Regarding the art of reprehensible people.

[Clash, Never a Meter Maid]

This is something I've been thinking about a lot as of late, and I'm sure everyone's gone through this at some point. Are you still able to enjoy the work of someone who's been accused of or been caught committing a horrible act? Or does it depend?

Often when I hear about an artist doing something bad enough, I think that I'm pretty much done with them, but then I come back to their work and still enjoy it. I, for one, think Michael Jackson's guilty as sin of the bulk of what he's been accused of, but I still enjoy a great deal of his music and I don't feel very guilty after wards. For a while I wanted nothing to do with anything pertaining to Chris Benoit, and I couldn't watch his matches for a while, but now I can put in an old tape and I enjoy his wrestling.

Should I be ashamed? Or are there other people who share this feeling?

[ddd84]

I can appreciate someone for their craft, I separate the artist from their works. For example, I still enjoy the Naked Gun movies, even with the "innocent" O.J. on them, and I still enjoy Benoit matches.

[The Booty Disciple]

I don't personally feel that the merit of art should be completely based upon the artist. Michael Jackson is a great example. Say what you will of his affairs outside of music, but no one can deny that in his day, there was arguably no more popular or finer performer than he. What he did for R&B music is incalculable in many ways.

Should we discount all the positive contributions he's made toward R&B and music in general? How about the way he brought various styles of dance to the public consciousness when it likely would've stayed underground in the urban environment for a great deal more years? It's situations like this where I think a dichotomy of artist vs. art created is absolutely necessary. There's positive to be found in any situation like this, without making excuses for an artists conduct way from their craft.

[Deleted]

I'm guilty on MJ. I think he was guilty the first, not the second - but still guilty. However, no one touches MJ when you wanna get down with the boogie ;D

[Mozenrath]

I can understand that.

It's like how you can admire Che Guevera's dedication and spirit, even if you didn't agree with his goals or methods. I doubt every person with the infamous posters or shirts is a hardcore communist.

[The Booty Disciple]

Apr 11, 2008 17:33:40 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

I can understand that.

It's like how you can admire Che Guevera's dedication and spirit, even if you didn't agree with his goals or methods. I doubt every person with the infamous posters or shirts is a hardcore communist.

NAH! Get right outta town! You mean that little 15 year old brat at the mall wearing a olive drab cadet cap and a red Che shirt isn't a true believer in the cause? ;D

[erisi236]

Apr 11, 2008 17:36:55 GMT -5 The Booty Disciple said:

Apr 11, 2008 17:33:40 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

I can understand that.

It's like how you can admire Che Guevera's dedication and spirit, even if you didn't agree with his goals or methods. I doubt every person with the infamous posters or shirts is a hardcore communist.

NAH! Get right outta town! You mean that little 15 year old brat at the mall wearing a olive drab cadet cap and a red Che shirt isn't a true believer in the cause? ;D

[Janitor From Mars]

Has Hitler's art ever been made public?

Supposedly he was an artist before becoming a surrogate of Lucifer.

[Mozenrath]

Apr 11, 2008 17:44:18 GMT -5 erisi236 said:

Apr 11, 2008 17:36:55 GMT -5 The Booty Disciple said:

NAH! Get right outta town! You mean that little 15 year old brat at the mall wearing a olive drab cadet cap and a red Che shirt isn't a true believer in the cause? ;D

That's adorable.

[The Ichi]

Doesn't affect me one bit.

[The Summer of Muskrat XVII]

It really depends on the crime committed and the extent someone appears in the work.

ie. Pete Doherty is a junkie, but I like his music. If he were a murder I wouldn't support him

compared to

Benoit is a murder, and I won't watch any of his singles matches, but I can watch deal with seeing him in a rumble (Well, I haven't yet, but ya know what I mean)

[Blindkarevik]

I usually either separate the entertainer from the person, or just generally don't associate the two.

Chris Benoit, the wrestler, was amazing.. and I will always be a huge fan of. (although, given time, I really believe Davey Richards has the ability to eclipse him)
Chris Benoit, the person, I have no opinion on.

Justin Timberlake makes music I can't stand, I mean.. I REALLY can't stand it. However, as far as interviews go... he seems like he'd be a cool guy to hang out with. Same for John Mayer.

Sure, neither of them have done anything horrible in their lives... but it's just an example of how I separate the entertainer from the person.

[Phosphor Glow]

I'm the same way, really. I still enjoy Chris Benoit's matches...he was a brilliant wrestler, and I'll continue to enjoy his matches regardless of what others think of it.

I'm also willing to admit that Charles Manson was actually a very good songwriter. His album was a great work. He was a terrible person, but he could write a song.

I also really enjoy Michael Jackson's work...but I really don't feel like he did anything he was accused of. *shrug* Just me.

[G✇JI☈A]

I can no longer watch Benoit matches anymore. I just can't get the thought of what he did when ever I think of him.

Also there was a great U.K comedy series called 'People Like Us'. The show was really funny and had a good premise. But then the guy who created and starred in the show Chris Langham was busted with child pornography. So now that once great show is now ruined forever.

But I can still watch and enjoy the Naked Gun movies despite the fact that OJ Simpson is in it. Hey I even laugh at the scenes he is in. I guess that makes me a hypocrite.

[Mozenrath]

I find Paula Poundstone hilarious, but I don't know if I'd ask her to babysit.

[Macho Dude Handy Damage]

Apr 11, 2008 17:47:26 GMT -5 Janitor From Mars said:

Has Hitler's art ever been made public?

Supposedly he was an artist before becoming a surrogate of Lucifer.

not supposedly, he was. I thought that was common knowlegde. But apparently he wasn't good enough to get into art school, an that's why we got world war 2. The school was probably run by jews...

As regarding if his art is public, I think some of these WW2 museums has some of his artwork in them.
Some of his art is going to be auctioned away soon, from rumours I've heard/read.

[angryfan]

I like Roman Polanski's movies, but knowing that he likes to have sex with young teens makes me ill. I guess it's jsut, as has been said, a matter of seperating art from artist.

[Joe Neglia]

Sometimes, you have to. While we're not all murderers, all of us and every artist out there has skeletons in their closet.

One thing I will draw the line at is those who try to bank on their acts. Gacy selling clown paintings, for instance, or rappers who boast (as opposed to just describe...there's a difference) about their pasts as crack dealers.

I watched an animated short recently called The Snowman, translated. I forget how to spell its original title, but it's a wonderful cartoon, and very impressive in every regard. The only problem is that it was made by German artists during WWII as propaganda. I still find their work to be outstanding, even if I find the actual men (and women, perhaps) responsible a bit reprehensible.

[Loki]

It depends.

I listen to Mayhem, Burzum and Emperor being aware of their backstory. In an odd way, their actions fit their characters and their music, so it's kinda part of their nature (or gimmick if you think it's "staged").
That doesn't mean I agree with the church-burning [it's stupid and ignorant even though I see the reasons behind their actions], nor I condone murder.

About other artists being alcoholics, drug addicts and/or perverts of all kinds, I don't really care.

Benoit is a different story, because he killed his family. That I can't ignore. It doesn't matter how much I liked his in-ring work, when I watch him I can't separate wrestling from real life.

[Blindkarevik]

Like a lot of people have said.... in some cases, their "art" (I really hate that word unless it's directly related to pictures)... adds to their mystique. Manson's music, Gacy and Hitler's paintings.