TOK: The Arts
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Mystic lamb’s humanoid face shocks art world
Does restoration ruin art? One of the world’s most famous paintings has been described as “a shock for everybody” after a clean-up revealed a sheep with extremely human-like eyes.
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BBC in its current form ‘facing the end’
Should the BBC be another Netflix? Nicky Morgan, the UK culture secretary, wants a move to a subscription system, ending almost a century of public broadcasting funded by a licence fee.
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Comedy about Hitler leaves critics fuming
Is it morally wrong to make a comic film about the Nazis? Critics are passionately divided about Jojo Rabbit, the story of a ten-year-old boy and his imaginary friend – a goofy Adolf Hitler.
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And now for a new national anthem – for Mars!
Does Mars need a national anthem? Opera singer Oscar Castellino has just given the first performance of his composition, Rise to Mars!, written to encourage colonisation of the Red Planet.
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Controversial film Joker set for bumper Baftas
Is Joker immoral? Now poised for ample awards, the deeply troubling 2019 film immediately inflamed debate over its depiction of extreme violence and worries about copycat behaviour.
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Baby Yoda takes the internet by storm
Is cuteness a science? The ancient, alien sage has been reborn as an infant in a new Star Wars spin-off. One doctor says that our frenzied reaction to Baby Yoda has a scientific explanation.
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Hidden meaning of The Tiger Who Came to Tea
Is it literature or just a great story? The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr will become a TV film, with an all-star cast, this Christmas. Critics say it is a powerfully symbolic tale.
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Man eats the world’s most expensive banana
Can a piece of fruit stuck on a wall be art? At an exhibition in Miami, an artist duct-tapes a banana to a wall and sells it for £91,000 — only for another artist to come along and eat it.
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#MeToo rewrite is a turkey, critics fume
Is ‘wokeness’ destroying Christmas? John Legend has rewritten controversial lyrics from Baby, It’s Cold Outside for the modern era. It’s not the only Christmas song to come under fire.
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The picture that gave Instagram a meltdown
What is it about Friends? It took one selfie of the show’s main cast to spark such delirium yesterday that Instagram crashed. Yet for many the comedy is sexist, offensive and outdated.
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Margaret Atwood joint winner of Booker Prize
Is Margaret Atwood a prophet? She seems to have foretold #MeToo, seen the climate crisis coming and predicted the rise of Trump. Yet she insists she sees only the present, not the future.
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Angry and alone, ‘Mad King’ Trump reigns
Is Donald Trump having a meltdown? After the US president unleashed his fury on Twitter, one Washington Post columnist argues that Trump’s demented rage echoes Shakespeare’s mad King Lear.
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TikTok has become a ‘major cultural force’
Is TikTok reinventing creativity? On the viral app, users upload funny, weird and clever 15-second videos. Is the new format creating a new short art form, akin to the sonnet or the haiku?
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Fleabag’s dark tragi-comedy sweeps Emmy awards
Is sadness what makes it so brilliant? Fleabag has won four awards at the Emmys, including best comedy series. But despite the belly laughs, the show has a dark heart of grief and despair.
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‘Back off, human! It’s MY family home now.’
Do we love animals more than humans? The winning entries for the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition have a special power to warm our hearts, and make us gasp with amazement.