don’t go there, George Will

Will believes so much in the “message” of the movie United 93, which he describes thus

We are all potential soldiers. And we all may be, at any moment, at the war’s front, because in this war the front can be anywhere.

that he says it’s our “civic duty” to go to see it:

Going to see “United 93″ is a civic duty because Samuel Johnson was right: People more often need to be reminded than informed. After an astonishing 56 months without a second terrorist attack, this nation perhaps has become dangerously immune to astonishment. The movie may quicken our appreciation of the measures and successes — many of which must remain secret — that have kept would-be killers at bay.

(via InstaPundit)

There are so many things wrong with this that I don’t know where to begin.

However admirable Will may find United 93, however admirable Will’s goal of wanting to honor the memory of those passengers who gave their lives on 9/11, and no matter how much I agree with him that Americans do need to stiffen their collective spine—endorsing a movie for political reasons is … wrong.

It’s a simple point, and I wish more people—on both the right and the left—would get this. While, obviously, art and entertainment have political content and overtones and undertones, and while they, obviously, reflect their culture and era and are open to many kinds of interpretation and should be open to all discussion, we should cease and desist scrutinizing art and entertainment for their political content. Because (not necessarily in this order):

—a) it robs art, upon whose nourishment we depend, of its transcendence

—b) it’s a totalitarian idea and practice that will harm all of us in the long run—namely, when we start pressuring people to perform their “civic duty” by watching this movie and listening to that writer and making sure to ignore that other writer and totally close their eyes and ears to what that other filmmaker says…well, I think you get it. It will never end.

This message brought to you by an Enlightenment fundamentalist and supporter of the Euston Manifesto.