4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Kuwait Times
Creativity is not for sale - Dr Khalid Al-Saleh
Creativity is not for sale
We live in a time when fame is measured by the number of followers, not by the quality of ideas or the originality of talent.
What is even more dangerous is that many literary and creative platforms today are funded by wealthy individuals—raising a fundamental question: can money create creativity? Are we facing a generation in which 'genius' is funded and 'creativity' is hired?
It is a painful reality unfolding before us: money has become a powerful tool for manufacturing thinkers, media figures, and writers without genuine talent. This empties the cultural arena of its content and weakens public taste.
Today, any wealthy individual can establish a publishing house in their name, produce a film that serves their interests, or publish a book filled with meaningless words, then promote it through funded campaigns that label it a 'bestseller.' Some names now dominate the literary and media scene not because of talent or ability, but because of financial backing, public relations, and targeted advertising.
When capital takes over the cultural space, critics lose their freedom. Criticism becomes a form of 'courtesy' or 'marketing,' rather than a tool for honest evaluation. Those with real talent who lack the means for promotion or the connections to reach the public are sidelined. Creativity shrinks, and authentic aesthetic values fade away.
The prominent French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, who died in 2002, explained in his famous book Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste how money is used to impose culture, creating indirect class discrimination in everything, including art, literature, and music, and depriving society of the true creativity that emerges from suffering.
Harvard University also published a study examining the relationship between capital and creativity. It revealed that many independent literary awards are given to works that are modest in artistic content but enjoy significant financial and media support.
Another clear example from the Arab world: over the past decade, Arab satellite channels have been flooded with people who present themselves as 'thinkers' despite lacking research credentials or meaningful intellectual output—apart from paid contributions to targeted services. Arab viewers still remember the so-called 'thinker' who appeared on the BBC, only to erupt in protest because the station delayed his payment!
When the untalented dominate media and cultural platforms, creativity is lost and the beauty of literature is diminished. This distorts knowledge in society, elevating undeserving voices while silencing those worthy of recognition.
Today, we are in dire need of a revival of true critics who are free from fear and financial control, and of evaluation committees in state institutions that are grounded in integrity and cultural competence.
We must restrict and monitor cultural awards and ensure they are based on merit rather than connections. How many writers and thinkers have struggled to find their daily bread, yet humanity has immortalized them and rejoiced in their creations? And how many 'cultural billionaires' have managed to deceive some people for a while, only to be forgotten, leaving behind nothing but the corruption they funded?
Creativity is born of necessity, of suffering, of imagination fortified by talent and culture. It is not found in bank accounts, nor among the luxuries of fame seekers.
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