Why Timothée Chalamet is wrong about opera’s place in our AI-ravished world

Timothée Chalamet drew widespread condemnation when he implied that opera is a dying artform, and said that “no one cares” about the medium anymore. It was a dumb thing to say. And it’s also wrong. Opera, like most performing arts, is still recovering from the pandemic. But the industry as a whole is actually growing–dramatically.  Globally, opera is worth $3.4 billion, and is expected to grow to $5.33 billion over the next few years. First-time attendance has more than tripled since 2021, as more young people head to the opera house. And opera’s resurgence is part of a bigger trend; in multiple ways and across age groups and formats, people are turning away from the digital and towards the analog.  In a world ravaged by AI, people increasingly want things they can touch, own, and experience. They want reality, with all its messiness and drama. Bring in the Jester I saw this firsthand when I attended a performance of Rigoletto at the San Francisco Opera last year. San Francis