I know people who try not to patronize film and art done by people who are against their political or moral ideals.
I don’t do that. I just watched Chinatown for the first time this morning.
Roman Polanski is a monster who should die in prison for the horrible crimes he did…but I’ll be damned if he isn’t an amazing director.
Also I’m curious with such a great Noir flavor to this film, I’m wondering how many pointers John Houston gave Polanski, as Houston is the Noir master!
Don’t know about you, but if I Boycotted every Movie/TV/Radio/ Actor/Writer/Director/Singer/Musician/Producer for their Political Stances, I’d be stuck re-reading my “Complete Works of Rudyard Kipling” over and over and over…
Oh, and some Blogs, also.
However, I do wish those Modern Leftist Progressive Assholes in Hollywood would at least get their Facts Right before they chose a side. Really getting Tired of hearing from 20-something “Stars” Pontificating on how “We Just Need to Confiscate All the Guns, then we’ll have World Peace.”
Yeah, like the Taliban, the Crips and the Psychos will say “Okay, here you go.”
I judge a work of art by artistic and thematic standards. The writer, director, actor, or musician may have had a fight at home or may want a particular candidate elected or may have a toothache while creating the art, but that’s none of my business.
Take Ayn Rand, for example. She had an obvious political agenda, which her readers are free to agree with or not, but her writing is atrocious. Another example is John Ross’s Unintended Consequences. I like just about all of his points regarding guns and a lot of his politics, but he needed a good editor to turn that behemoth into a novel.
Did you see the “Atlas Shugged” movie? Not the best movie in the world, but I was surprised at how much I liked part one, and I look forward to part two whenever Netflix starts streaming it.
Zach Snyder is overall a very politically good guy, and his films are MASTERFUL!!! Watchmen, 300, Dawn of the Dead! What’s not to like?
I’ll have to look for it. Something like how Tom Clancy novels make good movies, but not so great reads?
Same goes with John Gresham. Well at least “The Firm”, I read that long painful slog and declared I’d never pick up one of his books again…still most of the movies (the Firm being one exception) were fantastic…especially “Runaway Jury” which thanks to Hollywood’s swap from a Tobacco lawsuit to a gun lawsuit makes it one of the best comedies of our time!
I never picked up a Clancy book because my Dad had read several of them, and all he could say about them was how BORING the info-dumps of military technology were. I decided I have enough books on my to-read list not to waste my time with authors who make reading painful.
Perhaps I misunderstood you.
Did you just equate child rape with political disagreement?
So boycotting Polanski’s “art” because he drugged a child and raped her (at least one) is the same thing as boycotting, say, a Spike Lee “joint” because you don’t like who he endorsed for the last election?
I hate to disagree with someone that I agree with so often, but you’ve gotta be kidding me on this one.
I don’t know if they continue to get royalties from outlets that present their work decades after the movie is released, but I’m working under the assumption that they do. Because of that assumption, I will not have anything to do with putting money in the pockets of someone whom you yourself characterized as “a monster who should die in prison for the horrible crimes he did”…and it has nothing to do with politics.
nah I was just being overly brief. Spike Lee, or George Clooney, or Alec Baldwin are all people I’m 180 degrees opposed to politically….they’re also people in Hollywood who I admire as artists. Of course political miscreants and useful idiots don’t deserve time in prison or worse. Polanski is just an evil monster, and his politics are irrelevant in light of his misdeeds.
I 100% support your decision to not support them, and yes, in some way I suspect I put a little money in the pocket of a child rapist. The purpose of my post was simply to say that watching “Chinatown” the other day was the truest example of a Guilty Pleasure.
That’s a relief.
I don’t mix politics and entertainment either, but the deal with Roman Polanski has nothing to do with entertainment.
I’m not passing judgment on people who make a different decision than I…but I personally won’t have anything to do with a product or production that has that child rapist’s name on it.
I don’t mix politics and entertainment either, but the deal with Roman Polanski has nothing to do with entertainment.
Although the above sentiment may be considered true, it’s not how I intended the sentence to read. Product of editing a long reply down to a reasonable size.
What I intended to say was:
I don’t mix politics and entertainment either, but the deal with Roman Polanski has nothing to do with politics.