Just some thinking

[kippurbird]

An interesting bit of conundrumming. I suppose not really. But just a sort of "Huh" thing.

Upon my desk came the movie the Pianist, directed by Roman Polanski.

Excellent movie about the Holocaust directed by a shmuck. I guess it goes into the old Wagner debate of do you separate the creator from their work. I've never been able to put a firm opinion on the matter because Wagner was a Genius and his work did fantastic things for the world of music but... he was a horrid antisemitic.


In the mean time, one of the Rabbinical students has face-planted into his book and is snoring.

Comments

[anarchicq.livejournal.com]

I'd like to separate the person from the work, but sometimes it's very difficult.

Personally I'm not a Polanski fan, so this isn't an issue for me, but When Metallica started going after Napster, I started downloading their music rather than buying it. (No, I'm not comparing rape to music pirating. It's just the only comparison that I've personally experience that came off the top of my head.)

I personally hate Abercrombie & Fitch because of this, not that I wear A&F, but now I know I never will.

The Artist and the Work

[obadiah.livejournal.com]

I guess it goes into the old Wagner debate of do you separate the creator from their work.

Back in August, I wrote an entry about this very subject. My tentative conclusion is that you pretty much need to look at it on a case-by-case basis. Wagner's a bit easier on some level because he's dead and not receiving royalties.

Excellent movie about the Holocaust directed by a shmuck.

Well, you know, if Roman Polanski weren't a very good director, this case wouldn't be getting so much media attention to begin with. It's like the Phil Spector murder trial. People cared because he'd done such an outstanding job in music production in the 1960s, having a profound effect on US & UK pop music that's echoed through decades.

Re: The Artist and the Work

[christinaathena.livejournal.com]

Definitely agree about Wagner. With dead people, I see no problem separating out their art from their life. With living people still earning roylties there's an issue of financially supporting someone you disagree with. Especially if they're supporting certain groups. Like, if I were to find out that a particular artist was a member of a neo-Nazi group, or donated to NAMBLA or something of the like

[mad-troll.livejournal.com]

I'd say - don't deny yourself the pleasure of his work. Possibly with a sidedish of "and now he has served his due".

I like his films very much. I'll like them even better if he stopped being such a ..a.. Well, if he, at least, served his sentence.

[thelastmehina.livejournal.com]

Being an artist does not necessarily mean that one is an enlightened, open-minded individual. The moral center and the creative center in our mind are not often related. Chinatown is a beautiful movie, one of the themes is which the exploitation of women. Ironic, but the creator's failings do not alter the message of the movie.

It's as ridiculous to reject his films because of what Polanski did as it is to believe he ought to be forgiven for rape with the argument that 'he's such a good artist!'

Remember, the guy who wrote The Declaration of Independence also owned slaves.

[x-trickster-x.livejournal.com]

The Polanski issue truly does enrage me. He's a real dickbag but I'm more disgusted with the people coming out in support of him. Not saying I think he's not disgusting it's just that he's always been a rapist and a paedophile, it's something I've been aware of for a long time.

For me, what's worse is suddenly, all these people are coming out to say he shouldn't be punished and it REALLY pisses me off. And these are people I thought were perfectly sane, normal individuals. My only solace is that Neil Gaiman doesn't support him and hopefully, the legal system isn't screwed up enough to let a guy who pled guilty go free.

[gjohnsonkoehn.livejournal.com]

The Polanski affair has really made me wonder, just what the hells is wrong with French and Hollywood elites. I mean, seriously!

[ravenswept.livejournal.com]

When Michael Jackson was still alive, you could hardly find a person who still respected him; or at one willing to say it out loud. Yeah, there were those outside the courthouses who protested his prosecution as unfair, but for many, media especially, he was just a walking joke.

But you can rarely, if ever, find someone who doesn't like, if not love, Thriller. Also, Beat It, Smooth Criminal, Billy Jean.

[kevias.livejournal.com]

That is a thorny issue. Anything written more than, say, a hundred years ago is likely authored by somebody with views that are unacceptable today, and the problem only gets worse the farther back I look.

I think that we just have to look the past in the face. Wagner wrote great music and was antisemitic. H. G. Wells is in the same boat. He advocated the annihilation the lesser races as a step in bringing about utopia (The New Republic). He also authored The Time Machine and War of the Worlds.

We take the best from the past and try to do better. Jefferson may not have ever wanted blacks and women to vote, but the ideals he championed unwittingly helped bring them enfranchisement about anyway. I can admire his ideals and imagine that if he lived in our own time, he would know better.