Thanks to you Emily, I finished reading 'Monsters A Fan's Dilemma' by Claire Dederer. I had heard about this book when it came out but never took the time to find it. It was a good book and certainly pertinent to the topic you are diving into. I loved the last chapter and appreciated her take on this difficult personal dilemma. I tried to find Pearl Cleage's book called "Mad at Miles" that Dederer referred to. Library does not have it and its pricey on Amazon! I like that she (of course) cannot give a black and white answer to 'what do we do with our Monster Artists' but also has us take a look at the monsters we are ourselves, and examine monsters close to us in real life and how we balance relationships with them.
I'm glad you liked it! I thought it was a really good read, and it makes sense that there's no easy black-and-white solution to something that's so personal.
Emily I appreciate the work you are doing here. Your reference to Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma was of interest to me. In my life I have struggled with potential monsters in being a fan of Michael Jackson and Woody Allen. I put that book on request at the library.
Allen was my ‘Coming of Age’ favorite scriptwriter/actor/movie producer/director….he was so talented. I especially loved Annie Hall, Play it Again Sam, and Manhattan. As the years went on and the bizarre stories of his personal life became public information, it was the story Manhattan that became especially upsetting to look back on….a very different story when looked at with the camera from Woodys courtroom battles especially in the post-Harvey Weinstein era. I can’t move past it. That artist is gone to me. He seemed too personally tangled up in what he wrote. I identified too closely with his characters in those movies I loved. He feels personally creepy to me.
Michael Jackson….. I am still working through. I used to lead that “Thriller” dance group with a friend and we had many chats about Michael and whether or not it was ok to be loving his music and elevating it with public performance. Over the years, we landed with believing his art was elevated above his person and felt an ownership of the essence of what he had produced and gifted to the world years ago. His music was culture owned and if he were alive I might not grace his checkbook with buying a ticket to his concert yet my fond memories of his music stand solid for some reason. I feel angry that I even have to ponder his sexuality abuse allegations…..how dare his potential behavior chip away at my fond memories. He gave that to the world.
I do not know why I feel differently about his art than I do Woody Allen’s. Possibly because many of Woody’s movies were about female characters that I Identified with at my coming of age. With Michael Jackson, it is the essence of dance and music that brings me joy…not his lyrics, not any sort of written word or message in the song.
Anyway….I am not fully resolved on all of this, and probably never will be. Your project is interesting and reminds me so much of my thoughts above that I have shared..
Thanks for your comment. One of the things that "Monsters" talks about is that this issue is a very personal thing; it's not just about the artist, but what the art makes you think and feel. For example, with the movie "Manhattan," although I haven't seen it myself, just knowing what it's about makes me think it would be hard to watch it and forget about the real-life events. It's a pretty autobiographic work; even if the story isn't literally true, it is a film where the director talks about his own life and thoughts. It makes sense to me that you'd feel differently about Michael Jackson, both because of what you said about how you experienced his music, and also because his work is less self-focused.
Thanks to you Emily, I finished reading 'Monsters A Fan's Dilemma' by Claire Dederer. I had heard about this book when it came out but never took the time to find it. It was a good book and certainly pertinent to the topic you are diving into. I loved the last chapter and appreciated her take on this difficult personal dilemma. I tried to find Pearl Cleage's book called "Mad at Miles" that Dederer referred to. Library does not have it and its pricey on Amazon! I like that she (of course) cannot give a black and white answer to 'what do we do with our Monster Artists' but also has us take a look at the monsters we are ourselves, and examine monsters close to us in real life and how we balance relationships with them.
I'm glad you liked it! I thought it was a really good read, and it makes sense that there's no easy black-and-white solution to something that's so personal.
Emily I appreciate the work you are doing here. Your reference to Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma was of interest to me. In my life I have struggled with potential monsters in being a fan of Michael Jackson and Woody Allen. I put that book on request at the library.
Allen was my ‘Coming of Age’ favorite scriptwriter/actor/movie producer/director….he was so talented. I especially loved Annie Hall, Play it Again Sam, and Manhattan. As the years went on and the bizarre stories of his personal life became public information, it was the story Manhattan that became especially upsetting to look back on….a very different story when looked at with the camera from Woodys courtroom battles especially in the post-Harvey Weinstein era. I can’t move past it. That artist is gone to me. He seemed too personally tangled up in what he wrote. I identified too closely with his characters in those movies I loved. He feels personally creepy to me.
Michael Jackson….. I am still working through. I used to lead that “Thriller” dance group with a friend and we had many chats about Michael and whether or not it was ok to be loving his music and elevating it with public performance. Over the years, we landed with believing his art was elevated above his person and felt an ownership of the essence of what he had produced and gifted to the world years ago. His music was culture owned and if he were alive I might not grace his checkbook with buying a ticket to his concert yet my fond memories of his music stand solid for some reason. I feel angry that I even have to ponder his sexuality abuse allegations…..how dare his potential behavior chip away at my fond memories. He gave that to the world.
I do not know why I feel differently about his art than I do Woody Allen’s. Possibly because many of Woody’s movies were about female characters that I Identified with at my coming of age. With Michael Jackson, it is the essence of dance and music that brings me joy…not his lyrics, not any sort of written word or message in the song.
Anyway….I am not fully resolved on all of this, and probably never will be. Your project is interesting and reminds me so much of my thoughts above that I have shared..
Thanks for your comment. One of the things that "Monsters" talks about is that this issue is a very personal thing; it's not just about the artist, but what the art makes you think and feel. For example, with the movie "Manhattan," although I haven't seen it myself, just knowing what it's about makes me think it would be hard to watch it and forget about the real-life events. It's a pretty autobiographic work; even if the story isn't literally true, it is a film where the director talks about his own life and thoughts. It makes sense to me that you'd feel differently about Michael Jackson, both because of what you said about how you experienced his music, and also because his work is less self-focused.