Over the past week or so, there have been a lot of forceful, and occasionally angry, opinions posted across the internet about the thoughts and opinions that comic creators choose to espouse. Frankly, I found the initial outrage ridiculous and hardly worthy of much attention at all. The outrage I’m speaking of, of course, is the response to Frank Miller’s blog post regarding the Occupy Movement; a movement that is sweeping the country and bringing all kinds of like-minded folks to the streets to protest and attempt to stand against what they feel is political, social, and economic injustice. My views on the movement are a bit complicated and absolutely not worth discussing here—particularly as they are irrelevant to this discussion. What encouraged this post is a point that was raised on the 11 O’Clock Comics message board. On the board the following question was posed: Can you separate artists from their art? That is, does your personal opinion of an artist affect whether or not you are able enjoy his or her work?
So here’s my position: I don’t care. Not even a little bit. If I got all flibbity gibbet every time someone famous espoused a political, economic, social, or religious view that was different from me, I wouldn’t be able to watch TV, read books, watch any movies, or listen to nearly any music ever…except for maybe Rush…and that's a big maybe.
It’s flat out unimportant. It doesn’t change my opinion on anything and it doesn’t necessarily diminish my opinion of said famous person…either within the context of their work or with them as people. Neal Adams’ disbelief in the laws of physics doesn’t diminish his amazing body of work. John Byrne’s general attitude and demeanor doesn’t take anything away from the brilliance of his Fantastic Four or Alpha Flight work. The fact that Vincent Van Gogh was a drunk and sliced off part of his ear, doesn’t make Starry Night less of a masterpiece. The same line of thinking can be applied to Dave Sim as well. The list of creative-types who abrasively air their opinions is nearly endless. It doesn’t change a single thing. Their work is their work and their talent is their talent, their ability is not shaped by which box they check in the voting both or what religion the adhere to, or whether or not they eat meat. None of it matters to anyone.
It’s flat out unimportant. It doesn’t change my opinion on anything and it doesn’t necessarily diminish my opinion of said famous person…either within the context of their work or with them as people. Neal Adams’ disbelief in the laws of physics doesn’t diminish his amazing body of work. John Byrne’s general attitude and demeanor doesn’t take anything away from the brilliance of his Fantastic Four or Alpha Flight work. The fact that Vincent Van Gogh was a drunk and sliced off part of his ear, doesn’t make Starry Night less of a masterpiece. The same line of thinking can be applied to Dave Sim as well. The list of creative-types who abrasively air their opinions is nearly endless. It doesn’t change a single thing. Their work is their work and their talent is their talent, their ability is not shaped by which box they check in the voting both or what religion the adhere to, or whether or not they eat meat. None of it matters to anyone.
If your favorite basketball player was Michael Jordan, and you found out that Jordan
Look. People disagree. Sometimes when people disagree one or both of them speak in flamboyant, emotional, and hyperbolic terms. So what? Welcome to Thanksgiving dinner at my aunt’s house.
The fact is that we’re all free to buy or not buy anything that we want for whatever reasons we choose. But guess what? Nobody cares about those things either. The only reasons that any of us really care about are our own.
The only thing that has ever made me stop supporting a person’s work is when they are or were directly, physically or financially, harming other people. That’s the only criteria I have and, frankly, I think it’s the one that is the most reasonable. It’s the most reasonable one because, again, if we all stopped enjoying creators’ work because of their political (or other) opinions, then there wouldn’t be much left to enjoy. It’s a silly notion and it only comes up when someone particularly noteworthy gets particularly mouthy…any other day of the week this conversation doesn’t happen and no one thinks twice about this.
How rarely do we think about these things, you may ask. Consider this: how many people said the same thing about Miller when he made extraordinarily similar comments a few years back on NPR? Remember that? People got all flibbity gibbet then, too. Turns out most people didn’t care enough about it to stop buying his work. They didn’t even care enough to remember…why? Because, outside of their initial outrage, the righteous indignation, and posturing that they put forth on the internet, they really weren’t offended and it didn’t stop people from enjoying his work. It’s just wasn’t a big deal.
Miller didn’t rape anyone, he didn’t assault anyone, and he didn’t steal from anyone. He has a political opinion that goes against the grain of what many members of the comics community have, and he put forth that opinion in a cranky, curmudgeonly manner. Big whoop.
What makes this even sillier is the fact that, if Miller had said something similar that was in support of the Occupy Movement, in an equally cranky or curmudgeonly manner, there’s no way that we would be having this conversation (again).
