Point of View

The Death of Marat 1793
Educated critics call this awful lie
A masterpiece

One might just look upon it, and think
What's the fuss?
It's just a painting
of a guy dead in a bath
Holding a list of groceries

Now, both points of view are valid
And should not be ignored
The only difference being
Knowledge of the arts history

Let's travel back in time
To the French revolution
Much of the peasant class unable to read
relying on artists to produce images
That captured the times
And strife of the people

A period of social instability
No different from present day aristocrats
Who have all the wealth
And yet are exempt from paying most taxes
Abusing the power of the state
To piss on peasants
From their chauffeur driven chariots

Until Jacques-Louis David
Gave birth to an immortal lie
A lie that will never die

Portraying his friend Marat
A paranoid journalist
Who used his mighty pen
As a blood-washed guillotine
Reminiscent of a Christian martyr

Where's the controversy? You ask
Where's the outrage? You shout
At a murderer portrayed
As the peoples savior

No one would be so daring today
The education system keeps our creativity
And original thoughts in check
Telling us we're wrong
Before the paint even hits the canvass

Have we bought into the lie?
I guess we'd rather not know the truth
About how much power
We give the media over our lives

The Death of Marat
A brave and bold portrait
That sums up the times it was born perfectly
But, in doing so Jacques-Louis David
Has pulled off the greatest trick
The Devil ever pulled
Making us believe he doesn't exist
While he hides inside the cracks
Of this awful masterpiece