John Simon 1925-2019

[ggersten]

NY Times Obituary

 

[mamaleh]

 Somehow I thought he'd go on forever.  Wherever he is, I hope he gives it a good review. 

[Jarethan]

Not likely.  I always thought he wrote well, but he did not need to be so obnoxious in writing about people's fat hips and pocked faces.  Much of his criticism was just gratuitously mean spirited.  (I often wondered whether a poster or two on this board was John Simon incognito).

That said,  if he really liked something, I was more likely to see it.

 

[morosco]

With Simon's death, the world just became a little less racist, misogynist, homophobic and grossly insensitive.

[SisterGeorge]

morosco said: "With Simon's death, the world just became a little less racist, misogynist, homophobic and grossly insensitive."

At least he didn't run a country.

[Cora Hoover Hooper]

LOL. Only the good die young.......

[A Director]

Years ago, one of his reviews angered the Village Voice, so they printed his Obit. It said he died in the theatre's lobby and left a grease stain on the carpet.

[Mr Roxy]

You have to admit He was an equal.opportunity offender. He spared no one .I had no use for critics but he went over and above. You are not to speak evil of the dead but I will make an exception in his case. He made pond scum look good

[HogansHero]

Sorry but not equal. He was a very well rounded bigot but the majority of people are not susceptible to bigotry victimhood. He may have been nasty to them but there is a difference in being nasty about a performance and being nasty from a place of hate. I say ROH. He and his fellow countryman Milošević can smell up the same ash pit.

[Jarethan]

SisterGeorge said: "morosco said: "With Simon's death, the world just became a little less racist, misogynist, homophobic and grossly insensitive."

At least he didn't run a country."

AMEN!!

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

I think this is a very fair Obit written by one of his former editors, Chris Bonanos, at NY Magazine. Bonanos doesn't shy away from condemning Simon's past behavior.

https://www.vulture.com/2019/11/obituary-critic-john-simon-1925-2019.html

[GeorgeandDot]

Did he run out of souls to suck?

[Phantom of London]

Of all the genres of entertainment he covered, he seemed to be truly in love with one thing.

[JSquared2]

Phantom of London said: "Of all the genres of entertainment he covered, he seemed to be truly in love with one thing."

What would that be?  Himself??

[Kad]

He was proof that education can't make you a decent person. 

[theatregeek6]

"And I felt...nothing."

[PalJoey]

Michael Feingold puts John Simon into the proper critical perspective:

Michael Feingold: The Tragedy of John Simon

[GavestonPS]

Great article, PJ!

So nice to see you and Finding Namo here again.

[joevitus]

A truly great article. Much appreciated. 

[bear88]

It's a fascinating article, especially for someone like me, who only knew of him by reputation. (I wasn't following theater, much less theater criticism, until much later.) I spent last night reading his blog, a recent entry (praise for some shows that are still running and, surprisingly, The Prom), and an appearance on the Dick Cavett show from decades ago.

Simon seems like a caricature, for whom - as the saying goes for a certain political figure - the cruelty was the point. It was the only point. Whatever enthusiasm he had for the work - even of actors - needed to be hidden, because it would ruin his carefully-crafted reputation. (The anecdote in Feingold's piece in which he was "caught" liking something a director had done is revealing.) He was a one-trick pony of vitriol, bigotry, sexism, and anti-gay screeds.

Compare Simon and someone like Sara Holdren, whose love of theater was apparent from the start of her too-brief reviewing career (and who got the gig because she really hated a play and wrote witheringly about it). Or a contemporary like Pauline Kael, whose love of the movies was apparent even when she trashed plenty of films. 

There are plenty of times when I wish critics had tougher standards, lest almost everything end up as a New York Times Critics Pick, or local critics who go too easy on new shows. (I have to read between the lines too often.) But Simon was some kind of influential critic in New York for decades doing a tiresome I-hate-everything routine? Didn't people just ignore him?