# Writers v. actors you personally dislike as people: can you still enjoy their work? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 10, 2008, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-v-actors-you-personally-dislike-as-people-can-you-still-enjoy-their-work/476629 "2008-12-10T22:46:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-v-actors-you-personally-dislike-as-people-can-you-still-enjoy-their-work/476629/61 "2008-12-12T15:56:14Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > Considering how absurdly disappointed I was to learn that “James Herriot” wasn’t his real name, I have been hesitant to delve more into his real life. I can relate to this. ---
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-v-actors-you-personally-dislike-as-people-can-you-still-enjoy-their-work/476629/62 "2008-12-12T16:07:44Z")
I’m surprised that noone has mentioned Jane Fonda yet. I know many people who will not watch her movies because of her actions during the Viet Nam War. For my self, although i deplore her actions, I’ve never let that stand in the way of enjoying her movies. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-v-actors-you-personally-dislike-as-people-can-you-still-enjoy-their-work/476629/63 "2008-12-12T16:31:45Z")
I have no interest in reading any of the works of Phillip Pullman, solely because of his critique of C.S Lewis and the _Chronicles of Narnia_. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-v-actors-you-personally-dislike-as-people-can-you-still-enjoy-their-work/476629/64 "2008-12-12T17:26:13Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > Do you know any details, or do you infer from this omission that Asimov was a bad father? Asimov wrote a short chapter on his son where he describes David as a “gentleman of leisure”. Essentially, he gave the impression that there wasn’t really much to say about him. I have heard stories, which I’ve never been able to confirm so I won’t repeat them here. But I do know they had a very bad relationship. It is confirmed in print. [Here’s a review](http://thethunderchild.com/Reviews/Books/NonFiction/Biographies/IsaacAsimov.html) of _Isaac Asimov: A Life of the Grandmaster of Science Fiction_, by Michael White. > [@](#): > > White is not adverse to exploring the darker side of Asimov: > > 1. His infidelity to his wife during their marriage, and his unvarying habit, in later life, of flirting with every woman he met. Was this caused by his own feeligs of sexual inadequacy? > 2. Asimov’s behavior - childish and sulking - in his 7-month hitch in the Army just after the end of WWII. > 3. Asimov’s obsession with publishing as many books as possible. Was he still trying to impress his father who instilled in him the work ethic at the candy store so long ago? > 4. Asimov’s treatment of his ex-wife during their divorce proceedings, in which he fought to deny her the amount of the settlement she wanted. > 5. Asimov’s treatment of his son, David. > 6. Asimov’s treatment of the New Wave of science fiction, and the opinions of New Wave writers about him. ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-v-actors-you-personally-dislike-as-people-can-you-still-enjoy-their-work/476629/65 "2008-12-12T17:27:16Z")
> [@Ronald\_C.Semone](#): > > I’m surprised that noone has mentioned Jane Fonda yet. I know many people who will not watch her movies because of her actions during the Viet Nam War. For my self, although i deplore her actions, I’ve never let that stand in the way of enjoying her movies. **Cough** Post 54 **Cough** It’s OK, I do that all the time, too. I just can’t get around what she did, _and_ I think she’s an awful actress. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-v-actors-you-personally-dislike-as-people-can-you-still-enjoy-their-work/476629/66 "2008-12-12T17:47:03Z")
I can still enjoy the work of artists and film directors because they maintain a sort of “invisibility”, but if they are on screen, it’s a different story. My mother would kick in the TV set rather than sit through a Tom Cruise movie because she finds him to be such a prick. But if he was the executive producer of something and made no appearance in it himself, no problem. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-v-actors-you-personally-dislike-as-people-can-you-still-enjoy-their-work/476629/67 "2008-12-12T19:19:51Z")
