In the world of entertainment there are artists, and there is art – and with that statement I’m
going to assume there are some internationally acknowledged truths about the fruits of artisanal labour, one of which is this:
The best art is made by weirdos.
Weirdos not being a technical term; of course, I rest reasonably assure that if you’re the type of
person who hears or sees something compelling and seeks to learn more about not only the ‘product’, but the person who created that product, and their environment and influences. If you are in fact one of these types of patrons, at some point you’ve likely found something uncommon, surprising, compelling, or maybe in the case of what I’ll be focusing on today: unsavory.
To be clear, I’m not going to speak exclusively about sexual misconduct, because sexual
misconduct is not the only form of abuse or excess.
My age demographic is fraught with Michael Jackson fans. I heard allegations against Michael Jackson long before I ever had a chance to be a fan. Pop music wasn't really a thing in my childhood home so I missed that boat and never had to make the difficult decision whether or not to go on supporting Michael Jackson like so many people are now. The recent sexual assault allegations put forward by a certain Netflix documentary are shocking to a lot of people, despite the fact that these allegations have been hurled in his direction for decades before his death.
I did; however, have to decide how to handle Ryan Adams - whom I've been a fan of for a great while, just as I did with Phil Anselmo of Pantera and his ‘white power’ fascination. People visibly struggle with their opinions of Morrissey, Ted Nugent, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jacob Hoggard (of Hedley), Jack White, Louis C.K.,
Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin. Not only is this list is long, and not only do the rumors and allegations vary in severity, but there are other factors at play that may or may not help an individual to justify… or rectify, their opinion on a particular artist.
As I proceed to crack the lid on this can of worms I am compelled to address the ‘one-offs’ – the “I did a bad thing that I shouldn’t have done and it only happened once and I won’t do it again and I will respectfully recoil into the corner and try not to say anything untoward” approach to damage control. The way we govern our own lives should allow some room for repentance and forgiveness for our friends and
family and I’m not sure the rules should be any different at some level of public success. Even as I type this I’m reminded of a recent study that determined that the human brain will create problems when there are no problems – so it’s safe to assume that the fundamental difference between your indiscretions and that of a celebrity can be chocked up to how many people know about those indiscretions.
Once we acknowledge that, we can talk about systematic patterns of abuse.
Art and Artists
--'Fat'Dave Johnston--