long you’re along for the ride, deep conversations, a fantastic soundtrack, cool characters and a rapid finale that had me giddy. As a director, Tarantino has moved past the point of limitation. Every actor wants to work with him, budget isn’t an issue, and final cut rights on any movie has long been established. What we witness is the unfiltered output of one of Hollywood’s most original creators.
Hubris or Creative Control?
Both Maus and Once Upon A time in Hollywood can be admired in the upper bracket of creative output. Both got me thinking about creativity and my own outputs. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood represents the grandiose power those in Hollywood can possess so long as they’re making money. At three hours many directors would be told to trim the movie down. Tarantino need not play by such rules. Full creative control is his. I also believe this is why when picking your favourite Tarantino movie Reservoir Dogs, his first mainstream output, remains up there. Unlike his current films, it likely did not represent his fullest ambition but became his most digestible and accessible product. Challenged more creatively Tarantino channelled and neatened his final product.
Maus represents a different kind of tradeoff, one between art, truth and memory. Spiegelman is retelling a story that is not his own. Visibly in the narrative, he struggles over artistic choices and his depiction of certain characters. Spiegelman’s father is tight with money, stealing matches and napkins rather than buy them, arguing with a store manager to refund a half-eaten box of cereal. Spiegelman frets over, including such moments. On the one hand, they depict his father and their relationship accurately, on the other he worries the portrayal may strengthen many anti-Semitic tropes of Jews being tight with money.
Who is the Creation for?
When you create yourself, there is forever a trade off. I can only speak humbly from my as yet unpublished first book. Who is the creative output for? Tarantino no longer needs to worry about finding an audience in the mainstream. Ready and waiting, there will be an army of viewers ready to digest his latest offering. Profit maximisation, breaking viewing records or commercial deals are not his priority as a director. Maus is a far more personal story. The author personally closer to his story and grappling artistic license with truth. I cannot comprehend the volume of choices the author will have had to make over every panel. The finished product is beautiful, the author’s own intertwined perspective as valuable to the narrative as his father’s.
Feedback has begun on my first book. The reception positive, albeit some grammar fixes necessary, its plot and characters have largely gone down well. As described in a summary of my work one third of the narrative is the Prime Minister. Those who know me know of my love of politics and through that my tradeoff exists. The character is inaccessible in narrative terms. Certain chapters are unnecessary and represent something far more interesting to me than the average reader. Equally, the book has been far more of a passion project of mine than an output for commercial gain. I will try to get it published, but I don’t expect to be driving a yellow Lamborghini any time soon. Whether Maus, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood or my own work exploring the tradeoff between the creator and the creation will remain forever interesting.
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