Rooting for the Bad Guy

I do think it is important to make the distinction among people who commit crimes and/or hurt others and people who are just assholes. Remember, Gibson pleaded no contest to spousal battery in 2011, so it isn't just the bigotry with him.

 

Wagner was echt deutsch so of course the Nazis embraced him. I'm sure they embraced Goethe too. And probably that turncoat Beethoven after the Anchluss.

 

I still listen to Teaser and the Firecat. So many beautiful songs.

 

Not that I've ever truly thought, "Oooh, I have to see that Tom Cruise movie," but I can't separate Cruise and Scientology. It gets in the way every single time for me.

 

Despite being a big boxing fan, I will never put down money for a Floyd Mayweather fight. Never even watched his fight with Pacquiao. I actively sought out other NFL teams to cheer for when Vick was still on the Falcons after the dog-fighting stuff blew up. There are just certain things I can't get past and allow myself to support, and animal abuse and domestic abuse are two of those things.

However, I can compartmentalize someone being a world-class douchebag. I still listen to and enjoy Kanye's music.

 

Woody Allen is at minimum a vile creep in my estimation and possibly much worse.
But I still enjoy his work.

Ezra Pound was a despicable bigot, fascist and traitor - but his talent and artistry are indisputable.

 

The vaccine shit is going to make it difficult to enjoy De Niro's work.

 

None of that stuff ever bothers me. The art is separate from the person. But Vick getting impaled would not bother me.

 

For the past 15-20 years, De Niro's work makes it hard to enjoy De Niro's work.

I just assume most actors and actresses are dumb.

 

In sports, I think it goes back to the comment about rooting for laundry. If you're really passionate about a team, you root for a team and just grin and bear it with the assholes and miscreants who come and go, because every team has had them. I mean, my team, the Saints, employed Darren Sharper on their Super Bowl team in 2009, and the Saints were notorious in the early '80s for being quite possibly THE most coked-up team in all of sports.

As for actors and musicians, it depends on who they are and what they've done. I won't go out of my way to watch a Mel Gibson movie, but if The Road Warrior or Braveheart happen to be on as I'm channel-surfing, I don't have a problem with watching. And John Lennon was possibly the biggest asshole who ever stepped into a recording studio, but that's not going to affect my enjoyment of the Beatles.

 

We're so sorry,
Uncle Albert ... 777