Dylan vs Stewart-- Reluctant Voices

Watched No Direction Home last night and really enjoyed it. Thought it was interesting how reluctant Dylan was to be the "Voice" of his generation or of the movement on the left. It reminded me of another reluctant "Voice" of the youth. . .Jon Stewart.

So I thought I'd throw on some videos to see how these two dealt with being appropriated by the left and how they dealt with the media analysis of their being the "chosen ones."

The first clip is of a Time interview with Dylan and it kind of makes me cringe. It's almost like watching a stubborn, argumentative child cruising for a fight.
Dylan writes these incredibly beautiful and captivating songs, but he has virtually nothing at all to say about the songs or himself. He seems to lack any kind of capacity for self-analysis or cultural criticism and often comes off as kind of an abrasive asshole when asked to articulate his worldview or his musical or political philosophies. Is this a byproduct of being a genius?

There was this great moment in the film where Joan Baez was being interviewed and she recounted a story of how one time she went to some kind of protest or sit in. While there, people would come up to her and ask "Is Bob coming?" And she had to say "No. He never has and he never will." And she laughed as if these people had no idea who Bob Dylan was.

I think that's something that's one of the things that the musical and political worlds kind of have trouble coming to terms with: that the writer of our best "protest" songs ever (as he indisputably was) wasn't really a protester. Which isn't to say that he didn't care about social justice or civil rights and things; it's just that his commitment to his music was far and away more intense than was his commitment to advocating a cause. Which is fine.

And that brings us to Jon Stewart, whose commitment to comedy, he insists, is his number one priority. As he says in the clip "People don't understand that we're not warriors for their cause." But despite these disclaimers, people have difficulty understanding how somebody that "gets them," and completely captures the zeitgeist (as both Stewart and Dylan did) could be unwilling to completely throw themselves into the political arena to rumble.

It's kind of fun to watch how the two handled it.
On the whole:
Stewart--affable, analytical, self-deprecating, thought provoking
Dylan-- crotchety and confrontational. I can't see this man laughing at himself. He is the cool kid in the back of the room making jokes as the other kids, wanting to bask in his coolness, laugh nervously to encourage him. He'll never be the political leader and moral conscience that we all dreamed him to be. . .but man could he write a fucking song.

Ok. I've got to get to Legal Aid soon so I'm going to call it a day. That's my take on the Dylan--Stewart question that wasn't a question until I watched the movie last night.