Do you think that there should be no parties or celebrations in the US while there is a war going on in the Middle East?

It’s easy to understand those who are uncomfortable with elaborate celebrations while the US is funding, arming, and supporting a genocide, and while the US government is waging war on domestic freedoms, banning media, and arresting its citizens for opposing the murder of children.

I think that that is an extreme view. The Met Gala, as I understand it, does not raise funds for, or celebrate, in any way, either side of any conflict. Nor do graduations, my neighbor’s big Quinceañera event for her granddaughter, or the neighborhood block party.

There is always conflict in the world, and we have a moral imperative to support or not actions taken by others in various ways, but to enjoin everyone to live a life of grief because of it is unreasonable.

I have no problem with it – we had celebrations and protests during the Vietnam war and many objected to it.

I agree with @canidmajor.

Did we disrupt galas when our soldiers were dying in Iraq and countless innocent Iraquis? That was horrible too.

Regarding the point the OP made about graduations, protestors can stop for that event so all of those students who worked for four years to achieve their goal and their families who are excited for them can have their day. They can go back to protesting a day later. There is a negotiation to be had that is reasonable, it doesn’t have to be all or none.

I find that attitude to be nothing but virtue signaling. And demented virtues at that.

If we stopped all celebrations for things like this we would never have them. Ever.

Well, no, but the Met Gala is just a celebration of wealth, let’s be real.

I have no problem with drawing attention to the U.S. funding of genocide at opportune moments, such as something that millions of people watch.

The idea is absurd – to not have parties while people are being killed. if we followed that, then there would never ever be any parties, because there are wars going on all over the world.

But the more salient point – why should the US be tacitly held hostage by the current Palestinian-American Intifidah? What gives them the right to screw up US society?

@Demosthenes: ”…the Met Gala is just a celebration of wealth, let’s be real.”. The Met Gala raises a lot of money for the museum, and all the brou-ha-ha about it is excellent publicity. However you view the surface aspect, these are not bad things.

^^ And besides, it’s fun to see pics of all the outlandish outfits!

@canidmajor I didn’t say it was bad or shouldn’t happen. But acting like it’s this sacred institution that needs defending from evil protesters is just silly. The Met Gala will be fine. No one’s canceling opulent parties because of shame about what’s going on in Gaza. Cowardly university administrations are the only ones canceling anything, ironically.

Fanatics demand that everyone think like them.

I feel bad for graduating students who can’t have their ceremony because it would be disrupted by protestors. These students couldn’t have their high school graduation because of Covid, now they can’t have graduation because of protests. These kids have endured so much the past four years and have worked so hard to better their lives. They deserve acknowledgement without interruption.

Kids coming out of school right now have the worst deal ever IMO. I used to think the disparity between Boomers and GenX/Millenials was unfair, but this is profoundly unfair to the next gen, whatever it is we are up to now.

No, but I respect people’s rights to talk and protest and cancel celebrations.

My hierarchy of local concern is more like:
* Climate change catastrophe
* Extinction crisis
* GOP/Russian attempt to destroy US democracy & establish evil dictatorship
* Russian invasion of Ukraine & potential escalation to WW3
* Trying to avoid other ecological catastrophes
* US economic situations (medical/insurance costs, income gap, cost of living vs wages, plutocratic/megacorporate dominance of government, corporations buying all real estate)
* Gaza situation

I also think the Gaza situation is too complex to reduce to only saying that the main issue is about Israel causing so many civilian casualties. I think Hamas shares at least equal responsibility for the death and suffering, and that the US is not obligated to abandon support for Israel over it.

I wonder how much money that is raised in something like the Met Gala actually ends up in the charity’s coffers. I do see it as a celebration of excess. It’s not like proceeds go to something really important.

@Blackwater_Park So you think museum’s aren’t important? That’s sad.

@janbb Oh they are, but in the context of what is going on in the world now? It could be just me but I always get a little sick watching things like this. I can’t put my finger on it, it just feels wrong to me for some reason. It’s probably just my distaste for glitter and glam. I also don’t have a lot of automatic respect for celebrities.

The Met Gala or Met Ball, formally called the Costume Institute Gala or the Costume Institute Benefit, is an annual fundraising gala held for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in Manhattan, New York, USA. from this https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Met_Gala.

Just because it doesn’t meet an interest of some doesn’t mean it’s not appropriate art that needs to be preserved.

@canidmajor I get that, I read the same page. I cannot find how much is actually spent on this show and how much is donated to the museum after it’s all said and done. Celebrities throwing lavish parties “for charity” where 90% of the money goes to the thing itself leaving little to the charity is absolutely a thing. Makes the fancy shindigs tax deductible too. If you have the means, certainly throw a nice party, but if it’s for charity there should be transparency.

It’s an 8n-house event that employs many people. I imagine the information you seek is readily available. Why you keep raising objections, I can’t imagine.

And back again to the main question here, though I sympathize with those of the Palestinians civilians who are innocent, and yet starving and dying and suffering helplessly, I find the suggestion that there “should be no parties or celebrations in the US” while that’s happening, strikes me as either naive, ignorant, or calculatedly (for some political purpose?) wrong, given that there have been countless humanitarian disasters, murders and injustices going on around the world, that rarely get any mention at all.

If you think the US shouldn’t have any parties unless/until ruthless injustice is abolished from the planet, well, that’s like saying the US should all become non-stop justice champions. Maybe they “should”, from some moral perspective, but why suddenly because of the current horrors done by Israel’s retaliation in Gaza? For just one example, the war in Ukraine has had something like 10 times the death toll, and precedes it.

