Problematic Reverence

"

I used to be cruel to my woman
I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loved
Man, I was mean but I'm changing my scene
And I'm doing the best that I can (ooh)

"

This sounds like instructions, or the secret diary of an abuser, or the honest reflection of a particular abuser.

I've been thinking for a while about how to reconcile a person's art separate from the artists, like: Is it possible to revere the art of a person that would revile us on a personal level?

The answer for this is complicated, so intertwined to how much value, or cultural cache, the artist or performer has brought to either our society or the the world at large.

Some critics call this the basis of so-called "cancel culture," or at least make this the point that cancel culture is detrimental to society, that cancel culture is a terrible thing.

For every television personality that loses their gig because they (see: white men, usually) fondled, groped, grabbed, forcibly kissed, or verbally assaulted someone in a subordinate position, I shed exactly ZERO tears. Because, fuck 'em. Don't be a sexual predator.

One major critic of this brand of societal change has just has his position been filled by a replacement named Joe Biden, and one thinks that his ire towards this societal change may stem from the nearly two dozen women that have accused him of sexual assault...well, some of the accusations may just be sexual misconduct, but the fact he's a creep remains.

But moving past the Anderson Coopers and Kevin Spaceys of the world, I'm more interested, in this moment, with choices that are harder to artistically reconcile, or performatively reconcile.

Not necessarily hard for me, but society at large can't seem to deal with: Michael Jackson. Maybe the news of the kiddie-porn dungeon they found at his Neverland Ranch didn't break until after he died, and the tragedy of his rough upbringing taking away his childhood and ironically turning him into a perpetual child obscures a sad truth: the dude was messed up and likely a child-sexual-predator. DJs easily dismiss this fact, or choose to not believe it.

Is the fact he was a sexual predator change the value of the art he gave the world?

The lines that began this piece are lyrics to a song, a song so famous and iconic that Microsoft paid a fortune (to, er, Michael Jackson) to license it for their advertising campaign back in the '90s. It was written by:

I wanted a picture of John Lennon that was when he was younger and maybe a little menacing. ("Getting Better" is the name of the song, if you didn't know.)

If you do a little digging, you'll find the tip of the iceberg. Get deeper, and you start to burrow deep into the berg, getting sadder and darker and colder as the time ticks away. And you realize that this dude was a BAD dude: physically and verbally abusive to the women in his life, generally disrespectful, a terrible father until right before the end. When you realize that the stanza I quoted in the beginning was autobiographical, and then hear that "Hey Jude" was a song that Paul wrote to John's son Jules to cheer him up because his dad was never around, you find yourself conflicted a bit.

Cancel culture doesn't mean much when the person was gunned down more than 40 years ago and his work is so culturally important to the Western World. I mean, damn, "Imagine" is one of the most beautiful songs ever, and while it espouses the basic tenets of communism, regularly ranks in the Top 10 to Top 5 song lists compiled by popular sources.

Does the fact he was an abusive, womanizing, dead-beat dad change the value of the art he gave the world?

Earlier I used the phrase "performatively reconcile," and while it seems like an choice, it was very deliberate. This is where if you look too close at your heroes, chances are better than zero that you'll be disgusted.

Like: how about possibly the greatest lacrosse player ever:

Only sorta joking, as I like to remind people that Jim Brown, Hall of Fame NFL player, still considered one of the greatest running back ever, is also considered the best lacrosse player ever.

He's also the model for the successful athlete-moving-over-to-popular-culture-personality, as he starred in many films in the years after he retired from professional football.

He's also a titan of the Civil Rights movement, one of the blue-collar jock types white folks didn't hate. Check out this next pic, one that I love:

This picture (or any number like it taken at different moments) is generally called the "Ali Summit" photo. I'm embarrassed to say that I can't remember the names of the dudes in the back row, but that information is readily available. Seated, though, is a collection of the top Black Dude Athletes you may ever see. Like, EVER. It's pretty cool: On the left is Bill Russell, NBA star, owner of 11 championships and STILL considered one of the top 5 players ever; next is Muhammed Ali, self-proclaimed (and mostly agreed upon) Greatest of All Time, a man who risked prison and had his championship belt taken away because he refused to go kill Vietnamese people; then Jim Brown, holding court; then Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, owner of the record for most points in NBA history and also considered a top 5 NBA player.

I mean...Russell, Ali, Brown and Abdul-Jabbar. Hell yes.

Feels good to see, right? 

Now, to become a mature, eyes-open American (EOA), put those feelings next to the widespread allegations that Jim Brown absolutely savaged his wives and girlfriends. Once, cops showed up at his house and found his lady outside with broken legs, having been pushed fallen from the balcony above. 

He even began supporting the Orange One. And if that isn't a red-flag, I'm not sure what is.

But this has lead me to a hard realization: we are a fucking brutal ape. We at least recognize that this type of behavior shouldn't be perpetuated, and should be criminal, even shamed. But what kind of action needs to be taken to keep it from happening?

And, of the culturally significant perpetrators, what is to be done? We can't change the fact that Bill Cosby paid for the stage setup for the Million Man March when MLK gave his "I Have a Dream" speech anymore than we can change the fact he drugged women and had sex with them when they were passed our for years. 

The is the uncomfortable reality of this kind of problematic reverence.

I don't have answers. Only children. And I need to be honest about the world with them whenever they'll be able to comprehend it. 

How will we ever make the World better without these conversations?