Nina To/ The Cougar
When promoting his movie “Marty Supreme”, actor Timothee Chalamet sat down for an interview with Matthew McConaughey in February. During that conversation, Chalamet told McConaughey how much he appreciated people working to keep movie theaters alive at a time when streaming was threatening that experience.
He then made a controversial comment that took the internet by storm: “I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera or things where it’s like, ‘Hey! Keep this thing alive.’ Even though it’s like no one cares about this anymore.”
These comments sparked backlash from both the ballet and opera communities, with major companies like the Metropolitan Opera, the Paris Opera and the Royal Ballet and Opera all tagging the actor in multiple posts to call him out.
Given that Chalamet is an actor and part of the fine arts community, these comments were shocking and frankly quite disappointing to hear. Ballet and opera are centuries-old practices that have provided people with enjoyment, purpose and entertainment across generations. They require immense discipline, creativity and technical skill, often taking performers decades to master.
These art forms have shaped cultural history and continue to inspire audiences around the world. To dismiss them so casually overlooks the dedication of the artists who keep these traditions alive and the meaningful role they still play in the broader arts community.
Demand in the real world
This past Christmas, I was dying to see a Swan Lake or Nutcracker show at the Houston Ballet. It’s been a longtime goal to see those shows live, but I’ll have to keep trying because not only were the tickets expensive, but they were also sold out. I’ve encountered this problem for the past three years whenever I’ve tried to buy tickets.
That experience alone makes it difficult to accept the idea that “no one cares” about ballet or opera anymore. If these art forms were truly fading into irrelevance, theaters would not be selling out performances months in advance. Companies like the Houston Ballet, the Metropolitan Opera and the Royal Ballet continue to fill seats because audiences still value the experience of live performance.
Part of what makes ballet and opera special is that they cannot be replicated through a screen. Watching a recording of Swan Lake at home will never match the feeling of sitting in a theater as the orchestra begins to play and the curtain rises. The atmosphere, the discipline of the performers and the shared experience with hundreds of other audience members create something that simply cannot be streamed.
Ironically, that is the same argument Chalamet made about movie theaters earlier in the interview. Just as many people believe film deserves to be experienced on the big screen, ballet and opera thrive because they are meant to be experienced live. Dismissing them as outdated ignores the fact that audiences are still showing up, sometimes in numbers large enough to sell out entire seasons.
Opinion vs. dismissal
That’s not to say Chalamet isn’t entitled to his own opinion. Not every performance sells out immediately, and like many art forms, ballet and opera face challenges in a modern entertainment landscape. However, the issue isn’t simply what he said, but how he said it.
Dismissing art forms in which his own mother and sister have been involved in and laughing it off as if it were a harmless joke came across as unnecessarily dismissive of an entire community of artists.
For many people, seeing a ballet or opera live is not just entertainment but a meaningful experience that lasts long after the performance ends. I know it’s something I’m still hoping to experience myself.
These art forms continue to exist because people still care enough to perform them, support them and sit in those theater seats when the lights dim. That alone should be enough proof that ballet and opera are far from forgotten.
opinion@dailycougar.com
