Unutterably Silly Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ellison

[BenG]

Ellison doesn't bother me, he's just a jerk with a huge chip on his shoulder. He has his good points such as his support of Civil Rights. He was a part of the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery led by MLK.

On the other hand, I would think twice before supporting an author whose prejudice and bigotry is obvious.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Moejoe

I suppose what I don't understand is how you manage to divorce the two knowledge bases you have in the appreciation of Ellison's work. If you knew nothing about him and were reading his work, then I wouldn't see any conflict. But knowing that he's such an arsehole and so annoying, how do you not bring that with you to the reading? How do you just ignore that piece of information?

I have no problems doing that personally. One of the greatest "loves" in my life are the operas of Richard Wagner. Ghastly man - a raving anti-Semite, control freak, and womanizer - but a truly great artist. I have no problems with liking the work, but not the man.

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I have no problems doing that personally. One of the greatest "loves" in my life are the operas of Richard Wagner. Ghastly man - a raving anti-Semite, control freak, and womanizer - but a truly great artist. I have no problems with liking the work, but not the man.

I tend to follow a mixture of both. I can separate my appreciation of a living artist from their work, except in that, if they are particularly and explicitly odious to me (that is, they make their odiousness to me an explicit/public part of their presentation), then I will sometimes elect to not act on that appreciation while they're alive, to avoid consumption by me of their work providing any kind of benefit to them. So, for instance, as a poof myself, I will no longer read any more of Orson Scott Card's work until he is dead (and, no, I do not in any way wish him so, and, yes, I did enjoy very much the work of his I read).

This is not some vehement and grandstanding moral imperative for me. I am fairly casual as I approach the enormous volume of works available to me, and don't go reviewing a creator's life for things I might ethically disagree with. However, once known, I note that there are far more things in this world to appreciate before getting around to that creator's drop in the ocean, and just move on.

This is a small thing, possibly a no-thing. Again, as a poof myself, and amongst other events in my life, I am conscious that many of my actions and beliefs quite often retain little meaning or relevance amongst the majority (yet alone in the face of random permutations of reality) and that fighting such negative and unfair positions as I see them, fighting for what I perceive is just, is an act of holding back the tide with a soggy kleenex. My actions and arguments mean little to nothing, are rolled over and drowned out, and fail in any way to matter to anyone, except to myself (and thus, I also try not to proselytize).

So, I do this to retain a tiny sense of self, of humanity. Perhaps it's my problem. Perhaps it's my means of coping with my own particular psychopathology. Perhaps it's just my small kernel of self-supporting "ethic". And I'm okay with that. It's better than going mad with despair, anyway, hey?

Cheers,
Marc

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

I just watched the little preview bit. That's enough Ellison for me to last the rest of my life.