> [@Satchmo](#): > > **NDP** I can’t hear you! \ La la la la la la la! > 🙂 If it’s any consolation, Schulz’s being an emotionally distant parent ranks fairly low on the transgression scale when compared with some of the horror stories there are about other celebs. As for his being prone to dour moods, he was half Norwegian so that should hardly be surprising. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-v-actors-you-personally-dislike-as-people-can-you-still-enjoy-their-work/476629/68 "2008-12-12T19:23:38Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I have heard stories, which I’ve never been able to confirm so I won’t repeat them here. But I do know they had a very bad relationship. It is confirmed in print. [Here’s a review](http://thethunderchild.com/Reviews/Books/NonFiction/Biographies/IsaacAsimov.html) of _Isaac Asimov: A Life of the Grandmaster of Science Fiction_, by Michael White. Interesting, I haven’t read that book. In his autobiography Asimov described himself as giving his ex-wife a generous settlement, more than his lawyer advised. He did admit to infidelity, but, like Prince Charles, said it only happened once the marriage was irretrievable. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-v-actors-you-personally-dislike-as-people-can-you-still-enjoy-their-work/476629/69 "2008-12-12T19:37:48Z")
> [@Chef\_Troy](#): > > Okay, follow-up question for those of you who, because of a writer, actor, whatever’s personal demons/proclivities/positions, refuse to read their books/watch their movies/whatever: Is it because the knowledge of their personal scrofulousness makes it impossible for you to enjoy their work, or because you don’t want to line their pockets with your hard-earned money even though you _would_ enjoy their work? The latter. I will not watch films featuring Mickey Rourke because of his support of terrorists. And as he gave financial support to terrorists, I did not want my money to flow through him to said terrorists. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-v-actors-you-personally-dislike-as-people-can-you-still-enjoy-their-work/476629/70 "2008-12-12T19:52:02Z")
He did? He does? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-v-actors-you-personally-dislike-as-people-can-you-still-enjoy-their-work/476629/71 "2008-12-12T19:59:20Z")
> [@EJsGirl](#): > > He did? He does? 😕 > [@](#): > > Rourke’s political views came under fire when he claimed to have donated part of his salary from the 1989 film, Francesco, to the Provisional Irish Republican Army. He later backed away from that statement, although he has an IRA symbol tattooed on his left forearm. Rourke is a devout Roman Catholic From Wikipedia ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-v-actors-you-personally-dislike-as-people-can-you-still-enjoy-their-work/476629/72 "2008-12-12T20:02:11Z")
> [@EJsGirl](#): > > He did? He does? 😕 [Did](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_(film)) (see Trivia section - and I don’t believe the retraction). ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-v-actors-you-personally-dislike-as-people-can-you-still-enjoy-their-work/476629/73 "2008-12-13T02:23:15Z")
Wow. Holy crap, I had no idea. ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-v-actors-you-personally-dislike-as-people-can-you-still-enjoy-their-work/476629/74 "2008-12-13T02:36:05Z")
**Frank Lloyd Wright** Brilliant architect, awful husband, awful father, emotionally careless, narcissistic SOB. But his work, wow. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-v-actors-you-personally-dislike-as-people-can-you-still-enjoy-their-work/476629/75 "2008-12-13T14:26:08Z")
As an aside, I have found a new celebrity whose work I refuse to watch from now on: Jim Carrey. I found out today he’s one of the forces behind an anti-immunization campaign, pushing the lie that immunizations cause autism. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-v-actors-you-personally-dislike-as-people-can-you-still-enjoy-their-work/476629/76 "2008-12-13T15:13:09Z")
That would be because of the girl he is fucking, Jenny McCarthy. She is rabidly anti-vax, among her other insanities. ---
**Author:** ![Claptree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@Claptree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claptree)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-v-actors-you-personally-dislike-as-people-can-you-still-enjoy-their-work/476629/77 "2008-12-13T15:16:59Z")
I think that’s got a lot to do with him dating (or something) Jenny McCarthy. Yay simulpost. I originally wanted to mention Michael Crichton, and now I find out he’s dead. huh. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-v-actors-you-personally-dislike-as-people-can-you-still-enjoy-their-work/476629/78 "2008-12-13T15:45:30Z")
