Does it upset you when you find out that one of your favorite actors, musicians, or artists goes completely off the deep end? Did it bug you to find out that Tom Cruise is a complete dunderhead? How about when you found out that Lindsay Lohan was little more than trailor park trash?
Last night I finally got the DVD of a movie that I’ve been trying to get for years. (Admittedly, I haven’t been trying very hard.) It’s Jesus Christ Superstar 2000. I think that Glenn Carter far outshines both Ian Gilliam and Ted Neely in the title role. He’s absolutely awesome in the role.
So who is this guy, and what has he been doing with his life lately?
Well, it turns out that he’s one of the leaders of the Raelian movement.
Not really. I know enough actors to know that they are just like the rest of us, albeit with a little more talent and a lot more luck. Some are really nice guys, and some are jerks, losers, and morons.
If I can believe them as an actor, they are doing their job. What they do when not working shouldn’t bother me more than anyone else in the world. I’ve known a first class dentist and a first class handyman who were both jerks.
Several of my favourite comic book writers and artists are complete jackasses, spoilt brats, etc - PAD being the most annoying example - several others are complete fucking loons - Grant Morrison is the benchmark here. Conversely, some creators who seem real nice, to the point that I’d love to have a drink with them, and perfectly sane…you couldn’t pay me enough to read their crap - Rob Liefeld, for instance. (‘Perfectly sane’, of course, does not take into account the fact that he seems to think he’s turning out great work.)
There are a few who are nice, sane, AND turn out good work - Kurt Buseik and Gail Simone are two of the classiest folks I’ve ever conversed with online, also some of my favourite writers. I’d just lose a lot of good stuff, and read a lot of crap, if I let my opinion of the creators as people guide my opinions of the works.
+1 with **Exapno **- most artists sacrifice something for their art, or get something taken away from them which leads to their art - but either way, damage is the order of the day…
It kinda bummed me out when Michael Richards went racist-nutjob on stage.
Otherwise, there are a lot of artists I really admire, like Tom Hanks, Trent Reznor, David Grohl and maybe even Robert Downey Jr. So long as a celebrity doesn’t subscribe to whacked-out religious beliefs, turn out to be racist assholes, or are violent, belittling sons of bitches, I let a lot of shit slide.
Oh god yes, and I would add Alan Moore to that list as well. I love most of his work, but much of the time in interviews he just comes off like a pretentious jerk. I understand he hasn’t been very happy with the adaptations of his work, (not without reason I suppose), but it would be nice if he could show some class.
Also Warren Ellis and Garth Ennis. They often come off as being just as misanthropic as any of their characters. Frank Miller to.
Agree with Liefeld and I’ll add Jim Lee and Jim Balent. Can’t stand any of their work but I’ve never heard a cross word about any of them as people. Lee in particular, I’ve heard from other fans who’ve met him at conventions and the like who say he’s the nicest guy you could ever possibly meet.
I like Busiek and Simone and I’ll add Neil Gaiman as well. Gaiman always comes across as a sensible guy, a gentleman, and very down to earth. Considering what he’s know for it can be surprising.
I would much rather spend time with R. Crumb than Lindsey Lohan…Crumb seems like a really nice guy, and interesting, in every interview I’ve seen with him. Tom Cruise, I would enjoy spending time with. I think he’s awesome and I don’t care about the Scientologist shit - a cool guy is a cool guy. (Neil Strauss, author of The Game, had nothing but good things to say about him when they hung out, and Strauss is neither a Scientologist nor part of the Hollywood elite by any means.)
I was really disappointed when I tried to get in touch with John David Carson, to interview him about an article I was trying to write on the film Pretty Maids All in a Row (which he starred in, in 1972) and learned, from the ex-girlfriend of his who I spoke to, that he had drank and gambled all of his money away, and is now homeless (!) and living on the street in Las Vegas. He played such a happy-go-lucky kid in that movie. I’ve read all the Hollywood fall-from-grace stories but I think this one has to be the worst.
There is a big difference between enjoying the artist’s work and wanting to hang out with them. I like Seinfeld’s show but no way in hell would I even want to meet him.
Of course, there are exceptions for people who commit acts, or are even suspected of commiting acts, like pedophilia or murder. I have zero respect for Woody Allen and O J Simpson.
I don’t think you can make a convincing case for Woody Allen being a pedophile, as whatever-her-name-is was past puberty when they, ah, became notorious. I’ll call him a creep, though.
As for me: I prefer not to know anything about the private lives of artists I like; I want to judge them based only on their work.
I’m a serious feminist (as in believer in equal rights, thank you, not a supremacist or anything) and was also a devoted Cerebus reader for years. Mind you, I think I drifted away from comics before the real “omg, what the hell kind of drugs are you on” stuff came out.
I do know artists are just people, and since I’m just a person too, I do have those “oh, I wish I hadn’t learned that; I’ll never look at so-and-so the same way again” experiences.
Agreed on Moore and Ellis - I’d originally had a much longer list that included both of them, but cut it down to just PAD, because it was so damn long. Others on the list included, John Byrne, Bill Willingham, Chuck Dixon and Alex Ross… The fact that I consider Byrne and Dixon’s recent work to be subpar is unrelated to my opinion of them as people - I stopped liking Dixon’s stuff long before I realized he was a jackass, and Byrne, it was just a matter of discovering his subpar new (at the time - we’re talking his Demon and Doom Patrol) stuff, and his assholish attempts to defend them at the same time. The fact I think Ross is an idiot, and can’t write dialogue to save his life, doesn’t effect my opinion of his artwork at all - it’s still beautiful.
Miller and Ennis, I don’t have much love for their work (outside of Sin City for Miller), so the fact that I think they’re both kind of jerkasses doesn’t matter to me one way or the other. >_>
Balent’s always come across as a nice guy to me - nice to know my instincts are correct. (Though I like Tarot when I’m in the right mood. Mmm. Boo Kitty.) Lee, I’ve never formed much of an opinion of.
I wish I could have added Neil to the list, but I’ve never actually had any opportunity to interact with him, so I don’t have the firsthand experience with him like I do Kurt and Gail. But, yeah, from what I’ve seen (and heard from a friend who has met him), he’s an incredibly nice guy. (His kids seem to be an absolute joy, too - especially Maddie.)
I never held Byrne’s art in the same esteem as some but I thought he was a terrific writer in the 80’s and 90’s. The point my opinion of him fell like a stone though had to be be around the time the first FF movie came out and he referred to Jessica Alba as a “whore”. (And all hispanic women who happen to have blonde hair I suppose.)
And then when people tried to call him on it, rather than backpedaling like he should have, he stuck to his guns. What a trooper. :rolleyes:
I suppose it’s a bit of a problem for me (or would be, I don’t really recall this happening) if it’s an artist whose works I strongly relate to on a personal basis, where I feel that his art examines the world from an angle not unlike my own – if there’s such a perceptual closeness, finding out that the artist holds views or commits acts I find despicable, then yes, I suppose that would put a little damper on my enjoyment of his work.