The Gray Area with Sean Illing When you can't separate art from artist
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Jun 15, 2023 Claire Dederer, an essayist and author of "Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma," joins to explore the complex interplay between art and the moral failings of its creators. They tackle challenging questions about whether we can separate the art from the artist, especially with figures like Kanye West and Taylor Swift on the table. The discussion dives into how societal changes, like the Me Too movement, affect our appreciation for art, inviting listeners to grapple with their emotional connections while acknowledging the ethical responsibilities of being a consumer.
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Polanski Paradox
- Claire Dederer, while writing a memoir, explored the predatory nature of men through an open letter to Roman Polanski.
- Despite researching his crimes, she still enjoyed his films, finding this contradiction intriguing.
Art-Artist Entanglement
- Separating art from the artist is not always possible.
- Dederer's discomfort watching Polanski and Woody Allen films, given their biographies, demonstrates this.
Defining the Monster
- A "monster" is any artist whose biography disrupts the audience's experience of their work.
- This definition shifts focus from simply labeling artists as "bad" to examining the complex interplay between life and art.
