It’s Okay to Like Creations by Questionable People
When you find out a creator, who’s work you love, isn’t such a great person, for whatever reason (example: Joss Whedon, JK Rowling), you might start to question your love of their work. But you don’t have to.
Here’s the thing most people don’t talk about: Even someone you might consider the worst person in the world, can have some good qualities, and even create things you love. No one is 100% bad, or 100% good. You may be thinking, “But I don’t want to support their work any longer!”, and you don’t have to. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy their previous works that you enjoyed before.
Take me for example, I’ve been a fan of Joss Whedon’s work for a LONG time. I first started questioning the kind of person he was after his ex wife wrote a piece about him, but no one truly paid attention until Ray Fisher, and then Charisma Carpenter, started to speak out. The more I heard, the more disgusted I was with him. Yet, he is the person who created some of my favorite things. So I came to a decision. I will no longer support anything he does in the future, and I will no longer buy things that he will earn a profit from.
BUT, I can still enjoy his previous works, just as I always have. I already own all of Buffy and Angel, and of course I have Firefly and Doctor Horrible. I have owned those DVDs for ages. I’m not going to get rid of them now. Plus, I still appreciate the cast, and crew. I also have other collectibles, and those will remain things I love.
So, what if you like something so much that you want to own it, but you don’t want to buy it because it would support the creator? Buy it used. eBay, thrift stores, etc. The creators get no profit from those sales. That’s how I recently ended up with a bunch of Buffy and Angel Comics.
The fact that someone may not be who you once thought they were, doesn’t have change the fact they created some good stuff. Liking those things you’ve always liked doesn’t mean you support the person behind them.
