Just Milieu in Art and Politics

During class, we talked about the Juste Milieu movement that corresponded to the rule of King Phillipe. He was considered the "King of the People" and was supported from many groups including the Republicans, the Bonapartes (supporters of Napoleon), and the middle class. He was able to do this because he had a policy of compromise in which he was able to satisfy all groups. Likewise, the artistic policy of the time was also somewhat of a compromise. The movement Juste Milieu means ""middle of the road"; it took the best parts of Romanticism and Neoclassicism and combined them into the same work. This type of movement was necessary because of the rise of the Nouveau Riche, or the newly rich. These people were not cultured and did not know history like the other members of the upper class. Thus, artists needed to paint something that was interesting to look at (and so would catch the attention and wallets of the Nouveau Riche) and had an obvious message that was easy to grasp.


This compromise of an artistic movement reminded me of politicians today. Often, they try to go "middle of the road" in order to appeal to the most voters. If they were too radical, on either the left or the right side, they would lose middle of the road voters. Thus, they have to walk a path in the middle while still trying to keep the radical voters happy. This is often very difficult and can be a subject of criticism for many politicians. The success of middle of the road politicians is often dependent on the political atmosphere at the time. If a president or other important political person is being too radical in his policies, the candidates for the next term will often act in reaction to that and try to be more middle of the road, but the opposite can also happen.


Recently, I was watching Fox News and one of its correspondents was commenting on a speech given by Barack Obama to the senate on the financial crisis. As he was wrapping up, he commented that the man behind Obama seemed to look sleepy so this man probably thought Obama "wasn't far enough left" for him. The comment was made to make Obama look bad. However, it made Obama seem more middle of the road and the result for the viewers watching could be good or bad. If they believe a too radical president would be a bad thing, the comment may actually have been in Obama's favor, despite the intentions of the supposedly unbiased news reporter.