Something I wanted to talk about today was the recent trend of allegations coming out about certain celebrities - more on the pop culture side of things - that have resulted in seemingly knee jerk reactions from creators/groups.
Most recently it's the "Leaving Neverland" documentary/allegation video against Michael Jackson, the whole #kickvic / #Istandwithvic scandal regarding voice actor Vic Mignola and perhaps not *so* recently but the Apu Nahasapeemapetilon racism/stereotype thing from The Simpsons.
First and foremost - I haven't seen 'Leaving Neverland' and I probably won't. I'm not against people coming out with their victim statements but considering the absolute drag Michael got from the public/media for things that were never really proven, I'm going to take allegations against a dead man who can't defend himself - suddenly coming out after several years asking for large sums of money - with a very large grain of salt.
I have a massive problem with radio stations suddenly taking Michael's songs out of their rotation and The Simpson's creators taking the "Stark Raving Dad" episode out as well. The problem being that this is art - and some people can't seem to separate or rather, differentiate between the artist and the art. A common comparison you see in many comments on Youtube would be to ask if we can no longer enjoy Space Jam because it contains an R. Kelly song, or Michaelangelo's David due to public nudity, or any Kevin Spacey films from his earlier career. All fair points. Especially when you consider how many works of art by female creators were destroyed because they weren't thought of as suitable for the public!
Most recently it's the "Leaving Neverland" documentary/allegation video against Michael Jackson, the whole #kickvic / #Istandwithvic scandal regarding voice actor Vic Mignola and perhaps not *so* recently but the Apu Nahasapeemapetilon racism/stereotype thing from The Simpsons.
First and foremost - I haven't seen 'Leaving Neverland' and I probably won't. I'm not against people coming out with their victim statements but considering the absolute drag Michael got from the public/media for things that were never really proven, I'm going to take allegations against a dead man who can't defend himself - suddenly coming out after several years asking for large sums of money - with a very large grain of salt.
I have a massive problem with radio stations suddenly taking Michael's songs out of their rotation and The Simpson's creators taking the "Stark Raving Dad" episode out as well. The problem being that this is art - and some people can't seem to separate or rather, differentiate between the artist and the art. A common comparison you see in many comments on Youtube would be to ask if we can no longer enjoy Space Jam because it contains an R. Kelly song, or Michaelangelo's David due to public nudity, or any Kevin Spacey films from his earlier career. All fair points. Especially when you consider how many works of art by female creators were destroyed because they weren't thought of as suitable for the public!
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