Met Gala funds raised. Easy-peasy Google click:

https://apnews.com/article/2024-met-gala-fundraising-record-costume-institute-a9662c3c9d1f12794dae14051ae19e66

And we can leave it there hopefully.

@Zaku Maybe because we’re directly funding Israel’s killing of the Palestinians?

Just an idea.

^^ But that’s nothing new.

The U.S. commitment to aiding Israel has long-standing roots. The United States has given Israel more than $260 billion in combined military and economic aid since World War II, plus about $10 billion more in contributions for missile defense systems like the Iron Dome, a U.S. News analysis finds. That’s the most granted to any country throughout that time frame, and around $100 billion more than Egypt, the second-highest recipient historically.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2023-10-10/how-much-aid-does-the-u-s-give-to-israelhttps://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2023-10-10/how-much-aid-does-the-u-s-give-to-israel

Just thinking, if the protestors agreed to pause to allow graduations to take place they might get some news coverage. That’s what they want in the end, the news coverage. Being reasonable can get attention also.

Of course not!

@smudges It’s not new, but this current conflict has understandably raised objections to our alliance with Israel.

Party on, but don’t help fund this appalling war.

@Demosthenes: __“No one’s canceling opulent parties because of shame about what’s going on in Gaza.__ But some people think we should, which is why I am asking what people here think. I specifically quoted someone on the evening news (just a regular person) who said she thought things like the Met Gala shouldn’t go on while there’s genocide going on.

@jca2 There is a lot of virtue signaling with statements like that. Are these people canceling their own events? I think not.

@Demosthenes We’re not giving them extra funds to attack Gaza, are we? We’ve always supported Israel, without which, it may not have survived.

Yes, we’ve always supported them. That’s the problem. It doesn’t matter how ruthless their destruction of Gaza is, they know we will support them no matter what. It’s unconditional. Protesters are calling for an end to that support. We are not supporting Russia’s destruction of Ukraine. The situations are not the same.

For those that may be curious, NY Times had an article about how much $$ the Met Gala raised this year: (cut and pasted)

This year’s event raised about $26 million for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, according to a spokeswoman. That’s a $4 million increase over last year’s total, and more than double what the event raised a decade ago, in 2014.

The total pummels the philanthropic events thrown to support many of the city’s other cultural institutions. The most recent fall gala for the New York City Ballet raised just short of $4 million, and the American Museum of Natural History’s gala brought in $2.5 million. Even The Met’s other events do not compare: Its Art & Artists Gala raised $4.4 million last year.

@jca2 I posted a link with the amount above.

@Demosthenes I understand why you have a problem with US money going to Israel. I also understand why you see it differently than money going to Ukraine. I understand why you want one secular Democratic state.

My questions are, do you think Hamas should return the hostages? Do you think diplomacy should be used to find a solution? Are you ok with war? Do you prefer we send money to Hamas if you could funnel the money to them?

I don’t remember if you think Jewish people should actually leave Israel. That sentiment I hear from many Palestinians that the Jewish people aren’t from there.

I saw that, @janbb and I appreciate it but I also thought my cut and paste was interesting and relevant because it talked about how the Met Gala makes so much more than other cultural institutions’ fundraisers do. It blows the others out of the park.

@jca2 So much money. Isn’t the suggested ticket for the museum $30 now? Seems like they should be swimming in money. I never pay that much for a ticket, but most people don’t know they can pay less. Maybe it costs a lot to keep the building in good repair.

@JLeslie It costs a fortune to run t he museum. Entrance fees don’t cover it at all. And for people in the city, admission is free.

Here are ticket prices @JLeslie and yes, you’re right that many don’t realize they can pay what they wish. I don’t see that admission is free for NYC residents but maybe it’s a secret. According to the site, everyone must pay something (unless you’re a member).

https://engage.metmuseum.org/admission

@janbb I’m not complaining about the gala, I’m complaining about the $30. Imagine a family of four? Children under 12 are free, but two teens, that would be $120 to walk through the museum. It’s a lot.

People who live in the city don’t go for free, I have never heard of that and none of my relatives who live in one of the five boroughs pay nothing when they go to the museum. We meet up there sometimes, we all pay something.

From what I’m reading, the only ones who go free are members, children and people who work for some companies (I have a relative who works for a Wall Street firm who can go for free if she shows her work ID).

@jca2 Oh, you’re right. That may be a change. Some time ago, it was pay what you wish for everyone but then they put in a flat fee for outside New Yorkers. I had thought it was free for New Yorkers then but perhaps not.

@JLeslie I agree that $30 is a lot of money.

According to the NY Times, the Met Gala solely funds the Met Costume Institute, not the entire museum’s facilities.

@jca2 Yes, I read that too.

@janbb Maybe you had free tickets through the library and that’s why you thought it was free. I know you are in NJ now, but I don’t remember if maybe you used to live in NYC.

Even when I get into a museum for free I always donate something.

I just hate to think people very tight on money might miss getting to see the arts.

Coincidentally to this discussion, an article in the NY TImes today stated that the Costume Institute is the only sector of the MET that has to come up with its own funding. So I guess the 26 million heips out even if you don’t think it’s the most deserving of causes.

@janbb Wow. I wonder why that section isn’t treated the same as others?

^^ The article didn’t say.

@janbb I take issue with it. I wonder if that includes all fashion? I think that all should be included the same as other forms of art.

I googled, and this article has a little background on the budget issue. I didn’t read it because I’m watching TV right now, but the answer was highlighted when I read it:

https://www.thecut.com/article/met-gala-costume-institute-exhibit-anna-wintour-andrew-bolton.html#:~:text=When%20the%20Museum%20of%20Costume%20Art%20merged%20with,department%E2%80%99s%20mission%20statement%20included%20supporting%20the%20fashion%20industry.%29