I tenth Tom Cruise. He’s proven to be an arrogant shithead who really believes that he’s 100% responsible for his own remarkable success. Forget luck. Forget good genes. All you have to do to enjoy similar success is follow the tenets of Scientology. Whatever, Tom. Enjoy your falling star while you can. (Will Smith is also starting to bug me. He said on the recent Barbara Walters show that he believes he can do anything he sets his mind to, including winning the Presidency. Of the United States. Wow.) I detest attention whores. For that reason, I couldn’t watch “Men in Trees” because of my distaste for Anne Heche, even though it looked interesting. Sorry, but I don’t give my money to nutcases. Neither Woody Allen nor Roman Polanski will ever see one dime of my money, for obvious reasons. (Besides, Allen’s quirky yet neurotic characters were all getting stale.) ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-v-actors-you-personally-dislike-as-people-can-you-still-enjoy-their-work/476629/79 "2008-12-13T16:08:15Z")
> [@EJsGirl](#): > > That would be because of the girl he is fucking, Jenny McCarthy. She is rabidly anti-vax, among her other insanities. Yeah, I know…but I wouldn’t watch anything she was in anyway. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-v-actors-you-personally-dislike-as-people-can-you-still-enjoy-their-work/476629/80 "2008-12-17T23:42:48Z")
I’ve thought of another author, Cynthia Heimel. Oddly enough, I discovered Cynthia in the army. I noticed **Sex Tips for Girls** in the bookstore, and the title along with the cover got me horn–errrr–interested enough to take it off the shelf and skim through it. I was hooked immediately. I can’t think of any other writer off the top of my head who handles the weird world of modern serious relationships with more humor, wisdom, and humanity than she does. I went and bought all the books I could find by her, and I wasn’t disappointed. She had a knack of expressing the nagging thoughts in the back of my mind much better than I ever could. I learned more about relationships reading Cynthia for 20 minutes than I did in 15 years listening to bad advice from well-meaning friends and relatives. I actually ILL’d her play, “A Girl’s Guide to Chaos,” from our public library and reading it was totally worth the weird look I got from the librarian when checking it out. The play wasn’t even that good. Cynthia basically cannibalized the aforementioned **Sex Tips for Girls** , and it didn’t translate to dialogue form that well, but the _preface_ to the play in which she exhorted her readers to be courageous enough to “follow your own crazy star” (her words) and just take risks in life to find out who you were and what you liked blew me away. Cynthia was brave enough to preach and practice making one’s own way through life, but she was also smart enough to put reasonable limits on things. She reminded us that you had to pay your own way and look out for the feelings and limits of others. She warned us against making the SO’s feel as if they were in a Joan Crawford movie (her words again). And she did all this without sounding preachy and making me laugh even as I absorbed the most important lessons. Ms. Heimel, I owe you a lot. That said, there’s no doubt in my mind that we would despise each other in real life. Cynthia might not have been preachy, but when it came to politics she sure as shit was ranty, and _man_, her politics were out there. There was something about how she kept going off on “bossy white science guys” that made me want to take up nuclear physics and work on weapons of mass destruction just to piss her off. What really got me ticked was that she created this phrase while ranting against **The Bell Curve** and its statements on intelligence and race, which most bossy white science guys rightfully despised and not a few wrote papers disproving its more disgusting claims using the very science Cynthia was blaming. Also, in the last few years Cynthia has gone off the deep end and now serves as head counsellor at Camp Freakedforlife. She brags in print about treating her men like absolute shit, and even her latest relationship advice is awful. Still, her older stuff stands on its own, and anyway, she’ll always be a thousand times better than Michael Crichton, who could well serve as Cynthia’s idea of jerk-off bossy white science guy when she wrote that shit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-v-actors-you-personally-dislike-as-people-can-you-still-enjoy-their-work/476629.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writers-v-actors-you-personally-dislike-as-people-can-you-still-enjoy-their-work/476629.md?page=5)