| About The Rattigan Society Foundation's Namesake |
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| Tuesday, 28 April 2009 23:26 | |
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Some might wonder why Sir Terence Rattigan, the Rattigan Society Foundation’s namesake, was chosen over other far more recognizable “gay icons.” But it is precisely for this reason that Rattigan is the perfect avatar: he is not a trademark of stereotypical gay society. Through his plays, Rattigan expressed an ultimately benevolent sense of life, something lacking in most of today’s art. He maintained a healthy respect for “craftsmanship” in his chosen career, declaring: “The stream that seems to meander its casual length along does so between strong artificial banks, most carefully and cunningly contrived by a master craftsman. To admire the stream and ignore the artifice that gave it its course seems to me a grave oversight, and may well have led over the years to the present critical misapprehension by which laziness of construction is thought a virtue and the shapelessness of a play is taken as evidence of artistic integrity.” (The Best Short Plays: 1975, Richards.) Rattigan’s artistic professionalism is certainly admirable, something Ayn Rand might have responded to either subconsciously or consciously as she read, and greatly appreciated, his works. While Rattigan was a homosexual, this had little to no discernable bearing on his work, or his style. Indeed, his ordinariness in this regard is what sets him apart and lends him an aura of respectability – making him the exact personification of all which the Rattigan Society represents. Here is a man who was gay, but, more importantly, was an artist. He did not make his sexuality the central focus of his life, and refused to partake in the “Swinging London” of the 60s, which delighted in and revolved around hedonistic and promiscuous ventures. He stood against the tides of his time and triumphed. This is the ideal we seek to present to the world: a remarkable man who happens to be a homosexual, and is neither ashamed of nor obsessed by that fact. |
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| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 28 April 2009 23:29 ) |