Tagged: racism
Discussion: Separating the Creator From Their Work
This is definitely one of the more controversial topics I’ve discussed here on The Mad Reviewer but it’s also one that I don’t quite have a concrete stance on.
Basically, what happens if the creator of some of your favourite works (be they books, movies, comics, whatever) has opinions you disagree with strongly? Personally I couldn’t care less about the political and/or religious views of most authors as long as their books don’t preach at me constantly. As for authors in the past that have let sexist, racist and homophobic views seep into their work I always take it with a grain of salt because their views were generally consistent with the times.
At the same time, because of his vocal and financial support of anti gay groups I have hesitated in picking up any novels by Orson Scott Card. I know he’s a giant in the science fiction genre and is by all reports an excellent writer but it feels wrong to me to support someone who is so hateful. In my reviews I never let an author’s personal life colour my opinion of the book, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t pick up a book because I vehemently disagree with an author’s very public stance on an issue.
In general I’d have to say I don’t care about what stances an author takes in public or private. That’s their business. Yet sometimes when people espouse such hatred I don’t feel right lending support to an author by giving them a review and therefore publicity on my blog. It’s a complicated subject to be sure.
What do you think of this topic? Do you choose not to support creators whose views you disagree with? Why or why not? And if so, is it only in certain circumstances like when they actually financially support groups you disagree with? Or do you not care about the views of your favourite artist/author/director because you separate them from their work?
Discussion: Reading Dealbreakers
Pretty much everyone reading this here on my blog is an avid reader. You guys love books, I love books. I’ll personally read most anything. But what happens when something is just so bad in a book you can’t stand it any longer? Why, you put it down of course. That’s not the point here, though. The point is: what is that one thing that will always make you put down a book?
Personally it’s racism/sexism/homophobia, etc. I’m not talking about when authors tackle these issues in their books—that’s something mainstream authors need to do more! I’m talking about when an author’s views leak into their narrative and ruin the entire book. If I’m reading a book and the author seems to want to write a manifesto about why white people are superior, LGBT people are evil and/or women are inferior rather than actually telling a story, I’m probably going to throw the book at the wall. As much as I hate book vandalism, sometimes it’s justified.
There are actually a lot of things that make me want to put down a book, but it’s blatant discrimination on the author’s part that is the one thing that will make me put down a book immediately. Sometimes books are ‘meh’ but I’ll keep reading because I’m curious to see if it gets better, but any preaching on the author’s part will make me close a book without a second thought.
But enough about me: what are your reading dealbreakers? Why? Do you have lots or just one?