Poll: Drawing the line between the artist and the person

[AjHedgehog]

It really depends on what sort of issues or ideas the artist has and how they are portrayed in the work they produce. During the whole Michael Jackson case I still enjoyed his music (granted I wasn't as bigger fan as most). Sometimes however I can be genuinely upset by things like this. For example Rolf Harris is currently being investigated for sexual abuse, that shocks me to my core and I really hope it's found untrue, that man is a large portion of my childhood and I don't want to imagine anything bad about him. Whilst it does not change any of his work (animal hospital is still a great show to watch) it does inevitably colour it.
I think the issue a lot of people have is they have this fandom of a person, either because they grew up with them or they love their work. So when there is some kind of blemish on the artist then they feel the innocent trust they had in this person or people to provide them with entertainment is broken, suddenly they feel guilty for liking this persons work because of the type of person the artist is.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

I have a suspicion that Arin/Egoraptor is sexist. He says things that make me uncomfortable sometimes and even Jon is also like 'Erm...dude?'. As just a couple of examples He called Felicia Day 'pandering' and He was also incredibly vague about why he disliked Tomb Raider which made me even more suspicious. I still watch game grumps because they make me laugh and make good points (like the lack of variety in modern games). It still bothers me on some level but I don't say anything about it because I don't want to be called a feminazi/whatever.

If he came out and said he hated women I would stop watching though. Even though I'd acknowledge that he has some good things about him.

Not including Jontron in this. He seems okay.

 

[excalipoor]

Yeah, I don't think he is neccisairly a "nostalgia blind hipster" as much as he's just looking for very specific things in games; things that were very abundant before, but are rarely present today. I know, I'm the same way.

I haven't really been excited for a game that wasn't a sequel to an older series for years, but me not liking what's coming out right now doesn't mean that modern gaming is in a bad place. Everybody has their bias, leaning one way or the other, but Ego's just so obnoxiously vocal about his. He likes to throw the word 'objectively' around a lot. Of course, the difference between Game Grumps and Sequelitis is that GG is ad libbed, so some unfortunate, thoughtless word choices are inevitable.

I have a suspicion that Arin/Egoraptor is sexist. He says things that make me uncomfortable sometimes and even Jon is also like 'Erm...dude?'. As just a couple of examples He called Felicia Day 'pandering' and He was also incredibly vague about why he disliked Tomb Raider which made me even more suspicious.

I sort of zone out whenever they start talking about sexism/racism/whatever, as those episodes tend to get awkward quick. Jon and Arin both have their "I'm not ____, but..." moments. However, I think him not liking Tomb Raider (we're talking about the latest one, right?) has more to do with him not really appreciating videogames as a storytelling medium. It's also pretty shootery, and apparently he's not a fan of that. Unless it's JUMP AND SHOOT MAN!

How would not liking Tomb Raider make someone sexist anyway?

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

snip

It was more that fact on top of everything else that he's said in those 'moments' as you have put it. If he'd liked Tomb Raider at least I would have known he was appreciative of a strong female heroine. As it is he didn't seem to have much to say on why he didn't like it.

I like the guy and I agree with his points a lot, but that somehow makes it worse...

 

[Legion]

If I found out that the money gained from their work was being used to fund something I am strongly against, I imagine that it would affect me in a lot of cases. If they merely had views that I disagree with, but it didn't seep into their work, and they were not acting on those views, I think I could probably ignore it.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I will no longer support that artist who has an oppersite opinion/ view to my (I'm like that with one artist already).
In saying so I have not come across an artist work (with opposing views to me) is so fantastic that I will be torn wheather to stop viewing/ supporting his/ her work or not.

 

[Strazdas]

I would like to, and always claim to ignore the personal life of artists and consume or nto consume based on their work. However there are a few companies i boycott (one being the largest cinema in my country) for them trying (and suceeding ) on pushing ridiculous antipiracy laws (showing a dvd to a negihboar is piracy and earns strick punishment here, however noone is even thinking of enforcing that hehe). I will not use these companies products, however i rarely care for artists personal life. Like one of my favourite music groups are pro-military and i still listen to them.

 

[Krantos]

As long as their product does not support said opinion I don't see a problem with continuing to enjoy their work. You simply will never find someone in this life that you agree with 100% of the time. As long as their not doing any thing illegal or immoral with the money they make for their work, their other opinions really shouldn't bother you.

To be honest, I think that we, as a society, care way too much what famous people think of matters outside their realm of expertise. I don't want sports figures trying to sell me cable. Nor do I want singers to try to sell me life insurance. A celebrity's opinion counts for way too much these days.

 

[Angie7F]

I dont care if my hair cutter is a lunatic as long as they do my hair properly.
So as long as i enjoy their stuff, I wont care about their personality, religion etc

 

[Lovely Mixture]

It just depends on your feelings. You draw the line when you want to.
It's the same thing with friends and differing moral/political views.

