Can You Separate Art From The Artist
By Ellie Rosch
An example of a bad artist making good art is a band called McCafferty. They have many popular songs such as Trees, Alligator Skin Boots, Dead-Bird, and Bottom. They had had some controversy in the past with encouraging heavy topics such as alcoholism i and using the f-slur in their songs. None of it compares though to when lead guitarist, Even Graham, came out with multiple allegations against Nick Hartkop, a band member, including domestic abuse, racism, animal abuse, homophobia, financial issues, emotional and physical abuse to band members, and violent threats. This behavior is horrible and should never happen and the band lost many followers before eventually breaking up when Nick promised to never make music again. This promise did not hold and Nick still makes music to this day. Everyone knows what he did after copious amounts of proof were given, but his music is good, and still makes money.
Another example is Robert Crowe who is an actor most famous for his role in Gladiator. He would repeatedly say he had the irresistible urge to beat people up and had to be pulled of set multiple times because he was actually punching the extras. The director would make him apologize before returning to set. He has since said he didn't like his experience because he hated the script and the directors but he should have been professional instead of wanting to take his anger out on the cast. Despite this I think the movie is excellent and while the script wasn't the best, the acting was good. It's just weird to know that some of the movie, especially the fighting and anger, wasn't acting.
Probably the most famous example of this is Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. J.K. Rowling has said publicly and online many questionable things about the transgender community and didn't add any racial variation to her series, but despite this many people still read and love her books. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando was made by Universal Studios, who has always supported the LGBTQ community. Everyone knows that J.K. Rowling is not the best person when it comes to talking about controversial topics, but she still has millions of dollars from Harry Potter and people love and support the fandom to this day.
People now won't admit to being a fan of McCafferty because being a fan looks like you support Nick's abuse. I admit that I like his songs, but now I can't actively seek them out. It just feels so much more real when Nick sings the f-slur and you know that he means it. Or when I watch Gladiator knowing that the anger and aggression that you see on screen is real can be scary sometimes. Harry Potter never brings up the trans community or racial problems, but knowing J.K. Rowling's view on those topics makes it harder for me to pick up Harry Potter. Personally I feel like I can't separate the art from the artist completely. I won't actively boycott something because who made it did something awful; I might feel guilty but that won't stop me from enjoying what has been created. But no matter what, allegations against the artist will always be in the back of my mind while enjoying what they have created.
I think there are some great points in this blog post! I like how you bring up this idea of not being able to separate the artist from the art. I think the reason, along with just the knowledge that you're supporting someone you don't want to be supporting, is because when you write or act, you put a little bit of yourself into it. And if that bit of yourself comes with views or actions society does not agree with, then that art produced may not be something you like once you know they truly believe some of these things (such as the violent acting translating to real violence). This blog post really made me think (can you tell lol)! Great job, again!
ReplyDeleteThis blog is really well done and I agree with practically all of it. With the uprising of cancel culture and the internet it has been easier to not only gain access to entertainment but also we (the audience) get to be closer to the artist on a personal level. Some people tend to believe that enjoying content means that you support the creator which is right in some sense but I feel like people need to get used to others liking purely the content while excluding the creator (occasionally).
ReplyDeleteYour arguments are very well founded and this blog is very well written :) I also tend to feel consumerist guilt when I listen to music of artists that are problematic, knowing that I indirectly support them because the more I listen, the more money they get. Honestly, I can't even decide if I can separate the art from the artist. If you had to make an argument for separating the art from the artist, what would it be?
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you. Even if a song or movie is really, really good, I think it's hard to love it fully when the artist or actor is someone I don't agree with. Your argument is very well structured and includes great examples. Good job!
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