When the late writer Christopher Hitchens visited Cuba as a young man, he had the chance to ask the legendary Cuban film director Santiago Alvarez whether the policies of the Castro government ever impinged on his art.
“Well, he said, almost laughing at the naiveté of my question, it would not of course be possible or desirable to attempt any attacks or satires on the Leader of the Revolution himself. But otherwise, the freedom of conscience and creativity was absolute.”
To which the impudent young Hitchens replied, “If the most salient figure in the state and the society was immune from critical comment, then all the rest [is] detail.”
If you’ll forgive the narrowly relevant substitution of communist Cuba with corporate America—corporate communicators' audiences are all Hitchens, whether they have his temerity or not. And communicators are all Alvarez, whether we have his haughtiness or not.
(So let's not.)
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