Separating Art From the Artist: Where Do We Draw the Line?
Separating art from its artist is an interesting concept. I’ve heard it used in many different contexts, and my opinion varies from one situation to another.
Some people don’t like the sentiment at all and believe that there is no situation in which a piece of artwork can be separated from its creator. Others believe they should always be entirely separate. I would say that I’m somewhere in the middle.
Whether we’re talking about visual artists, performing artists, writers, or otherwise, there will always be cases when someone does something so “wrong” or “offensive” that it bleeds into society’s perception of their work, especially if they refuse to take accountability for their actions. This is even more difficult when the person makes a significant amount of money off of their art, and there’s no way to view it without financially supporting them.
It can begin to feel like you, as the viewer, are complicit in the artist’s actions or beliefs simply because you enjoy their work. But the fact is that it’s more complicated than that.
Sometimes, things are easier than others. I won’t listen to Kanye West’s music, but then again, I never liked it to begin with. So, it’s easy for me to see him and his art as one and the same. But when I read the Harry Potter books, watch the movies, or otherwise engage with the franchise, I have no problem viewing it as being entirely separate from J.K. Rowling. I enjoy it enough to see it as its own entity.
Does this make me a hypocrite? Maybe. But it also makes me human.
We all see things and their values differently. We assign them different labels and cast them in different lights, creating exceptions to justify our emotional attachments to them.
From a writing standpoint, this issue is often even more complicated, as there are layers beyond the author’s values and the larger story they’ve written. There are also the details of character interactions, as well as world-building.
That is to say, just because my character says or does something does not mean that I would do it myself or that I would condone someone else doing it. Words can make it onto pages through my hands, but that doesn’t also mean that those words are coming out of my mouth.
The same is true with characters’ thoughts and values. If I create a character who thinks it’s okay to kill or rape, that absolutely does not mean that I think that too. It just means that I know how to write a story in which even the ugliest parts of humanity are addressed.
To tell a story sometimes means to include issues, situations, and sentiments that we are uncomfortable with because discomfort can actually be a good thing.
When it comes to an issue like this, you have to decide for yourself what you think, and you have to decide on a case-by-case basis. Art is too personal a thing to judge everything on the same surface level, no matter how tempting it may be.
