Do you care about the personality of a director/writer/musician etc.?

[SolemnBoy]

When it comes to whether you can enjoy the work of a writer, musician, director or any kind of creator, do you take the rest of their personality into consideration? Kanye West is a pretty good example of a celebrity who's not exactly trying to hide his ego. Even in his music the lyrics praise him a lot and also reference loads of stuff from his own private life - some people are very put off by that and others don't care.

I usually don't care if the man or woman behind the music I'm listening to is a "bad" person; after all, if I enjoy the music I shouldn't have to care about such circumstances of its creator. There have been a few cases, though, where I was just put off after watching interviews and reading more about the musician. I could never get into Lydia Lunch, for example, due to her being a major bitch... in any case, how do you feel about this? Do you let the image of the creator influence your assessment of their work?

[Sylph]

Gee, if that were the case, everyone would be Athiests, as many people dislike a lot of the things their God (supposedly, jury is still out) made, so that would mean people should dislike God, and yet...

I personally am only here for things that are good and so forth, if a Chris Brown song makes my Morning Glory do the Bankhead Bounce, then Hooray for me. Regardless if he kicked Rihannas Ass. That's something I don't condone or agree with, but that's on him and her and by the by, she realigned her Sexy Carribean self back with him, so...

Just give me a song to Vibe to and leave it at that. Personal Drama Bombs are to be left at the door.

Like when Nicki Minaj and Lil Kim hashed it out in a few of their songs, I wasn't feeling either of the songs they made, cause they put their feud in them and so they were bad. I still like a lot of Nicki's Music though, regardless of her Personality,even though ironically that's what makes her songs hers.

Bob Marley Smoked Sensimilla(Mary J), had all these kids and blah blah blah that people don't like or agree with, yet everyone goes around singing One Love and Don't Worry(at least here, but some Americans try lol).

So it's whatevs to me.

Just run me a tune Sis and run it right!

[oneofcuriousity]

i don't care of the person behind the music, book or movie. i won't let what they do or did in there life affect what i liked.

[SolemnBoy]

Perhaps it's circumstantial. Like, say you're reading a book called "the virtue of morality: how to be a better person" only to find out that it was written by Hitler - then I can only assume you'd disregard the moral lessons found within?

But even in cases where the "art" itself is unrelated to the horrible personality behind it I've found myself put off. Hmmm...

[OrphanPip]

The author's identity doesn't effect the quality of a work but it does effect my purchasing decisions. I won't buy Orson Scott Card novels because he's a bigoted homophobe who I'd rather not give money to.

[SolemnBoy]

The author's identity doesn't effect the quality of a work but it does effect my purchasing decisions. I won't buy Orson Scott Card novels because he's a bigoted homophobe who I'd rather not give money to.

Although it may affect credibility which in some cases ruins the actual quality of the work?

[kidchameleon]

I usually take their personality into it about 20-33%. If I think they're dishonest, greedy, or bigoted in any way I tend to not want to fill their pockets by buying their products, and helping them stick around.

Although I think I care most about their intellect/artistry. If I think they know what they're doing, and put effort/thought into their work, etc - I tend to appreciate it more, and find more things to enjoy in it. And I also find I can overlook some of their other shortcomings if this is the case.

However, in a singer's case for instance, if they have an amazing voice but they only ever sing the lyrics of other people... well, that just doesn't appeal to me at all.

[Lilitu]

Even though I think that it's wrong to care about the provenance of art, I still do...

I liked oscar wilde's play An ideal husbnd that I studied last year, but the fact that I hate oscar wilde as a person still vajazzled me inside.

But usually, unless the piece is by someone really famous, it's hard to know who's behind it, so it all works out. Writers and some singers even don't like to connect themselves as a person to their art and so they use pennames or stagenames.

If I ever had to use a penname it would be Saskia Barack Obama.

[Pix]

Generally, no. Only if they contribute money to causes I'm opposed to am I likely to think boycott (and even then borrowing from a library or buying used is ok because that doesn't go to the cause I oppose).

I've always been confused by people who can't tell the difference between an entertainer and their persona or characters. Like one (who's older than me) said she loved Oz in Buffy until she saw the toilet humor the actor created in Family Guy. I found that baffling, Oz and Seth Green are NOT the same person. And I thought tween girls who couldn't tell that an actress was only PRETENDING to be obnoxious as part of her character were a bit dense...(I've tried recalling to back when I was a child if I ever didn't like an actor because of a character and I think I understood it was pretend, but I also don't think I ever really cared enough to think about it either, so not certain on that.)

Oh, and btw, I'm really baffled by people who act like entertainers are obligated to be "good role models." How is being a good role model entertaining for the rest of us? :tongue:

[Tim18]

I don't care about the person, I just care about their work.