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Dianne Robbins (1738 KP) created a post in Dear Smashbomb....

Jan 18, 2019 (Updated Jan 18, 2019)  
How do you feel about watching tv and movies, or listening to music or podcasts after learning unsavory details about an actor, director, producer, podcaster, or others involved in them? Can you compartmentalize their behavior and enjoy art as art or does it forever ruin it for you? How can we reconcile our love of certain performers and their onscreen personas with their monstrous behavior offscreen?

I find it so frustrating and disappointing when I learn that someone I have admired for decades is a perverted sex monster. I want to be politically-correct and denounce their behavior but it's difficult when they have created art that speaks to me and moves me and that I have loved for years. Some truly talented people have turned out to be terrible people. It's one thing when you've known for years about someone's exploits and abuse, such as in the case of Woody Allen and Roman Polanski. Those were things I knew about for ages and I avoided their movies. But another thing when it's someone whose work you've admired and respected for years. I don't know how to feel.
   
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Dianne Robbins (1738 KP) created a post

Jan 18, 2019  
How do you feel about watching tv and movies, or listening to music or podcasts after learning unsavory details about an actor, director, producer, podcaster, or others involved in them? Can you compartmentalize their behavior and enjoy art as art or does it forever ruin it for you? How can we reconcile our love of certain performers and their onscreen personas with their monstrous behavior offscreen?

I find it so frustrating and disappointing when I learn that someone I have admired for decades is a perverted sex monster. I want to be politically-correct and denounce their behavior but it's difficult when they have created art that speaks to me and moves me and that I have loved for years. Some truly talented people have turned out to be terrible people. It's one thing when you've known for years about someone's exploits and abuse, such as in the case of Woody Allen and Roman Polanski. Those were things I knew about for ages and I avoided their movies. But another thing when it's someone whose work you've admired and respected for years. I don't know how to feel.
      
Show all 15 comments.
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Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) Jan 21, 2019

In my opinion, they are two totally different aspects of a person's life that should not affect one another in any way.
There are so many creators that I love watching or listening to that I totally disagree with politically, but I am able to separate those things. Just because I disagree with one aspects of a person's opinions or actions, doesn't mean it tarnishes everything that that person has ever done.
George Washington was an incredible man who was fundamental in the battle for American independence over Britain, but he also kept slaves and treated them as animals. Both of these things exist and that's what makes a person whole. As much as we would like to believe that everybody is either purely good or purely evil, that is just not true, there are always shades of grey.
I am not in any way defending any of the despicable things that people like R Kelly and Kevin Spacey are accused of doing, but just because Spacey allegedly preyed on young boys, it doesn't mean that his performance in Se7en isn't still one of the greatest performances ever committed to film.
Another example of this is rap music. I am a huge rap fan and there are rappers that I listen to that brag in their songs using misogynistic language or homophobic slurs, things that I fundamentally disagree with. However, that doesn't mean that I can't appreciate their flow or delivery.
To be honest, I think that it is actually way more healthy to separate these things as an audience member. If I was to stop listening to/watching everyone that had ever been accused of doing something bad by the press, there probably wouldn't be much content left.
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Allison Knapp (118 KP) Jan 21, 2019

I would have to agree with you there. Talent and personal life are definitely two separate matters