Louis CK

I have to say, that one surprised me.

 

The city of LA tripped over themselves to hold a parade in MJ's honor after he died.

 

Very interesting piece on the art vs. the artist.

What Do We Do with the Art of Monstrous Men?

 

That's a good read. It also looks like she's writing a book on the subject. Good timing, if nothing else.

I think it's easier with someone like Roman Polanski, who's invisible in his films, to separate the art from the monster who made it. The trick with someone like Louis CK is that he is the art—you are watching him, standing alone, on a stage. And because so much of his stuff is about the stuff he got in trouble for—masturbation especially—it's a lot harder to separate him as a person from his work. He might be the most interesting case here. I still think he'll rescue it somehow, that he will come out with an hour of absolute pain and genius in a couple of years, but maybe not. In the meantime, so much of his stuff reminds you of what he did. He's impossible to compartmentalize.

I'm reminded of a couple of his jokes all the time, thinking about him and his behaviour. The first... He has this bit about how he wishes he could throw semen at people, not sexually, but as a defence mechanism, the way some lizards shoot blood from their eyes. He's talking about standing in an elevator with an annoying person and wishing he could just throw cum on him to make him stop talking.

Well, try watching that bit now.

The other was his infamous 9/11 joke about how you could measure the goodness of a person by how soon they masturbated after the attacks. The joke was that he jerked off after the first tower fell but before the second one. That single joke, I mean, it always carried a lot of freight, but now? Now I actually believe that he did that. I also believe he knows that he's completely fucked up for it. Both his sexual misconduct and his comedy are linked in almost inexpressible ways. It's like he's a guy who's addicted to release. He's spent his whole life trying to get his demons out, and the next day he wakes up, and there they are again. He built himself a life that was entirely constructed of outlets, and he hurt a lot of people in the process, and he still didn't find outlet enough.

Like the author of the piece, I'm not sure what it says about me that I can't wait to see what he does next.

 

""...I told another smart friend..."

What hackery.

 

Noted, but I looked upon that as a relatively tongue-in-cheek statement.

 

In 1989, even Ice Cube would've gone with Cosby. And probably kicked your ass for suggesting otherwise.

 

Interesting, although perhaps a little full of herself.
It starts stronger than it ends. Taking the exit to wonder if she, or anyone, would be a better 'artist' if she were more selfish seems like an intentional obfuscation because she does not want to answer the foundational issue.

I am torn on this subject. Like the writer, I have been a big Woody Allen. Having a relationship with a woman he raised as his adopted daughter is despicable. Someone who can cross that boundary is possibly capable of crossing others.
And I have always thought the adult-teen relationship in 'Manhattan' made the movie to creepy to enjoy.
And I'm torn on Ezra Pound, one of America's greatest poets and a completely loathsome, despicable bigot and traitor.
Polanski? A vile human being who undeniably made some great movies.

Cosby? The days when I was enjoying his work are long past so I do not have to grapple with it.
Louie CK? Not going to blink if I never encounter his work again.

So you toss aside entertainers who are incorrectly considered artists.

But when it comes to real art, genius, the work becomes more difficult to dismiss.
Yet that person's actions inhibit my ability to further appreciate the work as I did.

One is not surprised to learn that an artist or genius is a difficult person, unpleasant, boorish, a bad spouse or parent, but one does not have to forgive criminal behavior.

I'm not sure I know.

 

Phil Spector’s songs will be in heavy rotation the next month.

 

If this helps... he didn't raise her and she was not his adopted daughter. She was Mia's adopted daughter. Woody and Soon-Yi had very little to do with each other until shortly before the affair started.

It's weird and inappropriate... but she wasn't his daughter.

 

No. That doesn't help.