Keeping in mind the idea that art has branched categories, H.L Mencken's views on artist relationship towards society are valid to a certain degree. Mencken's theory states that an artist of any dignity is against his country; and in a reciprocal manner his country is against him. Not only does Mencken state what artist of dignity are, he also goes on to define them. "Artist have special qualities that break them apart from the rest of us." Artist have an "extraordinary capacity for irritation, a pathological sensitivity that separa

There is a section in Mencken's passage in which he categorizes all artist and describes them as people with a pathological sensitivity. Again Mencken does the mistake of generalizing, his statement is true, but not to all artist. Take Martin Sheen for example, he s a character who would fit Mencken's description. Sheen is an actor. Beyond acting Sheen is against the present war against Iraq. Sheen is one of the artist who like Mencken portrays has an "extraordinary capacity for irritation." He is not the kind to sit still and watch the world pass him by, he is proactive. Now for the exception that makes Mencken's generalization wrong. Michael Jackson. Jackson is a great performer, he has many fans and his popularity is unbelievable. Now to say that Jackson has a pathological sensitivity seems sardonic after he is seen spending frivolously over half a million dollars on two vases for his home. Not to say that Jackson doesn't have the right to spend his fortune as he wishes, but the fact remains that Jackson is not preoccupied with any issues that may affect the general public. Instead of falling in the artist category of Mencken's passage Jackson seems to easily qualify under a "regular citizen." Regular citizens are unmoved, or merely annoyed this descript

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Approximate Word count = 853
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)