Fandango’s Provocative Question

Posted on by Reena Saxena

THE QUESTION

“When you learn about highly regarded artists being accused of inappropriate sexual behavior, especially with minors, can you separate the artists from their art, or would you refuse to listen to, watch, or read the artists’ works?”

THE ANSWER

While tracing an absconding loan defaulter, we often assume that he must have defaulted on some other repayment too. Human behavior replicates itself in different fields – it is not easy to slice a soul into parts, and sprinkle the dust (I refrain from saying stardust) in different arenas.

Success in art leads to wealth, fame and power, and the erroneous assumption that they can have anything their corrupt mind craves. There is a desire to experiment with things they could not buy in early years of their life, and getting it gives a sense of power, victory over the world.

“I did it for the worst possible reason, because I could do it” is a notorious confession line now. They choose victims who are not strong enough to protest, and this reveals their own sense of inadequacy. They convince themselves that the woman is trading herself for all the fame and wealth they can bestow upon her, and stay happy in their blinkered existence. If the women were happy, #MeToo would never have reached the scale it did.

We need to separate their work into parts – technique, reputation, star value, repetition of earlier success, ability to hire talent, commercial sense, understanding of the market and see where does the so-called  ‘greatness’ lies. I’m sure one would not find originality or sensitivity in the list. A performer who delivers nonsensical stuff and succeeds in tickling a bored and aimless segment of the population is also a runaway success, but is that ‘art’ in its truest sense?

I cannot separate the person from the performance, if it involves exploitation of others.

18 thoughts on “Fandango’s Provocative Question”

  2. Well said .. I am glad some one else agrees to my thoughts too. I have been getting a lot of looks when I stop liking something from an artist who had a bad attitude / done bad things to others.

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  4. Well written, Reena. I can not separate the artists from their misdeeds. Just because one has exceptional talent, or is in a powerful position or is wealthy doesn’t mean they don’t have to be law abiding.

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