The Orson Scott Card thing brought this up (for those who need a summary: Orson Scott Card is a well-known sci-fi author but he also a huge supporter of anti-gay groups, Hence when it was announced by DC that he would be writing a Superman comic, comic distributors and fans alike decided to boycott the comic).

 

[Axolotl]

I'm not sure I make much of a distinction. I've happily read books written by fascists, rapists, racists, murderers, and paedophiles and greatly enjoyed them. Although all the authors I enjoy who I know were evil are dead, I'm not sure how I'd react to a living artist I liked with abhorrent views.

I guess I'd still buy and enjoy their work as long as they weren't actually funding hate and harm with their money.

 

[Entitled]

I don't believe that artist's have a funamental moral claim to dictate what data I am allowed to consume and under what condition.

The only purpose of shunning piracy could be to encourage supporting artists.

So if one explicitely doesn't want to support artists, and still feels like consuming content that they made, piracy seems to be the most moral solution.

The only even remotely logical argument against that which I have seen, is that "enjoying the benefits of someone's work without doing your own equal share of rewarding it is inherently immoral", and even that doesn't seem to hold up when compared to many other socially acceptable forms of freeloading, and generally by the common treatment of someone's already done and profited work as a positive externality.

 

[omega 616]

Where do you draw the line?

This kind of happened to me recently, the woman who plays Miranda in ME2, Yvonne Strahovski is a BAMF except she supports peta of all the animal "charities" to line up behind.

What I had to realize was I can still like Yvonne Strahovski's work but I don't have to like all of her. I am not lining Yvonne up to be my new B.F.F, I can just say shes a pretty cool person.

Very few people are going to have exactly the same opinions as you AND produce things AND the things they produce are things you like, so cutting them off 'cos of a few character flaws (as you perceive them) is only robbing you of enjoyment.

They wont miss you or care about your opinion of them or change for you, so I would say just ignore the "flaw".

 

[Bocaj2000]

The art and the artist are separate entities. For example HP Lovecraft was an anti-semite, a racist, a sexist, and someone who despised the poor. However, I still enjoy his works despite being one of the groups that he was against. Another example is that Quinten Tarantino is a douche... but a brilliant douche.

On the other hand, a business and it's art is directly related. Shady business practices and blatant rip offs that I don't find moral, I don't buy. In the best case scenario, I buy the product without succumbing to the rest of the scam (I haven't bought a single ME3 DLC). In the worst case scenario, I boycott the product (I still haven't bought L4D2. I realize that L4D2 is the lesser of the evils, but I won't back down on my first boycott.).

The difference is that an artist doesn't affect the market; his art does. But a business practice affects the market more than the art itself. Don't believe me? When was the last time you say an NC-17 rated movie in the theaters?

 

[PeterMerkin69]

I think anyone who wants an assault weapons ban in the US is a fucking imbecile and that describes nearly everyone in the entertainment industries if taken at face value, so if I let silly things like different political opinions or different prejudices influence my selection of consumer entertainment, there'd be very, very little left for me to enjoy. Likewise, I still play and love Earthworm Jim and Shadow Complex even though I think the anti-gay-rights movement is the single most embarrassing thing about my country right now.

People whom I don't necessarily like are still useful to me, and I don't seem to have the sense of righteous indignation that would otherwise preclude me from using them.

 

[Diddy_Mao]

If I took every actor, artist, writer and musician I whos work I love and laid out my own ideologies alongside theirs I have to imagine there would probably not be much overlap.

So I do try to keep an open mind on things.

That being said. I do have the luxury of the fact that a lot of my favorite artists are long since dead so I don't really have to worry about lining their pockets to fund behavior I find reprehensible.

Still there are some companies and artists I won't support because my enjoyment is not worth the cost to me so it comes down to a case by case basis I suppose.

 

[freaper]

It depends.

I've been studying European literature (and yadda yadda) for some years. The futurist movement in Italy is probably closest to what you, OP, intended by this topic. Even though some might like their art, in my mind they're completely ruined by the fact that their main exponent, T. Marinetti, was a huge supporter of fascism in Italy. In their minds war equalled progress.

Now jump ahead to our day and situation. I've always liked Jimmy Carr's humour, but his whole tax evasion fiasco (albeit small) kinda spoiled his image for me. I've had this with other artists as well. Regretfully having to dislike someone is never pleasant.

Captcha: Gravy train.

Choo! Choo!

 

[Axolotl]

It depends.

I've been studying European literature (and yadda yadda) for some years. The futurist movement in Italy is probably closest to what you, OP, intended by this topic. Even though some might like their art, in my mind they're completely ruined by the fact that their main exponent, T. Marinetti, was a huge supporter of fascism in Italy. In their minds war equalled progress.

Just out of curiosity what of the Futurist movement have you studied? I've had a passing interest in them for a while now but I've never found anything they actually left beyond manifestos.