The boundaries of fandom
Brunch|September 21, 2024
So, your favourite writer/singer/comic is amonster? Here's how to separate the art from the artist and not get trapped when a hero topples
Christalle Fernandes
The boundaries of fandom

Let's take stock of where our heroes stand, shall we? Author JK Rowling has revealed herself to be a raging transphobe. The late novelist Alice Munro, her daughter Andrea Robin Skinner has revealed, knew her husband was sexually abusing Skinner as a child, and did nothing to stop it. Multiple women have accused Neil Gaiman of sexual assault. Rapper Snoop Dogg has been arrested for illegal drug possession, holding firearms, and vandalism, but was one of the promoters of the Paris Olympics. Hollywood still can't decide whether Woody Allen raped his young adopted daughter in 1992.

Where does that leave fans of the works these people have created or helped create? It's not always a good-bad binary. But through the outpouring of rage, some guidelines are emerging.

Ownership rights

Jerry Pinto, poet and novelist, believes that no work of art books, music, TV shows, even a stand-up comedy act - can be viewed from a black-and-white moral perspective. "Art is really an invitation to making a deeper connection with yourself," he says. "And how you find that connection becomes part of the story." So, what matters is our association with the work, not the morals of the person who made it.

Pinto says he watched Hannah Gadsby: Nanette (2017), in which Gadsby calls out artist Pablo Picasso for being a misogynist. It got him to re examine his views on Picasso's emotionally and physically abusive behaviour. "But at a museum in Los Angeles, facing one of his paintings, I knew he had the same spell on me as before."

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 21, 2024 من Brunch.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 21, 2024 من Brunch.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من BRUNCH مشاهدة الكل
Let's tri all the angles
Brunch

Let's tri all the angles

BFFs falling for the same girl, kidnap twists, murders, bromances. These 10 three-way love stories play with geometry and our feelings

time-read
3 mins  |
November 09, 2024
Should you Q up for this?
Brunch

Should you Q up for this?

Audi's luxury SUV, the Q8, has had a refresh. But a sleeker grille and headlight tech don't make up for what's still missing

time-read
2 mins  |
November 09, 2024
How to plan a great escape
Brunch

How to plan a great escape

It's getting colder. It's already hard to breathe. Why not plan a winter vacation that's a world away but not too far away?

time-read
2 mins  |
November 09, 2024
Kababs, yes, but khandvi too
Brunch

Kababs, yes, but khandvi too

Mughlai cuisine has as many vegetarian dishes as meaty ones. A new translation of a 16th century manuscript shows how we ate, and why modern labels are pointless

time-read
3 mins  |
November 09, 2024
I can be your hero
Brunch

I can be your hero

Gurfateh Pirzada, only afewroles old, is the green flag we didn't know we needed. He's learning from women. He wants to be more thana lover and a fighter. He's hoping we all do better. No wonder everyone's crushing on him

time-read
4 mins  |
November 09, 2024
Meet the export experts
Brunch

Meet the export experts

Khadi crop-tops in Spain, faux-leather hoodies in London, fairytale wedding gowns in the UAE. See how some desi labels are killing it on foreign shores

time-read
3 mins  |
November 09, 2024
Why we're all feeling Blue
Brunch

Why we're all feeling Blue

Coco Mellors's new novel is about grief, sisterhood, and of course, addiction and unlikeable women. How does she make it work?

time-read
4 mins  |
November 09, 2024
This week, we're...
Brunch

This week, we're...

Changing the momo game, listening to kids, starting a new business, and supporting pro waxxers

time-read
2 mins  |
November 09, 2024
Rohit Chawla
Brunch

Rohit Chawla

Photographer, artist, @RohitChawlaPhotography_

time-read
1 min  |
November 02, 2024
Congratulations, it's a goal
Brunch

Congratulations, it's a goal

Lakeside vows, pastel palettes, bayous, backyards and boats. These celeb weddings are what modern fairytales are made of

time-read
2 mins  |
November 02, 2024