Apropos to recent events in the literary world, I have written a long essay on why a) you should not idolize creative people, b) come to think of it, you shouldn't idolize anyone, c) holy fuck you really should not idolize ME. whatever.scalzi.com/2024/08/15/p...
In the wake of the various recent allegations involving Neil Gaiman, people have been both very sad that someone who they looked up to as an inspiration has, allegedly, turned out to be something lā¦
One other thing - many highly talented creatives have massive personal issues (see the large total across the board we've lost to drug overdoses, etc.). I do sometimes think that being messed up goes hand in hand with the type of creativity which allows an artist to show us from the outside.
He's not the Messiah, He just puts very weird things in Burrito's!
I love #1 in your post because it reminds me of a scene in High Fidelity. John Cusack's character talks about "other women" being a fantasy. We don't see other people's cotton underwear, we assume it's all fancy lingerie, even though it's obviously not if you stop & think about it for even a second.
A Scene from High Fidelity
Huh. I suppose I have been guilty of that. You make good points, and I am going to have a chew on a lot of that.
I decided a while back to separate the art from the artist (whatever the field: music, sports, film, etc.) We have a right to expect these folk to work hard, do their best if they want our money, but that's all. If they are also good, decent people, that's a bonus.
Everyone will let you down except Jimmy Carter and my Uncle Harold.
only the true messiah denies his divinity
no worries there
I have a very famous singer/songwriter friend and I like her music but am not like a rabid fan. She is just a normal person. My high school boyfriend is a famous musician and also a normal person. Normalize normalizing creatives.