Shabbat Bamidbar - 26 Iyyar 5768
That's the screaming headline at the front of this week's Wentworth Courier, referring of course to internationally famous Australian photographer, Bill Henson.
Frankly, I am not one capable of answering that question, nor do I think that it's terribly relevant.
I cannot answer the question because I am not a "maiven" in either art or psychology. Although a sometime photograhper and a full-time rabbi, I profess expertise in neither the fine arts nor in the inner recesses of the soul. For all I know, Henson may be a first class "mensch" and an artist without peer.
This is not about Henson. Nor is it about the character of the parents of the children involved, of whom I also know nothing.
What it is about is the red line that has been crossed. A red line that should have signalled the parents and artist alike: "Until here, and no further!"
Parents have a "duty of care" towards their children. According to the Talmud, no matter how much raw intelligence children have, they do not have the quality of "Daat". "Daat", although often translated as "knowledge", is so much more than that. It is the maturity to understand and to fully assimilate the moral implications, the right and wrong, the "where to from here", of one's actions. As children do not possess "daat" it is the absolute moral responsibility of parents to protect their children's innocence until such time that the children develop the capacity to decide for themselves. Should there be the slightest question as to whether particular behaviour is morally acceptable or not, it is the duty of parents to steer their children away. This is something that is recognized in most western legal systems, including our own. This is why there are classifications on films prohibiting the entry of children to the theatre whether accompanied by their parents or not.
Even the supportive "artistic" community has said in relation to the Henson affair that art is often "controversial" - that it "tests" the boundaries. If adults wish to test boundaries, that is their business. The responsibility for their risk-taking is theirs alone. But by what right do parents expose their children to risks - either physical or moral? Let us not forget what has happened here. Children on the border of adolescence and childhood have fully exposed themselves both to an adult and other similarly aged children of the opposite sex. The parents of the teenagers involved may be ideal in every other respect, but they surely must be censured for this clear breach of parental responsibility.
As to the artist. Henson and others in the artistic community may know the difference between pornography and fine art. But one must wonder how many others do.
I have not seen any of Henson's works, but a description of one appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday: "A naked girl is restrained by a naked boy, with both arms around her throat, while another naked girl takes hold of her legs."
Referring to this work of "art" and others like it, Edmund Capon, the director of the NSW Art Gallery, had the following to say: "There are images that are close to despoliation and abuse, but they're sort of orchestrated with this wonderful sensual baroque exoticism (sic) at the same time."
Although, as I admitted earlier, I am no "maiven", it would not appear to involve much of a stretch to exchange the "x" of "exoticism" with an "r". Next time someone is charged with "soft" child pornography, guess what his defence will be? Will the men and women of the jury - most of whom are unlikely to be members of the artistic community - be capable of making an honest distinction between the two?
Surely, social responsibility should come ahead of a love of art?
I could, of course, have argued the case from a Jewish religious perspective. However, recognizing that this will not resonate with all our readers, and due to it being highly relevant to all parents - whether religious or not, and indeed whether Jewish or not - I have couched it in terms that I hope will enter the hearts and souls of all our readers.
Life is not merely a search for the beautiful and aesthetically pleasing. It is about recognizing the difference between right and wrong.
Rabbi Benzion Milecki OAM
30 May 2008 |