There was a recent article in the NY Times about the journalist that has dogged the heels of R. Kelly over the allegations of sex with underage girls and holding women in captivity. For almost 20 years there have been whispers about R. Kelly’s misdeeds. There was even a trial where the singer was eventually found not guilty of the charges. And unlike other artists, the hint of allegations had very little effect on his career. It is only because of a recent documentary aired on Lifetime that people are starting to question why his activities have gone on for so long. And it begs the question of whether or not you can separate the art from the artist’s personal activities.
My brother and I have had and on-again, off-again argument about this for years. It comes up every time we see a trigger. He falls into the category that he doesn’t care what a person does in his personal life because it has nothing to do with the product they provided. And I can see his point. An actor in a movie is playing a character and not himself. It’s the audience that wants to see the character in the person. I’m on the opposite side of the argument, in that a person’s actions do taint how I think of their product. And that can include anything from something benign as a reputation of being rude to fans to political ideology to actual criminal activity.
I’m not sure why I let the personal interfere with how I think of an actor or musician’s work. I just know that it does. That’s not to say that I can’t appreciate their work. I just don’t see it the same way as I might have before I became aware of the other factors. Tom Cruise would be the perfect example of that. I really loved his movies until the Scientology stories started hitting the news. After reading about the religion and hearing the stories of former members, I just started looking at Tom Cruise in a different way. And while I enjoyed the last Mission Impossible movie, I don’t look at the actor the same way. I can never watch a movie and forget that he’s Tom Cruise. With other actors, I forget the person and get caught up in the character.
Music is even more personal because there is an assumption that the lyrics are a reflection of the artist singing them. Songwriters put some of themselves into the music. And it’s very hard to separate the music from the artist doing the performing. Additionally music has the ability to help you connect to things that have or are going on in your life and it becomes personal. If the artist does something heinous, then do you just stop liking their music? Beyond R. Kelly (who’s music never did that much for me), there’s Michael Jackson. Debuting at the Sundance Film Festival this year was “Leaving Neverland” and focused on two of the boys who accused him of sexual abuse. From the reviews I read it was very disturbing and audiences had a very strong reaction to the film. What I would have loved to have asked them is if it changed how they thought of Michael Jackson’s music. It’s very hard to deny that he was a genius in the music business. It is also hard to move past the fact that he was more than likely a sexual predator who’s victims were young boys. It’s a tough question for me because I’m of the “Thriller” generation. I do think that it has affected my opinion of the music though. While I can acknowledge his genius, I cannot say that I would spend money to buy albums were he still alive today.
And maybe that plays a part of it. If you continue to buy their product, are you perpetuating the behavior? R. Kelly got away with his crimes for decades, in no small part because fans kept buying the music and studios kept making excuses. Had the fans turned on him earlier, would he have still gotten away with it? I also think that our penchant for putting famous people up on pedestals and looking to them as role models also plays a role in it. We tend to view them with rose colored glasses and we fight to keep reality out of the picture. I could never be a voter for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The number one rule is that the criteria is solely based on their time as a player in the league. Anything other than that is not supposed to be part of the consideration. That’s why O.J. is still a member. I could never check what I know about them at the door and say that it doesn’t matter.
I respect the right of people who are successful in separating the work from the artist, but that’s not my style. My money is like my vote. I can’t reconcile in my head paying for someone to live a lifestyle that offends my sensibilities. My money, my right. I won’t be listening to R. Kelly or Michael Jackson anytime soon, that’s a given. Is that fair? Maybe it is and maybe it isn’t. I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.
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I’ve watched two different documentaries on the Fyre Music Festival. One on Netflix and the other on Hulu. Both were very interesting and took two different ways to tell the story. I do think Hulu has an edge because they actually had the participation of the guy who was behind the scam. The one thing that struck me about both is that it didn’t paint the Millennial generation in a very good light. I sincerely hope they are not as self-centered and superficial as they were portrayed to be in the films. And yes, that’s a sign that I’m getting old!
How long is too long to keep the Christmas lights up? I should preface that with the fact that ours have been put away already. No lie! It’s just that I keep seeing more staying up for longer and longer. It used to be that one house in the neighborhood. And now there are several. I haven’t decided if it looks festive or weird. I do give them props. They keep turning them on every night. I mean if you’re going to leave them up then you might as well be proud and keep them lit. And who’s to say we can’t have lights up for Arbor Day or National Donut Day. Why does Christmas get to corner the market on extraneous lights? Though I have to draw the line at the idea of blow-up donuts in every yard. Now that would definitely be weird.
