Picasso was a member of the communist party for a while – does that devalue his art? John Lennon proclaimed that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus – does that mean we should destroy all Beatles albums? Leni Riefenstahl may have been a friend of Hitler’s – does that mean all of her photographs are worthless? Miles Davis was a pimp for a while – get rid of his records, too? Moby is a vegan – does that mean meat-eaters should not buy his music? (Moby wisely notes in the booklet of Play: These essays are not really related to the music, so if you hate the essays you might still like the music, and if you like the essays you may hate the music). Michael Jackson made some wonderful music regardless of some of the rumors we hear. Some Dixie Chick said something or other – does that mean people shouldn’t listen to them anymore? Bertolucci is or was a commie – burn his movies? Galileo declared that the earth may be round – get rid of the heretic?
Why are people so *outraged* when an artist expresses a view unlike their own, even though they liked the artist’s work previous to that? Is it disappointment in the artist who it turns out was not like them after all? Are they disappointed in themselves for liking an artist who thinks so differently from them? A person’s inability to separate the artist from his/her work/art seems to indicate some kind of arrested development IMO. Just because you l-o-v-e group XYZ’s song does not mean you like them as people. They may in fact not be likable – but their song still is!!