Edit for reasoning-I tend to enjoy mean spirited funny stuff sometimes. Creators are typically kind of shitty/immoral people but I still enjoy it. I feel conflicted sometimes but still end up watching and enjoying.
Edit for reasoning-I tend to enjoy mean spirited funny stuff sometimes. Creators are typically kind of shitty/immoral people but I still enjoy it. I feel conflicted sometimes but still end up watching and enjoying.
I had my first run in with this in the tail end of highschool. Lovecraft was the first author that really hit me. The feeling of existential dread and the idea of forces beyond our comprehension that we only survive sharing reality work because we’re too inconsequential to do anything about were both formative and comforting ideas to my anxiety riddled mind. It wasn’t until deciding I was truely a fan that I found out he was so racist the kkk didn’t want to be associated with him.
He’s not my only brush with this, I find that any figure I grow to like inevitably fails to meet my standards. Neil Gaiman, Danny Masterson, Dr. Seuss, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Joss Whedon, Louis C. K., Jack Black, Walt Disney, Jane Goodall, Woody Allen, Kevin Spacey, and the list goes on. At this point, the only heroes I’ve had that haven’t turned out to be bastards and sex pests are Weird Al and Bill Nye.
To this I’ve taken to the idea of the death of the author . In short, the essay states that you should ignore the artist’s intention and biography when considering the merrit of the art. Awful people are just as likely to create something beautiful as anyone else. This doesn’t hold entirely true and your mileage may very, Lovecraft’s Xemophobia makes his inspirations far more obvious, but removing all of the overtly racist parts has no affect on the actual horror or conveys. That doesn’t work for Scar Tissue by Red hot Chili Peppers which is explicitly about raping a minor.
Play it by ear. If it’s not explicitly problematic then it’s not on you to feel bad about it You can like a song without it meaning more than that.
WTH did Jane Goodall do???
From my understanding, she used a lot of less than ethical practices in her early career and towards her end she effectively sabotaged a few people that wanted to continue her work. While she’s not as bad as some of my list, she gets her place for the same hypocrisy that earned it for jack black.
Re: Scar Tissue
I’ll readily admit I am bad at interpreting lyrics and frequently only get it when told about it. But, while I can see how one might justify that interpretation of the song’s lyrics if one insisted, I’m having more than a bit of trouble seeing it as obvious and “explicit”. Did the band say “explicitly” that it’s about “raping a minor”?
(Not trying to argue, just curious to learn)
Yeah in the autobiography by the same name Anthony Kiedis states that the song was inspired by a time he slept with a fan who told him after that she was actually 14 before they had sex a second time. He also describes it like a thing to brag about.
Oh. Well goody then.
Thank you.