Can you celebrate artists such as Roman Polanski and Kevin Spacey with knowledge of their controversial pasts?
“American Psycho” filmmaker, Mary Harron, whose latest effort, “Dalíland,” is being released soon, is defending the works of what she deems to be “problematic artists.”
“There are a lot of artists’ work that I do not want people to cut themselves off from,” the director told IndieWire in a recent interview. “I love reading Dostoyevsky, who was anti-Semitic and had crazy political ideas. I was very influenced as a young person by Polanski, who did terrible things and really should’ve been in prison for them. But that doesn’t mean his films didn’t continue to inspire.”
Separating the art from the artist has become such a hotbed topic these days, but the fact remains that, for many, the reputations of Woody Allen, Roman Polanski, Kevin Spacey and others has been tarnished these last few years.
Some are fair scoldings, but others are not. Allen, for example, seems destined never to have his name cleared, even though it was already cleared in court. The accusations continue on. Once accused, always accused, it seems. The guy deserves better.
Whereas, there is no doubt Polanski did what he was accused of, but does that detract from the fact that “Rosemary’s Baby” and “Chinatown” are two of the greatest films of the 20th century? I have had no problem revisiting both of these films in recent years, a great movie is a great movie.
The fact remains that over the last few centuries there have been plenty of blatant antisemites and racists who created astoundingly influential works of art: Virginia Woolf, Patricia Highsmith, T.S. Eliot, Flannery O’Connor, H.P. Lovecraft, Dr. Seuss, Walt Disney (!!!) just to name a few.
William S. Burroughs killed his wife. Ditto Phil Spector, also a spousal murderer and, yet, his immaculate wall-of-sound productions are still blasting, justifiably so, on the radio during hot summer days.
J.D. Salinger was, possibly, a pedophile; “Lord of the Flies” author William Golding tried to rape a 15-year-old girl, both of these men have written books that are practically mandatory reading at almost every high school in this country. I’m sure that won’t last.
Caravaggio was a pimp and a murderer. Charles Dickens, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, and F. Scott Fitzgerald all treated their wives like raw meat. Chuck Berry, by all accounts, was a hot-tempered asshole who also tried to sleep with a 15-year-old girl. I could go on and on.
History has always found a way to separate art from the artist. Why can’t we do it now?
As expected, Snyder's latest is being torn apart by TIFF attendees. No mercy given. The film, which had its world premiere this evening, is being called by some one of the worst movies to ever premiere at the festival.