pat loughery

An article on Vulture updates what was previously known about author Neil Gaiman’s predatory and violent abuse towards multiple women. I will not link to it, as what we already knew was dark and violent and the updates are harder to read – you an find it easily if you choose.

But that has invited more conversation about how we deal with art created by problematic artists.

This short response from actor Wil Wheaton speaking to the issue is helpful.

I can’t speak for the other actors, even the ones I know. But I will tell you, as an abuse survivor myself who never wanted to be in front of the camera when he was a kid: it’s really okay for you to enjoy the work. The work is good and meaningful, and if nobody is going to watch it because of what one piece of shit did two decades ago, what was it all for?

…

If it feels right to you to put it away and never look at it again, that’s totally valid. But if it brings you comfort, or joy, or healing, or just warm familiarity to bring it out and spend some time with it, that’s totally valid, too.

But I think there’s a difference between continuing to support the art of some relatively individual artist like an author (e.g. Gaiman) and somebody who’s part of an ensemble, like a filmmaker (like Joss Whedon, who is the subject of Wheaton’s response).

A coworker recommended this excellent video, which digs more deeply into the idea of fandom and parasocial relationships. It’s a long video but well worth watching.

The video talks spends a few minutes talking this academic paper: Resolving identity ambiguity through transcending fandom by Anastasia Seregina and John Schouten. It also talks about Americans’ unique obsession with cultural celebrity and celebrities, and spends some time with Roland Barthes’ article about author and art, The Death of the Author.

Here’s a summary of the video:

This video examines the emotional conflict of admiring a celebrity like Neil Gaiman, despite serious allegations against them. It discusses parasocial relationships, where fans struggle to reconcile their attachment to a celebrity with their wrongdoing, and critiques the celebrity culture that allows powerful figures to evade accountability. We contrast mainstream celebrity culture with small creator communities, emphasizing authentic engagement, ethical creator economies, and a critique of capitalism’s influence on media and power dynamics.

For another perspective, I still have on my to-read list the book Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma, which discusses this conundrum more completely.

Of course, there is no one single, widely accepted response to what we do when we find out something terrible about an artist or creator whose work we’ve enjoyed. It’s worth thinking about what our responses might be.