Monsters Come to Light

Human Beings are complicated creatures. For all the study of psychology and of the human brain that exists on paper, there’s still so little that can be said about human nature that would succinctly break everything down into a binary yes/no behavioral pattern. Sure, there are things that can be predicted or expected from people but we still have the ability for surprise and the unexpected, and even as the world evolves and communication expands we still come back to that one basic truth; Human Behavior is Complicated.

People we admire surprise us, delight us, and, at times, disappoint and devastate us. That goes for people we know personally as well as the artistic figures we look up to from often rose tinted para-social ways. It’s easy to get so wrapped up in a fandom that you lose objective thought and fall into the realm of idolatry where the target of your undying adoration is someone whom you’ve likely never met and whom, most distressingly, isn’t aware of your existence! I can think of a few ‘fan groups’ that take it upon themselves to assume the mantel of a roving pack of digital crusaders that attack at the slightest provocation against their idol. To them, this person is like a God and any sacrilegious attacks should be met with a blistering fervor akin to the Crusades. (I’m not naming them here for obvious safety protocols!)

Similarly, there’s another side which see these Artists not as unbreakable idols but as an elevated human having passed a sort of imaginary purity test. They find their personalities inviting, their music (or other content) enjoyable at the smallest level and live saving at the highest, but acknowledge at the same time that they are human beings. So, what happens when those human beings do or say something that contradicts the world we’ve built up around them in our minds?

There are certainly levels to the disappointment you could feel here which probably coincides with the severity of the words or actions that shattered the veneer. I feel like its only natural to like to think the people who make our favorite music (movies/content) are good people but what happens when we find out that they’re doing something almost unforgivable? Such as publicly aligning themselves with hate groups and espousing tired and dangerously anti-Semitic lies, such as Kanye? Or when they’re tried and found guilty of sex-crimes like R. Kelly? Or similarly accused of sexual misconduct like the endless list of other names that spring up as the world keeps turning?

Well, in my case, I feel bad.

There are layers to the ‘bad’ I feel, of course. The first layer is, if there are victims, I feel for the victims. The second, is guilt; I feel guilty for holding up such a, probably unreasonable, image of this person. The third layer is the more selfish one; I feel bad for the loss of my undiluted opinion on the Artist. That opinion, now diluted, was likely never based in any reality and shouldn’t really affect how I feel about myself or how I feel about the music, or content I enjoy, but for some reason it does! At its worst it makes me feel dirty, like I’m part of the problem, which is a ridiculous thought. However, more often than not, it gives me a reminder to look at myself and interrogate my own perspectives and behavior for why something affects me so.

Of course, I’ve never committed any crimes against humanity that I can remember, I’ve never been outright abusive, or spread hateful narratives over a parade of right-wing media appearances. But, as someone who came up in the world when I did, with the media and attitudes that surrounded me in the late 80’s through full of the 90’s to now, I’m not a beacon of purity, myself. I can be passive aggressive and I am guilty of not listening to people who have been wronged in a world that celebrated those attitudes. In moments where my heroes are taken to task for their worst traits and, at times, outright abhorrent behavior it gives me pause to look at myself and see what my role in that system might be, and how I could do better to fix it. I too am a complicated person but in recognizing that, I can acknowledge the times when I came up short and strive to do better.

All of this is to say, what do we do when an Artist disappoints us? Do you ignore the problem and hope it goes away, or do we drag them through the streets throwing their shameful behavior back in their sullied faces? Though, I truly believe we should be able to not just separate art from the artists but to view the art, as Nick Cave put it in one of his inimitable Red Hand Files, as the redeemed part of that person. I also know that this is often very difficult to do as the world we live in prefers punishment to redemption. My perspective of that artist and their work will change and alter, perhaps irrevocably but maybe putting them on such a pedestal was my fault to begin with, after all, Artists are human, and human beings are complicated and just as capable of monstrosity as they are in beauty.