NYU has bought the Larry Rivers archive, which includes
films and videos of his two adolescent daughters, naked or topless, being interviewed by their father about their developing breasts.
One daughter, who said she was pressured to participate, beginning when she was 11, is demanding that the material be removed from the archive and returned to her and her sister.
… N.Y.U. has agreed to discuss the matter and has already, at the urging of the foundation, pledged to keep the material off limits during the daughters’ lifetimes. Two years ago [one of the daughters] asked the foundation to destroy the tapes, but it declined…
July 7th, 2010 at 5:38PM
I don’t get it– if NYU is trying to respect the sensibilities of the women involved, why is it okay to insult their memories for their children or grandchildren? This is exactly the sort of thing that gives rise to all those tendentious culture war op-eds; I suppose we should be grateful that NYU is even making a token effort here, but wow, the level of moral obtuseness on display here is staggering.
July 7th, 2010 at 5:53PM
I agree, Eric. The easy and the right thing to do is just give her the material.
July 9th, 2010 at 1:41PM
He had some intellectual fellow travelers when it came to ‘sexual openness.’