A Diatribe Against the Starving Artist | brokeGIRLrich
There are very few things I get really excited about, but good theater is one of them. Actually, it’s why I picked my entire career path. I was entranced by the magic of theater, the audience’s suspension of disbelief and the feeling that you can make anything happen onstage.
I think a lot of people (though not all) choose their careers like that. I think they have some sort of romantic notion that acts as a trigger, pushes them through their studies and spurs them through different interview processes.
Here’s the thing that I think is unique about theater (and the performing arts in general), I think we’ve romanticized the notion of what we’re doing so excessively, that it almost seems shameful to be paid. We’ve invented the starving artist motif. And we did it to ourselves.
I can’t think of any other career where the people in the occupation can claim to be living on welfare, rooming in a studio apartment with 8 other people, working for nothing and we, as a community, say crap wistfully like “they’re doing it.”
Doing what?
In any other career path, that would be a sign of failure.
The performing arts are the only place where people don’t bat an eye as they tell you wages that are blatantly underpaid or even ask you to volunteer. You know. For the art. Or some sh*t like that.
And we all know who incredibly, endlessly, under-funded the arts are. I get it. You get it. We all get it. Maybe, though, producers, instead of focusing on the magic and passion of theater, you should figure out how to properly fundraise before trying to put on a show. Or you should only expect a volunteer, community theater level production.
But this post, this rant, isn’t actually geared toward producers.
It’s geared towards us. And this crap known as the starving artist syndrome. It’s not romantic. And it’s not ok. And for the most part, we’re to blame for it.
Because we accept next to the nothing for the “privilege” of creating art. You do realize you’re actually incredibly skilled, right? And accepting next to nothing wages for whatever you do to help make art happen means that’s all they’ll offer the next person as well. And the next person. And the next person.
Unfortunately, I realize this is a lost cause because we would all have to stand up together and refuse to accept less than minimum wage. Benefit-less jobs. Insane, long hours without adequate compensation. Because as long as someone is still willing to work for less than their worth, that’s the person who will get the job. So not only will we all remain stuck in the cycle of unfair wages and poverty level living conditions, we will also destroy art.
Because when the jobs are just going to the lowest bidder, you’re also getting the lowest quality.
Furthermore, because we have some crazy notion that we’re expected to starve, at least for a little while, no one in the arts community seems to take any time to educate themselves on personal finance. Seriously, as a whole, I’ve never known such a large group of otherwise intelligent folks who just sort of shrugged their shoulders and accepted that this is the way things need to be.
Considering that we’re also the same group of people who perfected the side hustle, you’d think that we’d also be more conscious that this way of life – without budgets, emergency savings and retirement accounts – is not acceptable.
Demanding a living wage – a real living wage, one that realistically let’s you pay rent, buy food and set aside at least 10% in savings is not an unreasonable demand. It’s what people in nearly every other career path expect.
Don’t get me wrong, for a long time I thought the starving artist was just a necessary stop on the path to success – I mean, there’s an entire musical about it that I was addicted to in high school (I’m looking at you, Rent). Now I’m far more convinced that silly notion is the tuberculosis of the arts – weirdly romanticized and killing us all.
< / rant >
See also: Why A Theatre Degree is Not Useless
For more on this subject, by better writers than me, check out these posts:
- The “Starving Artist” Slur
- The Myth of the Starving Artist
- In Pricey Cities, Being a Bohemian Starving Artist Gets Old Fast
- Shifting Gears from Starving Artist to Entrepreneur
- 12 Things All Starving Artists Believe
- The All-Too-Common Starving Artist
Thank you for this! I couldn’t agree more. I’m not an artist, but my brother is a musician and he’s managed to make a career out of it, but it hasn’t been easy. The notion of working for nothing, just because you love what you’re doing, is not OK!
P.S. In high school I too was quite obsessed with Rent… and still remain so to a degree :))
Mrs. Frugalwoods recently posted…More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About the Frugalwoods Family
Despite the questionable message – Rent is an awesome play.
The concept of the starving artist is just sad to me. Stefanie posted something a while ago about the issues with the actors union and I agree. I think that too often actors are just thankful to have jobs when they don’t understand the true value they bring to the production. They need to fight more for their financial rights, especially since it seems as though every other union has no problems with that.
Shannon @ Financially Blonde recently posted…Lemonade Stand Review and Giveaway
Oh gosh, I really wasn’t even getting into the endless disappointment that is Actor’s Equity with this – although I remember that article and Stefanie really nailed it.
Honestly, it’s a bit harsh, but I’m more concerned with what we’re willing to accept as individuals whether it’s in a non-union or union environment, since, honestly, it all starts with us and what we’ll live with.
This is why Actor’s Equity is arguably the weakest union ever. Actors are willing to be paid less than living wage simply for the opportunity to do what they do. It’s a precedent that really has got to change if theatre is to be a sustainable career.
Stefanie @ The Broke and Beautiful Life recently posted…Blogging Lessons Learned
No argument from me there.
Mel @ brokeGIRLrich recently posted…A Diatribe Against the Starving Artist
And that’s why my husband gave up even though he is a brilliant actor. He got plenty of parts, big parts, but wasn’t paid a living wage for them. So he had to work a 9-5 job in addition to theatre.
That’s no way for anyone to have a real life or a family. It’s sad that so many talented people are not allowed to pursue their passion because they cannot afford to.
Holly@ClubThrifty recently posted…Why Used Stuff is Better Than New
Excellent post. I wish I’d kept the passion for theater alive, but it got beaten out of me in college. Even though I consistently scored lead roles, I just didn’t have the same fire burning for it when I graduated which made me think, “if I’m going to be a starving artist. I better at least love what I’m doing.” So I nixed my career aspirations at 22 without even trying. I’ve dabbled in taking classes here and there, but the starving artist lifestyle was incredibly unappealing to me on more than just financial levels. I find it incredibly impressive when someone goes after their dreams here in New York, but it’s awful how underpaid absolutely everyone seems to be. And the communications field isn’t much different. Journalists are often horrifically underpaid for their work.
