The Ethics of Support

Fri, 10 May 2013 14:00:30 +0000

On Wednesday, Tim Lambesis from As I Lay Dying got arrested for allegedly arranging to have his wife murdered. As somebody who thoroughly enjoys / loves a side project he does, Austrian Death Machine, this brings up an ethical quandary that sits in dark corners of the arts and entertainment industry for both fans and for workers: does enjoying what artists do constitute endorsement of their actions?

Let’s sublimate that endorsement into two categories – financial endorsement and emotional endorsement. Financial endorsement is any obvious and direct measure of support that gives said artists a means to continue their lifestyle. That, in turn, keeps them fed and in a home, and is tacit approval of their art and a vote to continue it, however small that vote may be. Emotional endorsement is less tangible, but involves messages of praise, tokens of support “spreading the word” about an artist and their art, and allowing yourself to be engaged by their art – and to engage others on the art’s behalf. The two often go hand-in-hand, which for some fans, is fine.

But then, we have cases like this. Or Chris Brown. Or Roman Polanski. Or Ben Roethlisberger. Some of these cases are very clear-cut, some are an ethical morass. I’ll not go into the specific details of Polanski’s, Brown’s, or Roethlisberger’s cases here, because they can be trigger-y for people – and also, because I assume you are fully capable of Googling and research.

Brown’s is clear-cut. He did it. The quandary comes with the implicit support of his fans, who stand by him, in terms of having done penance (which he hasn’t, if you go by the pending cases surrounding his community service time). He is still a talented singer, and the producers he surrounds himself with lend themselves to the creation of good music – but they also support and encourage someone who’s engaged in domestic abuse. (Much in the same way we support Charlie Sheen, or supported John Lennon. Yes, THAT John Lennon.)

Roethlisberger’s is murky. The alleged charges were dropped, and the circumstances of that were suspicious, but it wasn’t the only time he’d been accused of sexual assault. My personal decision was to stop supporting the Steelers. (Hence why I’m still looking for a new football team to root for. I would go Jets, being a NY guy with a family friend who played for them, but it’s looking like Giants, since they actually know what they’re doing.)

Polanski’s is also murky, given the length of time involved, the Javert-ian, single-minded crusader ethics of some people involved without attention to the victim’s family and wants… and then, of course, the victim. Who didn’t want a horrible act to define her life, and continue to do so decades later. At one point, she wanted justice; years later, she wants to move on. She forgives. But can we – and should we? (and is directing a movie redemption enough? How would he be able to redeem his acts?)

Most people do accept the redemption narrative, which works well for sports and art – after all, somebody like that is good at what they do redeems their actions in kind. But for art, I would argue that it taints and colors the experience, sometimes irredeemably. I don’t think I’ll be able to listen to Austrian Death Machine with as much unbridled joy as before, for the time being.

It’s emotional support, which is the same thing with watching re-runs of Two and a Half Men. Although it’s questionably effective, since money comes from advertising and syndication rights based on the assumption that a show is aired and reaches X people, due to Nielsen ratings, which are themselves guesswork and extrapolation… Which is a good topic to explore ~~rant about~~ at another time…

And as for financial support; I didn’t pledge to the ADM Triple Brutal IndieGoGo campaign, nor will I pirate it. That’s still emotional endorsement, regardless if financial endorsement isn’t made.

Same with Ender’s Game; I loved the book, but Orson Scott Card’s views towards homosexuality don’t gel with mine at all. I don’t own a copy of the book anymore, nor do I plan on seeing the movie. Any check he gets has financial support from me for his views and his agenda.

But some people argue that you can divorce the art from the artist, and enjoy it separately of supporting them. I could, theoretically, support the art and the creation of that art, but disagree with their views, in the case of Card, or to use an equally extreme example, anti-semite John Galiano. I in no way personally support those views, but the argument exists – you can love the art and hate the artist. The artist can be an asshole and a reprehensible human being, and you can love their art. In my eyes, this is a fine view point, if you can prove that your financial and emotional support isn’t being used to support their contrary views and make action on them – or if you can live with that.

This is usually made easier if we know less about their personal views. If we’re only aware of their public persona, and if we don’t know they’re a racist, or if they’re on drugs, or they abuse their children, is our support of the visible public persona and everything that goes with it.

That raises another good question for another time; let’s say a pop star is, visibly, a charming, genial person with a generous heart. But they have a coterie of under-age sex partners that is concealed from public view. As far as we know, we only see the one layer, and yes, the obvious answer is “That’s reprehensible! That person is terrible! They should be jailed someplace where they get daylight in cans!”. I agree.

But if we don’t know that, we can’t feel guilt or remorse about what we support. Our endorsement is blind. And that’s the worst part. Right now, I feel much the same way. I’d love to know all the facts about the case, and I’ll withhold any judgment or decision on my personal ethics re: Lambesis until they’re in. I’d love for none of this to be true. I think a great deal of fans would. But this is life; sometimes the people we admire artistically do fucked-up things. In this case, they are alleged, and I must emphasize that. Our justice system works on the assumption of innocence until guilt has been proven. Until I know more, I’ve made my decision to withhold emotional and financial endorsement of Lambesis and Austrian Death Machine.

I would say something pithy like, “which is a damn shame” – because I love cheesy 80′s action movies. I grew up on them. Arnold’s a big favorite. When I first found ADM, I flipped out. I loved it. But if I’m pithy about this, then I’m downplaying the seriousness of the alleged crime, the potential harm Lambesis could’ve caused his estranged wife, and I’m engaging in the callousness of supporting art over human life. I’m letting someone who created a thing I love enjoy the privilege of a “free pass” that he shouldn’t have for something like this.

Of note: I’m not linking to anything in this blog, shy of the news article, for the exact reason of not endorsing it.

Protected: ACC: Day 5

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 02:18:44 +0000

Protected: ACC: Day 4

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 03:29:44 +0000

Protected: ACC – Day 2

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 02:41:08 +0000

Protected: ACC: Day 1 #90in30

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 02:20:16 +0000

Protected: MWC: Day 31

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 02:41:17 +0000

Protected: MWC: Day 30

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 01:29:13 +0000

Protected: MWC – Day 29

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 15:00:30 +0000

Protected: MWC: Day 26

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 02:29:37 +0000

Protected: MWC: Day 25

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 03:33:21 +0000

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