Can you enjoy entertainment from horrible people?

Recommended Videos

Robert Marrs

New member
Mar 26, 2013
454
0
0
It becomes very difficult for me to separate an artist from their work when they do something that pisses me off or disgusts me. For example fez might be an amazing game but I would never feel comfortable playing it let alone buying it knowing what a tool Phil Fish is. The developers that worked on war-z could come out with a masterpiece of a game but I could never bring myself to buy it knowing they purposefully ripped people off. It changes for me with extremely high profile bad people. I would find a book written by a terrible dictator or manifest written by a murderer very compelling and would want to read it but only if they are dead so they don't profit anything from it.
 

Rabish Bini

New member
Jun 11, 2011
489
0
0
Sorry, but can someone explain to me what exactly Phil Fish did that makes people not want to buy his game? Google doesn't seem to be throwing up much, or maybe I'm just blind.
 

Extra-Ordinary

Elite Member
Mar 17, 2010
2,065
0
41
John Lennon wasn't a very nice guy in his later years but I don't think about any of that stuff when I listen to his music.

I don't know, in the usual discussion of separating the art from the artist, I tend to do that relatively easily.
 

BreakfastMan

Scandinavian Jawbreaker
Jul 22, 2010
4,367
0
0
BathorysGraveland2 said:
Yeah, one of my favourite bands (the second half of my username, no less) is made by a guy who is, or at least was, connected to National Socialist ideologies and anti-Semitism. In fact, you could argue that a lot of black metal musicians are/were "horrible people" yet I can still enjoy the music just fine. I believe you can enjoy someone's work without having to enjoy that person him/herself. A sort of separate the fiction from reality, or so to speak.
Oh god yes, there are so many great black metal bands who are complete assholes. Taake, Watain, Burzum, Emperor (okay, really just Samoth), Dissection, and more! Must be something about the extremeness and darkness in most of the music that attracts asses and racists to it.
 

BreakfastMan

Scandinavian Jawbreaker
Jul 22, 2010
4,367
0
0
Rabish Bini said:
Sorry, but can someone explain to me what exactly Phil Fish did that makes people not want to buy his game? Google doesn't seem to be throwing up much, or maybe I'm just blind.
He was a bit of an asshole about mainstream games and isn't a big fan of what Japanese studios put out. That is pretty much it. No, I never understood why that stopped people from buying Fez either, nor why it meant he had to be harassed to the point of leaving game development. :\
 

Callate

New member
Dec 5, 2008
5,118
0
0
Well, y'know, Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass are still great books...

It's always sad to hear that creators are merely creatively talented and not bastions of goodness and light in every area of their lives, but that tends to be the reality of the situation. Another way of looking at it is that there are plenty of people who do hideous things that never contribute a single beautiful thing to society- and indeed, possibly get away with their misdeeds for longer because they aren't under as much scrutiny.

There may be some cases where you simply can't financially support someone's work because you know it's going directly to something hateful, and I understand when people feel that way. But in other cases, it may be that letting the bad overwhelm the good doesn't really amount to denouncing the creator or his/her ills, just allowing the good fruit to die on the tree with the withered, so to speak.
 

Rabish Bini

New member
Jun 11, 2011
489
0
0
BreakfastMan said:
Rabish Bini said:
Sorry, but can someone explain to me what exactly Phil Fish did that makes people not want to buy his game? Google doesn't seem to be throwing up much, or maybe I'm just blind.
He was a bit of an asshole about mainstream games and isn't a big fan of what Japanese studios put out. That is pretty much it. No, I never understood why that stopped people from buying Fez either, nor why it meant he had to be harassed to the point of leaving game development. :\
That's pretty much what I gathered, along with him having a twitter war of words with some journalist shortly before he left.

Is that really all there is to it? While he does seem like a bit of an asshat from what I read, some of his (admittedly aggressive) opinions don't seem too far off the mark. That and from what I gather, Fez seems like a decent, forward-thinking game. Either way, cheers for the clarification!
 

mysecondlife

New member
Feb 24, 2011
2,142
0
0
Sure, despite what went around Michael Jackson, many regard Thriller to be the best album of all time. He's still celebrated for his work.

