So, this came up a while back on the book thread; I didn't want to read any of Iain M. Banks' books because of his refusal to let them be sold in Israel. Now, I don't want this discussion to spiral off in that direction, so I'll make this a general question: Do you read or enjoy works by people who are bigoted or that you just can't stand? Obviously a lot of gays don't read Orson Scott Card, but yet a lot of them still presumably do.
What about anti-Semites? Tabletmag is making a whole collection of articles called "My Favorite Anti-Semite" about antisemitic artists or writers that they still are inspired by. But to me that seems actually easier than consuming works by BDSers because anti-Semitism is taken so little seriously today. Jew haters seem incredibly primitive; I don't take offense from reading ancient viewpoints that would be considered horrendously bigoted or out-of-touch in the modern world. Who gets flustered by Heliocentrism or fascism anymore?
So at what point do you draw the line? Is there a line? Or is art something immutable and unrelatable to the artist and his beliefs? Now, I personally think that the link I posted above is ridiculous and self-aggrandizing- the right to have a federal marriage license isn't even comparable to the right to freedom from slavery. And I am aware that there are plenty of people- reasonable people- who think my view on Banks is idiotic, even if they don't agree with his politics.
What about anti-Semites? Tabletmag is making a whole collection of articles called "My Favorite Anti-Semite" about antisemitic artists or writers that they still are inspired by. But to me that seems actually easier than consuming works by BDSers because anti-Semitism is taken so little seriously today. Jew haters seem incredibly primitive; I don't take offense from reading ancient viewpoints that would be considered horrendously bigoted or out-of-touch in the modern world. Who gets flustered by Heliocentrism or fascism anymore?
So at what point do you draw the line? Is there a line? Or is art something immutable and unrelatable to the artist and his beliefs? Now, I personally think that the link I posted above is ridiculous and self-aggrandizing- the right to have a federal marriage license isn't even comparable to the right to freedom from slavery. And I am aware that there are plenty of people- reasonable people- who think my view on Banks is idiotic, even if they don't agree with his politics.