Broke Millennial recently posted…The Case for College Students to Have Credit Cards
Yeah, I worry a little about the fact that we instill the idea that you WILL be a starving artists in students of the performing arts. Maybe we should start instilling “demand what you’re worth” in them instead. It might be a start.
I’ve met too many people in the arts who think that being creative = suffering. Because of that, they don’t even try to understand money basics. It’s like being broke is a right of passage!
AverageJoe recently posted…Great Business Practices from Small Company USA with Scott Schaefer
It really is and that’s the mindset I want to fight against. Along with the idea that if you’re creative, you can’t manage to learn some basic finance and business principles. Heck, even some halfway decent hustling skills would help out a lot of people in the arts – if they made the right hustling decisions.
I work in a creative field and totally relate. Life’s too short to do what you hate but also too short to starve for passion’s sake – hence why I decided to leave journalism this year.
NZ Muse recently posted…RTW and back: An interview with Amanda of A Dangerous Business
Ugh, I’m sorry you decided to leave it, but I can totally understand. I was a stage manager for years but switched to the calmer, more boring, but more lucrative side of production management this year. I think constantly about switching back to stage management though, so we’ll see…
Haha . This is so well said. There are some career paths like this out there, and one thing I’ve noticed that helps is certifications or state level requirements. Those could never be applicable to an arts realm, though. So I am no help in the way of solutions.
femmefrugality recently posted…Socially Responsible Investing Through Index Funds
I tried to type the rant thing after haha but the comment section apparently took it for HTML. That part was funny. The rest I took with the appropriate level of seriousness.
femmefrugality recently posted…Socially Responsible Investing Through Index Funds
Hah, yeah, you have to put spaces between the slash and the bracket and they words to keep the Web from thinking it’s HTML.
Yes, yes, yes! People need to demand better wages – and those who love the arts need to support them. If you like music, go to concerts – and pay for songs.
Annie Logue recently posted…Cameroon: Your Madness, Not Mine
It’s important to remember that there are also a bunch of people out there earning HUGE salaries and living in mansions, who hate their lives.
With a career on stage, one has to realise that you’ll often do it tough. The flipside is that they’re doing something that they’re passionate about and might have the right work-life balance for them.
Mr Ikonz @ Project Ikonz recently posted…When is an asset not an asset?
Your attitude reminds me of the successful people I consulted before I accepted my first full-time position after college.
I asked a myriad of people: ‘Should I accept a decent job or should I wait ’til I find a great one?’
The winners in life all told me to wait and get a job that pays me what I’m worth and one that I enjoy. The other, less successful, people told me to just take what comes and be grateful.
Will recently posted…Why and How to Make Yourself Poor
Well I’m excited they were the successful people 😉
Thank you for mentioning this! I feel the same way of what sites like taskrabbit and fiver and others are doing to my industry (production and post-production film and video). People are taking jobs for peanuts on these sites which undermines are skills. The drives our market value down. I suppose if you are desperate for any money at all, you kind of have to, but I’ve been holding my ground on not taking an crap jobs related to my field, and it’s paid off.
Tonya@Budget and the Beach recently posted…Five Things Freelancers Can Do When Work is Slow, Aside from Freak Out
Good for you! They’re only hurting themselves too by accepting such little money. I think it may even be better to get a day job outside your field if you’re resorting to being so grossly underpaid.
I knew some people who were in Broadway plays, and after speaking with them, I had a new respect for the climb they took to get where they are. It’s odd to me how individuals are expected to sacrifice for the greater good of the company (or play, or team, or start-up). But for the company, that loyalty is a one way street. Great post 🙂
Ryan @ Impersonal Finance recently posted…to get ahead, get started
Mel, well said!!!! As the mother of a fiction writing/artist teen, I am constantly telling her that she should absolutely expect to be paid for her work and not give it away. There are so many talented people out there, and they deserve to be paid for what they do.
Laurie @thefrugalfarmer recently posted…When It’s Pointless to Give Others Money Advice
Agreed! I hope to read her work someday!
You’re absolutely right! I don’t think it’s limited to any one art form, either. I think any of us trying to “make it” in a creative field find ourselves at a point where we’re practically giving everything for free, just for the opportunity to be noticed.
Heather recently posted…Stepping Back in Time
There’s just such a dichotomy… there’s the really rich and successful actors/producers/whatevers (ok I’m not in the business, forgive me) and then there’s the poor struggling ones trying to catch a big break. I just hate that it’s all or nothing… and this is a black or white person talking here!!! Same with the music industry. My son took music production in college but couldn’t get a job in the field because they basically want you to intern like forever for free and he had rent to pay. Now he’s a successful software implementation consultant. They hired him because they saw his capabilities in computer music programming and said, okay I guess you know something about software. Now what he wanted to be his career is just his hobby.
debt debs recently posted…Money Lessons in Marine Life
Amen.
Free doesn’t scale, except in rare circumstances. It isn’t sustainable. At some point value given has to leverage into value received.
We can’t control others, but we can control ourselves. Those who demand pay for their work (and the clients who pay them) understand that they cannot sustain their art or, equally important, their growth and thus the growth of the value they have to bless their clients or audience or fans with, if they cannot earn a wage while doing so.
A humble life in service to the muse is perfectly respectable, but at some point you have to ask, “Am I an artist, or am I an attention whore?”
James Michael Taylor recently posted…Is your success muscle atrophied?
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