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Monday, August 20, 2007

Depressing, But of Note

Last week, prompted by the terrific Arts & Letters Daily blog, I read a real bummer of an article in Vanity Fair about Arthur Miller who, as it turns out, has a son with Down-syndrome whose existence he never acknowledged.

It is an odd thing to read about this man, who wrote from the "right" side of every issue-- and God knows, I watched and even was in countless productions of the Crucible that left me burning with outrage against blacklisters-- doing something that is really and truly grim. Naturally, anyone's private life is his own and of course many great artists are truly hideous or even boring people, but there is something so harsh about Miller's behavior, perhaps because of the righteousness behind all of his work. He's never been my favorite playwright, but now the man himself seems so much uglier than the New York crank I've identified in his interviews. I can't help also but think about the burden he left on his daughter, the child he acknowledged, who followed in his professional footsteps, who has the celebrity husband and comfortable glamour. She now also has to defend her father and to some extent herself and contend with a sibling she barely knows.

The bright side of this unpleasant story, to the extent there is one, is that Miller's son, Daniel, loves and is loved by people who have cared for him throughout his life and that this is very possibly a happier scenario than if he had lived with a father who was ashamed of him.

posted by Elise at 10:09 AM

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2 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately, this was not an uncommon thing for people of Miller's generation. In fact, it was often encouraged by doctors who felt that the children would never be able to fit in to a family; the families were also often advised to forget about the child and not visit them. This was wrong -- all of it -- but it wasn't Miller's failing alone. There are many parents in his situation and many siblings learning about the brother or sister who disappeared one day.

--Christine

8/20/2007 3:26 PM

leighs said...

I read the article as well, and have to agree with the above commentor. Things have changed so much for children with disabilities; just one generation ago they weren't in public schools at all, let alone mainstreamed! It is very sad for both father and son, but I think we have to try and have some sympathy towards him, if possible. I wonder if it is harder for the mother to act as he did; whenever I read of cases like this, it seems as though the mother visits, stays in contact, etc but the father seems more able to separate himself.

8/21/2007 5:48 AM

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