It’s tough. I think if you avoid art by people who have done some bad things, you are going to end up really limiting yourself.
For me personally, I try to acknowledge (really just to myself, but I’ll bring it up when the artist or their work comes up) what that person did or who they were, but then still enjoy the art. Yes, this person was shit, their art is good though. Here are some practical examples of what that looks like:
The Lord of the Rings is among my very favorite works of fiction. I love it, not just for the story but for the personal meaning those books have in my life. I don’t think Tolkien personally was all that questionable (he was completely consumed by his work so I don’t think he had much there to be critical of). However, the LotR books absolutely have some sus aspects to them (racism, classism, et al). So right now, I’m working on an effort post for here where I break down all the problematic aspects of the books from a Marxist perspective. I think it’s important that we understand these aspects of the books and where they came from (Tolkien was a bougie English white guy who lived in the first half of the 20th century, so it’s not strange that he picked up plenty of brain worms just from the society he lived in). At the same time, in my mind I acknowledge all these problematic aspects but I still enjoy the art.
The book Towards a New Socialism was the one book that helped me understand Marx’s concept of value and abstract labor better than any other book I’ve read, including the first volume of Capital. However, one of the authors (Paul Cockshott) is a massive, unrepentant TERF. He doesn’t even beat around the bush like JKR does. He just spews vile transphobic shit all the time. But I can’t deny his book can be incredibly useful in understanding what is admittedly a really difficult concept to grasp. So whenever I discuss that book, I’m always clear that he is a horrific transphobe and at least don’t buy his work, just pirate it or something. I’m also constantly on the lookout for any authors who are able to explain abstract labor as good or better that I can recommend instead.
Norman Finkelstein is providing some critical insights into the current situation and historical background for what is going on Gaza right now. We need his voice out there, because he’s among the very best. But when he’s not talking about Palestine, I understand he apparently has some chuddy “anti-woke” social views. For him, I just keep that in mind and tune out anything that isn’t about Palestine (which for him, isn’t hard because he really does seem to stay on message).
Hope this helps. Not saying any of this is “right”, it’s just my own approach.
It’s tough. I think if you avoid art by people who have done some bad things, you are going to end up really limiting yourself.
For me personally, I try to acknowledge (really just to myself, but I’ll bring it up when the artist or their work comes up) what that person did or who they were, but then still enjoy the art. Yes, this person was shit, their art is good though. Here are some practical examples of what that looks like:
The Lord of the Rings is among my very favorite works of fiction. I love it, not just for the story but for the personal meaning those books have in my life. I don’t think Tolkien personally was all that questionable (he was completely consumed by his work so I don’t think he had much there to be critical of). However, the LotR books absolutely have some sus aspects to them (racism, classism, et al). So right now, I’m working on an effort post for here where I break down all the problematic aspects of the books from a Marxist perspective. I think it’s important that we understand these aspects of the books and where they came from (Tolkien was a bougie English white guy who lived in the first half of the 20th century, so it’s not strange that he picked up plenty of brain worms just from the society he lived in). At the same time, in my mind I acknowledge all these problematic aspects but I still enjoy the art.
The book Towards a New Socialism was the one book that helped me understand Marx’s concept of value and abstract labor better than any other book I’ve read, including the first volume of Capital. However, one of the authors (Paul Cockshott) is a massive, unrepentant TERF. He doesn’t even beat around the bush like JKR does. He just spews vile transphobic shit all the time. But I can’t deny his book can be incredibly useful in understanding what is admittedly a really difficult concept to grasp. So whenever I discuss that book, I’m always clear that he is a horrific transphobe and at least don’t buy his work, just pirate it or something. I’m also constantly on the lookout for any authors who are able to explain abstract labor as good or better that I can recommend instead.
Norman Finkelstein is providing some critical insights into the current situation and historical background for what is going on Gaza right now. We need his voice out there, because he’s among the very best. But when he’s not talking about Palestine, I understand he apparently has some chuddy “anti-woke” social views. For him, I just keep that in mind and tune out anything that isn’t about Palestine (which for him, isn’t hard because he really does seem to stay on message).
Hope this helps. Not saying any of this is “right”, it’s just my own approach.