Marta Kubišová has an amazing life story, in which there was not a single moment when she bowed her back to power and totalitarianism. When she had to make a compromise or excuse the situation with a hackneyed sentence: “I just wanted to sing, so I signed it…”. That never happened. The wives of communist leaders considered her a witch who was destroying the morale of socialist youth. Meanwhile, she would go home immediately after the performance to walk her beloved dogs, and after the second meeting with the men she felt that it was a serious relationship. The difference between the media image of Marta Kubišová and her civilian life was always great. If you meet her in person, after a few sentences you will forget that she is such a famous and respected person. You can talk to her about everything. Maybe it is because even as a young and famous actress she did not have the highest fees.
It used to be the custom for singers to pay for all their own wardrobe, and then they had almost nothing left for food. Perhaps her civility also lies in the fact that she had a great overview of singing and never let herself be absorbed by the glitter. And of course, the twenty years that Marta Kubišová was forced to spend in civilian jobs literally made her a civilian star. Paradoxically, her so-called second career lasted almost thirty years, but it could never make up for the one that was interrupted when she was at her peak. The years that Marta Kubišová spent in dissent were years full of fear, uncertainty and misery, but they also gave her more freedom, valuable friendships and mental development. She is not some mythical fearless woman from the legends. She is full of worries and can get stressed out over little things. It is easy for the current generation to say to themselves: “I will do it the way I feel,” but that was not the privilege of people thirty years ago. What sets her apart from her peers is the fact that she behaved this way even during the most difficult normalization. Although she lost many privileges, she never lost herself.
