RE: Should we discard achievements made by unlikable people?
December 18, 2017 at 12:45 am
(This post was last modified: December 18, 2017 at 12:59 am by henryp.)
(December 17, 2017 at 7:18 am)bennyboy Wrote: We've had this discussion with regard to civil war greats like General Lee, and now with cinematic greats like Harvey Weinstein. I'm pretty sure if we knew more about Socrates or Sam Harris, about Ghandi or about Joe Rogan, we'd find quite the horror.
I've looked in my mirror more, and I have to say that I've seen the entire gamut of horrors and greatness in myself-- deep, deep depravity, inexplicable generosity, complete selfishness, and life-risking altruism.
Is it possible that Cosby, when he's in the public, actually IS a great guy? Or is it that he is always, 24/7, a monster, and he's hiding the truth? Am I a 24/7 monster too, someone who has imagined rape, murder, theft or violence in the past, but have had either the discipline (or the simple lack of opportunity) to keep my actions under control?
The duality of people. There's who someone is, and who they want to be. For many people, the discrepancies are simple. I wish I would eat healthier and go to the gym more, but they don't. But then there are people suffering from alcoholism, or drug abuse, or rage, etc...
Mel Gibson has always been fascinating to me, because who he is is an alcoholic with rage problems and all sorts of racism. But it's not who he tries to be, which is why people who work with him tend to rave about him. I think because his experience fighting himself allows him to be more sympathetic to others who are also in that sort of fight, and he's shown some understanding to folks who others that the mob wanted to toss in the trash.
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I just don't think people are a sum of their parts. I think we are just a lot of parts. There's no need to add them up unless we're forming a personal relationship with them. Cosby is a rapist and should be in jail. But that doesn't change that he was iconic as a comedian. I think trying to add it all up to 'bad' is unnecessary. He was an amazing comedian who liked drugging girls. He's both those things. It's okay to stop there, rather than squish them together into an ultimate conclusion.
What's interesting with art, is that the people who just want to eat healthier and go to the gym as their big personal conflict don't seem to make a lot of art. I don't think it's a coincidence that so many great artists have so many problems. A lot of art is rooted in an alternative perspective. And there's usually some baggage that comes with seeing/experiencing the world in a different way that gives that perspective.
(December 17, 2017 at 4:25 pm)bennyboy Wrote: I'll bet that Joe Rogan is about 1 bad day from being the Devil incarnate, for example.
That's pretty funny. Joe Rogan is on my list as well. Bill Burr, Louis CK, George Carlin, and Jerry Seinfeld being some others. People who have a real skewed take on reality. There's just that list of assumptions about how people should act that I think is hardwired into most people, and for some it's just not there. And when it's not, it creates a very distinct perspective.
