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The Artist and the Art
Has Hogwarts lost its magic?
When virtue signals flash like the neon lights of Vegas, it can sometimes slip through the cracks that artists are people, too. They lurk among us, in gyms, coffee shops, and dark alleyways. They vary in form. From notorious transphobes and Twitter creeps to wife beaters and racists, the artist is rarely a perfect specimen. So what then can be said of their art?
Separating the artist from their art can spawn real moral dilemmas. When beloved creators make hateful or controversial statements — when they do heinous things — it’s hard not to jump to conclusions.
In the last few years, censorship has risen to new heights. From book bannings and school curriculum invasions on the Right to celebrity defamations and cancellations on the Left, incursions on free speech have become a bipartisan problem. It often seems that the majority of us harbor a belief in the first amendment that falters when convenient.
When Kanye West came out as a Nazi, it was difficult for me not to fall into the mind set that his entire catalogue should be trashed. Maybe there’s a line that should never be crossed, and maybe he crossed it. But I’d hate to be the one tasked with drawing where that line of morality falls — to arbitrate precisely what represents a crime or statement so atrocious that it can never be…
