I have a friend who who loves to read but can’t read Flannery O’Connor because of the author’s racism.
Not to hijack in the second sentence, but— Flannery’s exact views on race are complex and open to debate: she referred to herself in private correspondence as “publicly in favor of integration, privately supportive of segregation” and refused to meet with James Baldwin in Georgia because “I observe the traditions of the society I feed upon- it’s only fair”, but otoh by the standards of the time/place she grew up she was a bleeding heart liberal and if you know anything of her life you know there were lots of extenuating circumstances (religion, health, famiy relationships, etc.) that prevented her from publicly offending. Still, the friend I mention (an African-American healthcare professional with a biracial family) says she can’t enjoy anything of O’Connor’s because it irks her to know that the author would assume upon first meeting her she’s an intellectual inferior, and on that she’s probably right (though I pointed out that she herself, and I myself, tend to look on most people as intellectual inferiors when first meeting them and it has to do with egotism and experience rather than racism ;)).
Now the flip side of this, and why I can’t judge her, is that the same friend is a big sci-fi fan who’s tried to get me to read Ender’s Game ever since I’ve known her. I just can’t. I know that Orson Scott Card is considered an extremely talented writer but the only things I’ve read by him are his anti-gay marriage and other socially conservative essays (though admittedly I love the irony of reading how marriage must not be redefined coming from a direct descendant of Brigham Young [by a wife, Zina Jacobs, who left her first husband for Joseph Smith {to whom she was sealed for eternity} no less] and of other polygamists). Just as my friend knows intellectually that if O’Connor’s racial views don’t affect the quality of her writing, I know that Card’s Mormonism and socially conservative beliefs don’t affect the quality of his, but just can’t do it: best I can do is read excerpts and synopses [which I’ll admit are good] of *Ender’s Game *that can be read without contributing a penny to his coffers.
OTOH, I’m a Woody Allen fan and knowing about his own weird scandals (though admittedly he and Soon Yi Lolita seem to still be happy together) doesn’t detract from watching his movies at all. Nor does knowing Sinatra was a violent manic depressive with mafioso friends affect from my enjoyment of his music, and the only reason I don’t watch Kirk Cameron movies is because I can tell from the previews that they’re going to be glurgey crapfests. I can’t really judge how much its affected my views of Mel Gibson that he’s an anti-semitic homophobic nutcase because most of the movies he’s produced and starred in are things I honestly wouldn’t have watched if Harvey Fierstein had been the producer. (Harvey Fierstein’s The Patriot- that would have been a cool movie); same’s true with Tom Cruise- I don’t plan to see Valkyrie but wouldnt’ have seen it anyway, and Michael Jackson & Eminem’s music is not the sort I buy (though if Loreena McKennitt was revealed to be a serial killing Jonestown High alumni I’d probably still buy her next CD). I generally take for granted that most actors range from “self absorbed and nutty” to “amoral psychos who if they weren’t millionaires would be in a padded room” somewhere and totally divorce it from their work.
So how much do the personal views of an actor/actress or writer (or composer or singer or whatever) affect your enjoyment of their work? And is there a difference in how much it affects you if it’s one kind of entertainer (writer, actor, singer, etc.) over another? And of course, what actors/writers/singers do you not enjoy because of things having nothing to do with their talent?
Wow. Looks like nobody’s biting, so I’ll take a stab at it.
Personally, I don’t always know what an author or movie-maker’s personal life or politics are like. And even when I do, it usually doesn’t have any effect on my enjoyment of their work. For example, Harlan Ellison, almost everyone has the same thing to say about him. “He’s a self important, officious, obnoxious little prick. But DAMN can he write!” Or words to that effect. Knowing this, I’ll still buy anything of his I can find. I don’t find Woody Allen’s recent movies that funny or entertaining, but I’m still buying all his early stuff on DVD when I can find/afford it. I think most people do this. Not saying it’s right, but that’s how I feel.
I refuse to see movies with Tom Cruise or Keanu Reeves.
Tom, because he’s a nutback and I refuse to do anything that puts more money into his pocket. And Keanu because he can’t act for shit and I refuse to do anything that puts more money into his pocket.
Gerard Depardieu. There have been references to a 1990’s interview in which he confesses to have participated in raping a woman in a Paris subway station. It has been inferred that it was an error in translation; however it skeeved me out to the point where I won’t watch anything he’s in.
If you don’t know of a personal reason not to despise an author then you simply don’t know enough biography on that author.
