Death of the Author, Problematic Creators and Me

This is a very difficult topic to tackle. However, in the light of recent events relating especially to the Black Lives Matter movement and the recent backlash regarding J.K Rowling's views towards Transgender people it is becoming more and more of a necessary conversation.

How should we interact with creators with problematic and sometimes harmful views? Where is the line of engagement drawn? Is cancel culture and boycotting a worthy answer? Can we separate art from the artist? Should we?

It's a tangled web of moral dilemmas which isn't made any easier to process by looking online. If you want to justify your own "guilt free" enjoyment of an artists work then you will find the answers that help you to do so by looking in the right places and searching for the right things. Maybe it's ok to like H.P Lovecraft's work because in the 1920's everyone was racist, at least he wasn't a KKK member! Once you've found the opinion that justifies your own it can be incredibly easy to get stuck in it. Especially if you yourself are not affected by the problematic views of that creator.

I've done it myself. If a creator is problematic because of sexist or homophobic views I'm much more likely to feel strongly against them because they're talking about me and I've found ways to justify the problematic views that don't.

They are worse because they have a problem with my existence. This is a very selfish way of assessing content and it's only recently I've begun to process this and try and form empathy for those affected negatively by creators that don't negatively affect me. I think it can be natural to selfishly consume content but when talking about ethical dilemmas regarding sex, race, gender, sexuality and religion empathy is everything. Without it this debate is not worth having because you're just cherry picking what you find condemnable.

In this blog post I'm not going to tell people how they should engage with problematic creators. This is why I've put 'me' in the title because as much as I'm trying not to be selfish with this discussion, it really is subjective. Texts can be read and interpreted multiple different ways and as I will come to explain, figuring out your own attitudes towards problematic creators is a process and it can be different for different people and different bodies of work.

Death of the Author

Death of the author is not a new debate. It's actually an incredibly old one that didn't originally relate to the issue of problematic creators at all.

It is the argument for detaching an author's personal biography from their work and how we view it differently in light of the author's death. Death of the author argues that we should be able to detach the art from the artist. That the work itself is the only thing that will prevail through time and once a work is put out into the world its interpretation has nothing to do with the author. After it is written and published it can no longer be changed and people will read the text and subtext as it is. The author is proclaimed dead as soon as their work is given life.

The argument that the author is irrelevant seems like a convenient solution but we need to consider Death of the Author in a modern context and there is no case more relevant to why it doesn't work than the recent controversy surrounding J.K Rowling.

I love the Harry Potter series. It's one of the reasons I wanted to get into filmmaking in the first place. I've been around the London exhibit twice and each time I was giddy with excitement. J.K Rowling has always been a figure that inspired me and when there were allegations about her being transphobic I chose to ignore them. It was only after reading her essay that I had to accept that this was her stance. A stance I'm strongly against and knew was hurtful to friends of mine who it directly affected.

If you are unaware of the situation regarding J.K Rowling, please check out this video which also contains links to some great sources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Avcp-e4bOs&t=1743s

My first response to it was Death of the Author. The Harry Potter books do not have a transphobic message and therefore the views of the author are irrelevant. However, J.K Rowling IS the Harry Potter franchise. She owns all of it and unlike creators of previous generations she's in a position where she can change the interpretation of her work. She has become well known for revealing details about the books which were never explicitly stated in the text on social media and the Pottermore website. The most famous being that Dumbledore is gay. With social media Rowling has a more symbiotic relationship with her own work than any authors before her and her huge platform means that these changes are often implemented into the readings of her novels and the wider fandom. To cut Rowling's own story, experiences and views from Harry Potter just isn't possible.

She is very much alive and profiting from her creation. While the work itself might not be problematic it is unfortunately tethered to the author herself and she nor the fandom can really deny that. The money and the platform enables her to spread her views. While I disagree with the relentless hate speech and trolling she has received, it's worth pointing out freedom of speech is not freedom from consequence and the people lashing back at Rowling on social media are also the people who have been victims of rampant and vile internet trolling themselves from people who hold views like Rowlings and they will be the ones suffering the physical consequences.

The Grieving Process

So does that mean that we "cancel" Harry Potter?

Well...

In all honesty Rowling and Harry Potter is a franchise I love but I can let it go quite easily. While the films are quite special to me the books I came to much later on so I have less of an attachment to them. A harder discussion for me is Joss Whedon.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer came to me at such a crucial point in my life. I was near the end of high school, struggling with my sexuality and ultimately feeling very lonely. It might sound silly but this show is how I got through high school and it remains incredibly important to me. I re-watch it in times of anxiety and its messages always bring me comfort. I like that the characters are flawed and messy. The demons and monsters are metaphors for a lot of the same problems I've encountered growing up.

And I do this as allegations against the writer and director continue to be brought forward. I've always justified this by telling myself that he isn't "as bad" as other directors who have abused their power. These aren't allegations of sexual assault but allegations of abusive behaviour and mistreatment of cast and crew members.

This is a very slippery slope. "He's not a sexual predator" is a f*&^ing low bar! The claims that Buffy was actually an idea from his ex-wife also complicates my emotions towards it since she isn't credited.

Trying to decide how to respond to it now has been incredibly difficult.

With Rowling I knew people who were directly affected and devastated by her words. I was able to do my research into the issue to educate myself and know where I stand. From this information I have been able to gradually go through a kind of grieving process where I can distance myself from the franchise while still retaining a fondness for it.