I don’t necessarily agree with all of what Frank said or how he said it…but I really can’t be bothered to worry about it either. It doesn’t make his work from the ‘70s to the ‘90s any less brilliant, and it doesn’t make the Spirit movie any better (or good), it has zero impact on those things. The only impact it can possibly have is the one that we, as individuals, psychologically impose on it.
The fact is that we’re all free to buy or not buy anything that we want for whatever reasons we choose. But guess what? Nobody cares about those things either. The only reasons that any of us really care about are our own.
The only thing that has ever made me stop supporting a person’s work is when they are or were directly, physically or financially, harming other people. That’s the only criteria I have and, frankly, I think it’s the one that is the most reasonable. It’s the most reasonable one because, again, if we all stopped enjoying creators’ work because of their political (or other) opinions, then there wouldn’t be much left to enjoy. It’s a silly notion and it only comes up when someone particularly noteworthy gets particularly mouthy…any other day of the week this conversation doesn’t happen and no one thinks twice about this.
How rarely do we think about these things, you may ask. Consider this: how many people said the same thing about Miller when he made extraordinarily similar comments a few years back on NPR? Remember that? People got all flibbity gibbet then, too. Turns out most people didn’t care enough about it to stop buying his work. They didn’t even care enough to remember…why? Because, outside of their initial outrage, the righteous indignation, and posturing that they put forth on the internet, they really weren’t offended and it didn’t stop people from enjoying his work. It’s just wasn’t a big deal.
Miller didn’t rape anyone, he didn’t assault anyone, and he didn’t steal from anyone. He has a political opinion that goes against the grain of what many members of the comics community have, and he put forth that opinion in a cranky, curmudgeonly manner. Big whoop.
What makes this even sillier is the fact that, if Miller had said something similar that was in support of the Occupy Movement, in an equally cranky or curmudgeonly manner, there’s no way that we would be having this conversation (again).
I don’t necessarily agree with all of what Frank said or how he said it…but I really can’t be bothered to worry about it either. It doesn’t make his work from the ‘70s to the ‘90s any less brilliant, and it doesn’t make the Spirit movie any better (or good), it has zero impact on those things. The only impact it can possibly have is the one that we, as individuals, psychologically impose on it.
I care a little bit, but not overly so. It's all self-inflicted too. I CHOOSE to follow and hang-out with creators on twitter, email and conventions. And that's just part of pulling back the curtain. Sometimes you learn that a guy is an ass and I do take that into account. But, the reverse is also true. Sometimes I enjoy a work more than I probably should because a buddy wrote/drew it and I like seeing a buddy succeed.
ReplyDeleteI guess if a creator did something over-the-top insane, I might pull the plug on supporting them anymore, but I haven't seen a creator do anything that bad yet.
Exactly, it's all self-inflicted. I've met and/or interacted with plenty of creators that I thought had...suboptimal(?)...personalities. But that doesn't change what I think about their work or really influence my enjoyment of it.
ReplyDeleteHowever, on the reverse side, there are A LOT of guys where I have to admit that, because I like them so much as people, I more readily seek out and praise their work. I would praise it anyway because of their talent, but I make a special point to do so because I think so highly of them. ...Like you said, it's nice seeing a buddy succeed.
IMHO, there's a world of difference between those two scenarios. Particularly because in the case of the former (and this is the heart of my point), if all fans held all creators to the standard that, "They must agree with me and always behave in a way that I approve of", there would be very few (if any) comics left for them to enjoy.
The truth, as I see it, is that no one gives two craps about what any creator thinks about anything. It's only when someone who is particularly high profile says something that is perceived as controversial that this becomes an issue. To make matters worse, when it does become an issue, it's fueled by that special type of rage that only occurs on the internet but doesn't actually reflect how people think or behave in the real world.
I dunno. That's just the way I see it.
I think Miller's a douchebag, but that doesn't really affect how I think about his work or how much I enjoy it; that is, when it's not a manifestation of his hateful screeds, which is what it seems to be becoming.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't avoid a Frank Miller book because of his personality, or his political opinions, or his favorite flavor of pop-tarts. (Chocolate? C'mon, Frank, you nutbag!)
I will avoid Frank Miller books that are about things, and espouse things, I have no interest in. His increasingly unhinged public persona, combined with stuff he's done recently (Holy Terror, AS Batman and Robin), has led me to be wholly uninterested in his future projects, unless it's fairly obvious that they take a different path.