Authors are horrible, horrible people. There must be exceptions out there somewhere, but they are few and far between. They’re racists, or anti-Semites, or homophobes, or chauvinists, or misogynists. They ignore or beat their spouses and children, flaunt their lovers, abuse the generosity of their friends, agents, and publishers. They overuse alcohol and tobacco and caffeine and every illicit drug, plus prescription medications. They’re cowards and narcissists and egotists. They are loud and obnoxious and opinionated and self-inflated. They have every fault known to humanity, doubled, squared, and in spades.
So you happen to know this about a few celebrities. What about the others? Is it just because you haven’t bothered to find out more about them? What happens when you do? Are there faults other than racism that are totally acceptable to you?
I’m not trying to be facetious. I’m quite serious when I say that an author’s bio is the most depressing thing you can read because you will wind up hating that person. The same is true for directors and actors and musicians and creators of all kinds. Where do you draw the line? How much info do you try to find out, or try to block out?
I’m sure everyone has a visceral reaction to certain revelations about certain artists that makes them avoid that artist. I’m no exception. I’m just saying that I have to recognize I’m being selective and hypocritical whenever it happens. If I rejected everyone on this basis there would hardly be anybody left. Maybe Ursula K. LeGuin. But she’d be lonely.
But Harlan is complex – he can be a cruel bully, and he can be as generous a person as you want to meet. Partly, it depends on whether there’s an audience or not – he’s a bigger jerk if he’s in front of one, but generally very nice in private.
Orson Scott Card is the one I was going to say. Although, it’s not so much his views themselves, as his attempts to defend them. I could still enjoy his books if I merely disliked him for being a homophobe. I enjoy Mel Gibson movies, even though I don’t like him for a variety of reasons, for example. If it were mere contempt for Card’s morals, I’d have no problem with reading his books. But having read his incredibly inept and idiotic justifications for his views, I find myself holding his intellect in contempt, and can no longer kindle any interest in reading his books.
I cannot stand P.J. O’Rourke’s politics: he’s a bumptious, jingoistic oaf, and I suspect that if I ever met him I would punch him in the throat. That dislike is tempered, however, by the fact that he’s a superb writer.
Roger that. I helped him set up for a reading once, because nobody else was around. He was charming, witty, and gifted me with several autographed books for my labors. Nice guy, when you get him alone.
Tom Clancy jumps to mind. While some of the later Jack Ryan novels aren’t as good, the early ones are still readable. His politics are repulsive.
Dennis Miller was my favorite comedian for years. His leap to be Bush’s lapdog after 9/11 shocked me. Still, I’ll listen to his 1990s standup and I enjoy it.
I have a visceral dislike of Jack Kerouac. I guess I didn’t care much for him from the beginning (though I did read The Dharma Bums in high school) but a couple of years ago I took a Beat Authors class, partly because the guy I was sort of dating was really into Kerouac, etc.
Bleah. I liked some of the authors but the more I learned about Kerouac the more I loathed him, and that made reading anything of his torture.
Oddly enough, I don’t seem to have this problem with Burroughs, who many people would think to be the worse person. I can’t tell if Kerouac’s sins resonate more with me or if I dislike him because of my ex or if I was just never disposed to like him in the first place.
My husband has refused to see any Sean Penn film (theatrical release or DVD) for years because he disagrees so strongly with some of Penn’s political activities. I’m sad because I really want to see Milk.
I’m sure if any of us Dopers were famous writers or actors there would be things in our biographies that could make our readers despise us. I generally don’t know too much about the authors or actors personal lives and if I do, I don’t generally care, as long as their work is good.
Try telling him that if a noted conservative like Clint Eastwood didn’t have any problem directing Penn in Mystic River (along with Tim Robbins who’s another liberal actor), then he shouldn’t have a problem just watching Penn in a movie (unless, of course, the movie sucked).
He was extremely anti-semitic though (so much so he allegedly wore gloves when playing Mendellsohn or other Jewish composers), and his widow was an an enthusiastic supporter of Hitler (pic) in her old age. It is the reason the traditional wedding march (from Lohengrin) isn’t nearly as common as it once was, though. In fact it’s been years since I went to a wedding where it was used. (The last wedding I went to the bride came down the aisle to an acoustic version of Green Day’s Boulevard of Broken Dreams, then danced to a recording of the Green Day version with her 83 year old father [who can- I kid you not- get down- it was cool].)
And yet it doesn’t affect my views on his music (which roughly mirror those of Mark Twain). Weird- it’s only authors that affect me at all in the art:artist association. I think if I learned that Katharine Hepburn bathed in the blood of virgins and Peter O’Toole was a practicing cannibal who preferred to dine on children I could still watch THE LION IN WINTER with no less relish. I don’t think I’ve ever read an account of John Lennon from those who knew him well (the odd fans found him gracious when they met him) that didn’t make him sound like a mean self absorbed bastard, but I still like the Beatles and several of his later songs.