With Buffy I have a much harder time. While Harry Potter has nothing to do with transgender issues, Buffy is a feminist piece about personal empowerment, completely at odds to Whedon's own actions. However, death of the author still can't apply here because Buffy is very much written in Whedon's signature voice and sometimes he gives himself a physical presence in the show through the character of Xander.

The Art and the Art Consumer

It occurs to me that there isn't really one answer for how to respond to problematic creators because the problems are so varied in severity and our knowledge about them but there are several factors to be aware of when going through the grieving process. One of the main ones is "What is my relationship to this art and why? Why is this special to me? Why won't I let it go?"

The cult of fandom and especially toxic fandom is a problem I have learnt to avoid. I do tend to get quite obsessed with the shows and characters I like and in that culture creators tend to be put on a pedestal which is good for no-one. Not good for the creators who, after all, are flawed human beings like everyone else and are now held to the inhuman standard that fans project on them. Not good for the fans who can get easily drawn into toxic behaviour alienating other fans and spreading internet hatred against those with different opinions or interpretations of a show.

And not good for the integrity of the show itself which is now held to meeting fan expectations rather than creativity or experimentation.

In my latest TV show review of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency I touched upon the show's cancellation due to the allegations of sexual assault brought forward by eight women against showrunner Max Landis. What struck me was when doing my research I found an incredible number of people trying to defend him. Not because they knew his character or had any evidence to the contrary, it's because they liked the show. Toxic fans are willing to ignore or put down the testaments of victims just because they want to be able to enjoy the show they like without feeling any guilt.

A creator can be a very talented person and a terrible person. Those things can both be true and in the case of a lot of problematic creators those two elements both have to be true. You cannot just pretend something didn't happen or that undesirable elements of a person do not exist.

Not all fandom is toxic. Sometimes it can actually be a very positive thing but I think the relationships of fans and creators does need to change. Not so much death of the author but humanisation of the author. They should be held accountable to their actions just like everyone else and that should be normalised.

Where do we go from here?

People are prepared to excuse a lot in the name of good art. There are several Picasso paintings that depict the suffering and sexual abuse of women yet he's still viewed as one of the greatest artists of all time. Roman Polanski fled the country after pleading guilty on a statutory rape case where he drugged and raped a thirteen year old girl. H.P Lovecraft was famously racist, anti-semitic and homophobic. D.W Griffith is still taught in film courses as the pioneer of modern filmmaking with his film Birth of A Nation, a propaganda piece for the KKK. Walt Disney was infamously racist and sexist!

Should they still be praised and studied while Rowling and Whedon are stricken from the record?

I think for each case the circumstances are different. Personally I can't in good conscience consume content made by a rapist. While sexual assault allegations are "allegations" I think toxic fan culture prevents a lot of victims coming forward and questions their believability which I think is an incredibly damaging trait.

Nor can I consume and therefore support the work of creators actively spreading hate. Racism, sexism, homophobia and xenophobia are just not acceptable to me. However unlike those who fall into the category above I believe there can be redemption for these creators. Sincere apologies, an understanding of their own faults and active growth is rare but should be a celebrated occurrence. Bigotry shouldn't be tolerated but nobody should be prevented from growing as a person.

Those who are dead are a little different because I do believe there is a historical element to their work. That is how creators such as Lovecraft should be viewed. As one of the old pioneers of fantasy literature with ALL his context attached. If you're going to teach Lovecraft, you teach all of Lovecraft and the same goes for Picasso and Disney. The day Disney owns up to its own past will be a good day. You can't erase the experience of those who suffered prejudice in part thanks to the messages of these works by by pretending they didn't exist but they shouldn't in any way be given the platform to gain a following or be seen as anything but what they are. Context is key.

So what will I do about the shows and films that I love that were made by problematic creators? Well until further notice I have distanced myself from Harry Potter. I will no-longer buy Harry Potter related merchandise and have done my best to educate myself on why Rowling's views were hurtful and damaging through a number of sources. I won't pretend to dislike the series, because I don't but I don't want to fund Rowling's platform at this point in time and that is a personal decision.

With Whedon I am incredibly frustrated by the allegations against him but at this time I still don't think there is anything sufficiently damning enough to make me distance myself from Buffy but I am prepared to do it if I need to. I won't engage with any of his current work only Buffy, Angel and Firefly. I am certainly distancing myself from him as a creator and think he is a prime example of that hero worship, toxic fandom senario I was talking about. I don't idolise him like I used to but Buffy got me out of an extremely tough time and I believe that to be a relationship between me and the show and what I was going through. Not with Whedon.

With Landis I am not going to watch any new work of his. Dirk Gently I consider to be a slightly different entity because the characters and story are not his but I must recognize his sizable contribution to the creation of the series.

The thing is that there are a lot of creators out there who are not this way. They are still flawed, yes, but ultimately they are people I still feel I can enjoy and support.

I think cancel culture is disengaging but that doesn't mean there isn't a place for that either. In the case of especially damaging public figures spreading misinformation and stirring up toxicity I believe that there should be consequences especially on social media.

Whew! Ok that was a lot.

Death of the Author and how to deal with problematic artists is an ongoing ethical struggle. It's all about you and your relationship with both the text and the author. It can be incredibly difficult and I know just distancing yourself from something you love can be more painful than a lot of people give credit to.

And I'm not saying you have to. I don't think it's good to deny problems with creators especially not in the cult of fandom online but how you consume art and what it means to you is personal to you and how you decide to proceed whether that be still consuming content but not supporting the artist financially, boycotting entirely or allowing time for some works over others. The only thing we can't do anymore is be blissfully ignorant to these problems. Engage, process, grieve then move on according to how you feel.