# Book, song or movie by your worst enemy **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 1, 2014, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-song-or-movie-by-your-worst-enemy/706060 "2014-12-01T20:01:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-song-or-movie-by-your-worst-enemy/706060/1 "2014-12-01T20:01:43Z")
Hypothetical: Let’s say that you read a book, listen to a song, or watch a movie. And you think it’s utterly marvelous - almost perfect, fascinating, one of the most enjoyable books/songs/movies you can ever remember experiencing. 5 out of 5 stars isn’t enough. You think, \*“I got to find out who created this!” \* And then you find out it was written/composed/produced by…someone you utterly hate and despise. 1. Would this dampen your enjoyment of the book/song/movie? 2. If you knew the creator’s identity beforehand, would you still want to read, listen to or watch this book/song/movie? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-song-or-movie-by-your-worst-enemy/706060/2 "2014-12-01T21:16:09Z")
If I found out afterwards, my reaction would be, “I enjoyed the book. Too bad the creator turned out to be a jerk.” If I knew the reputation first, it would depend, but most likely I’d look for something else. The obvious current example is Bill Cosby. I still love his work as a comedian, even if he’s a horrible human being. I probably wouldn’t go to any of his concerts (but I wouldn’t even without knowing – too expensive). ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-song-or-movie-by-your-worst-enemy/706060/3 "2014-12-01T22:11:18Z")
I’m only able (or willing) to divorce the reputation of the creator from his work to a certain degree. If an author/painter/director/whatever is a mild jerk, then I’ll swallow that and enjoy the work. If the creator is a serious, major-league, asshole-level jerk, then I won’t touch his or her work, and will post about it here on the SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-song-or-movie-by-your-worst-enemy/706060/4 "2014-12-02T12:44:39Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > 1. Would this dampen your enjoyment of the book/song/movie? Yes. An analogy - it’s like seeing a vintage video clip Victorian porn, and really _ahem_ enjoying it. Then, afterwards, as the credits role, you recognize that the actress was your great-grandmother. You may have enjoyed it at the time, but now, it’s retroactively tainted… > [@](#): > > 1. If you knew the creator’s identity beforehand, would you still want to read, listen to or watch this book/song/movie? No. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-song-or-movie-by-your-worst-enemy/706060/5 "2014-12-02T14:41:27Z")
Some jerk I know did write a book, a ‘true account’ of his difficult :rolleyes: life and he hopes his book will inspire faith and hope in the suckers who read it. I heard I am mentioned in the book, evil person that I am. While I would love to see the spin in his story and I’m curious as to just how evil I really am, I refuse to buy the book because I don’t want to contribute to his income. If I could get a copy without paying for it I’d read it for the laughs. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-song-or-movie-by-your-worst-enemy/706060/6 "2014-12-02T14:54:18Z")
Back in college, a woman I’d never met promoted herself and her lesbian feminist activist group by singling out a cartoon I drew for the campus humor magazine and accusing me of “promoting rape culture” in several letters to the editor of the school paper, harassing our advertisers, etc. I swear we never would’ve bothered putting out a second or third issue were I not motivated by pure spite. Years later, she put out a book of poetry. I hear it’s pretty good.