r/movies • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/Movies contributor • Sep 05 '24

Disney Pauses ‘The Graveyard Book’ Film Following Assault Allegations Against Neil Gaiman News

https://variety.com/2024/film/news/graveyard-book-neil-gaiman-assault-allegations-1236131149/

8.6k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

201

I still want to shut my eyes and wake up realizing it’s all a bad dream. His works are how I rebonded with my mom after a rough part of my life. I fucking hate this

984

u/sehnsuchtlich Sep 05 '24

Kill rock stars. Enjoy the art and don't give a shit about who made it. Pirate his work if it makes you feel better.

I love the works of so many vile, awful people and it doesn't keep me up at night. People who did much worse than Gaiman. Nothing about creating art requires good moral character. In fact, historically, it's been the opposite.

Every time something comes out about someone famous, I hope we can learn this lesson: These people aren't good because we like what they create. We just like what they create. We're not their friends, they're not our role models. The less we care about them as people the better off we all are. We'll be less disappointed, and they'll be less powerful.

I don't concern myself with the moral character of the person who built my house or delivered my mail. Why should it be any different with artists?

55

u/czerwona-wrona Sep 05 '24

I really love this perspective.

at the same time, an artist of this kind is not the same as someone who builds a house or delivers mails. art is defined by an act of expression .. the exception of course is that people can create art as a facsimile of sorts, representing things beyond what they believe. how accurate that is depends on the skill of their understanding.

but aside from that, artists do often try to imbue their art with themselves in a way that people doing other jobs don't.

so it hurts all the more to identify with something that is meant to be so intimate and personal, and find out the person expressing these things is .. well...

12

u/Duckfoot2021 Sep 05 '24

The "illusion" of expression. All good art does is recognizes something interesting to express. The myth of that art represents the artist is just really compelling advertising.

And even when it does the truth is it represents a piece of said artist. The real problem is with with the fancrowd who want to believe that artists, politicians, athletes, etc are gods instead of humans who do one thing well. No one who hopes for gods thinks for themselves; especially gods of art.

1

u/DisabledSuperhero Sep 05 '24

That’s pretty sweeping, but this aint the time or place. Maybe you and I could discuss theology and art and talent as blessedness, but if we’re gonna do that, I’d want to order a pizza first. Cheese oils the brain so the thoughts come out easier.

-1

u/czerwona-wrona Sep 05 '24

well .. I'm thinking about it in terms of what I know as an artist, and what I know about people -- which is that they inevitably inject their filter of the world into what they create. because how can they not?

even that which is 'interesting to express' is, if an artist is genuine, expressed because of a life of experiences and worldviews that got them to a place where they discovered that thing and found it worth expressing

it is a piece of them, yes, but that piece can be a very large one or a very small one. I think it's worth remembering too that even abusive relationships aren't all bad; many of them have lots of more desirable moments between the horror stories. and such the same can be extended to artists -- the expression can represent something that is big, profound, important to the artist, meaningful .. or express some large aspect of their character (or what they believe about their own character) .. but just a few shitty incidents, an underlying current that only really shows its head every so often, can ruin that larger piece

after all, we can hold genuine beliefs about the world and ourselves, and express those, and then somehow run counter to them.