I don't think I can bring myself to listen to A town called hypocrisy.

But 'Always, All ways' is a song I'll listen to because it resonates with me a lot.

But oh man,this news really makes me sad.
 

frizzlebyte

New member
Oct 20, 2008
641
0
0
Shadowstar38 said:
I listen to Rap and Hip-Hop. I'm pretty sure over half the artists in that genre murdered someone because it was Tuesday.
:)

Anyway, yeah, I can enjoy the art that people create even if they themselves are horrible people, or have done bad things. While I might be reminded of them sometimes, I can still acknowledge that they have created some great art, and enjoy it. OSC would be a good example, as would Polanski and Jimmy Page.
 

Raziel

New member
Jul 20, 2013
243
0
0
I specifically don't follow any actors or authors or anything so the real person doesn't ruin the work. It does bug me to watch their stuff when I know. Although it might not be enough to keep me from watching.
 

likalaruku

New member
Nov 29, 2008
4,290
0
0
Baby Rape? Countdown till the media starts blaming A Serbian Film.

Public opinion of Micheal Jackson & Phil Fish has not effected my opinion of Jackson's music or Fez. I like a few of Anne Rice's earlier books, but I find the author to be a bit reprehensible. Frank Miller is a complete asshat, but his pre Sin City comics are enjoyable. I inexplicably like this song called "Bang Bang - Feuer Frei," even though I don't approve of Rammstein & their Neonaziness. & lastly, there are some genuinely hilarous entries on Encyclopedia Dramatica, which is a wiki haven for trolls of the worst caliber. (I recommend "My Immortal" & "Flying Spaghetti Monster.")
 

piinyouri

New member
Mar 18, 2012
2,708
0
0
BathorysGraveland2 said:
Yeah, one of my favourite bands (the second half of my username, no less) is made by a guy who is, or at least was, connected to National Socialist ideologies and anti-Semitism. In fact, you could argue that a lot of black metal musicians are/were "horrible people" yet I can still enjoy the music just fine. I believe you can enjoy someone's work without having to enjoy that person him/herself. A sort of separate the fiction from reality, or so to speak.
I agree, but to a point. It all depends on the level of which the artist is willing to merge the music and their ideals/beliefs/ect.

Example, I as well listen to a few bands that are known for some NS ideas behind their music, but the music itself isn't sacrificed for a message, usually they sing about nature or whatever and have their ideals as a separate entity.

However if a band was using their music to preach a message, that bothers me regardless of the message itself and usually turns me off the band even if the instrumentation and songwriting is great.

Another example, I don't care if some band is the best crust punk band I've ever heard in my life, if they're up there singing about killing blacks and other minorities, I'm not going to be interested.
 

rorychief

New member
Mar 1, 2013
100
0
0
Multi-Hobbyist said:
I watch Jim & Yahtzee all the time, so yeah.
They're not really horrible people though, their styles of criticism just rub people the wrong way for whatever reason. So it's not that they produce great work yet are personally odious, Who knows what kind of qualities these guys hold in real life it's their work that is divisive, as good criticism ought to be. Same goes with MovieBob, a lot of people find the liberal leanings in his videos a bit on the preachy side, but that doesn't even come close to making him the kind of horrible person Op was describing. Controversy baiting or not holding a strong opinion on something doesn't strictly make you a bad person, even if while doing so you're insisting people who hold the opposite opinion are themselves bad people. I find socially conscious commentators are at their very worst, obnoxious and condescending, but they don't cause anyone any harm and you gotta just assume they're genuine in their convictions, even if you disagree.

My example is Gavin McInnes, watched a couple of youtube videos he'd starred in after seeing the 'How to be a Man' trailer, had me in stitches, some of the funniest clips I've ever come across, a genuinely talented comedian. Then I read some of his articles, one of which was titled 'tackling asian privilege' and realized he's kind of a bitter whiny jerk in real life and I'd been had by his professional laid-back comedy personality. Pretty disappointed I gotta say.