Separating art from artist has always been difficult for me. I almost consider them to be the same thing. After all, there is not one without the other. And even if the two could exist separately in my mind, I would still see the creation as a sort of extension of the creator.
If I do not like the artist as a person, it is likely that I will not like or support the art. And vice versa. There are so many extremely talented artists that I don't support because of their character/behavior/morals or lack thereof. I could fall in love with a painting but would not buy it if the painter was homophobic. I mean, if Solange (my spirit animal), were to make racist comments, I couldn't listen to her music anymore. And she's my spirit animal. However, I feel like work that comes from the mind, heart, and soul of someone hateful is tainted by that hate and weighed down with negative energy. And regardless of who that artist is, or what they create, I'm not capable of overlooking that.
But a lot of people I know are not like this.
For example -- Many of my friends are absolutely sickened by the fact that Chris Brown ever even considered putting his hands on Rihanna. They're disgusted by his rampages and tired of hearing about him being in and out of court. But they still buy his music simply because they see it as unrelated to his character. They do not like Chris Brown but do like Chris Brown's work. For another example, there are a lot of young girls that I've (unfortunately) stumbled upon on Twitter who overlook Justin Bieber's destructive and even racist behavior because he's cute. Because he's cute. (I wonder -- would Jim Crow laws still be in place if he had only been blessed with better genes?)
I can't do that.
Of course I don't expect artists to be perfect. I don't expect anyone to be perfect. And I understand that art is flawed and thrives in darkness and sorrow and even hatred; that it often comes from bad places. But I do not believe that art can come from "bad" people, or bad intentions.
No comments:
Post a Comment