Journal: 28 September 2024

Art Monster

One of the reasons I made this site was to celebrate art. The site's description used to say:

Here you'll find a collection of my favorite creative works and the people who made them. I'll be discussing movies, games, videos, and more, along with why I think they're worth checking out.

All of that is on hold for now. Here's what led to that decision.

In the beginning, I wrote about YouTubers, musicians, comedians, videogames, and books, and I put links to more than 120 YouTube channels on this site. Around the time I finished writing about the first handful of works though, a new term entered my vocabulary: art monster.

This term is borrowed from Jenny Offill's 2014 novel Dept. of Speculation, a book I've not read. The book I have read is Keep Going by Austin Kleon and its chapter Slay the Art Monsters. Here Kleon borrows the term to discuss that great art is sometimes made by "jerks, creeps, assholes, vampires, perverts, and worse, all of whom left a trail of victims in their wake." He goes on to say, "Art Monsters are not necessary or glamorous and they are not to be condoned, pardoned, or emulated."

All accurate. What was said didn't resonate with me at first though. I took the information as fact, and proceeded with the rest of the book. The art monster concept would come back to haunt me soon enough though. After I finished my first selection of writings, I returned to my collection to find something else to write about.

That's when I noticed a problem. One of my favorite TV show creators had a friend come on as a guest on one of his shows, another TV person. That person used racist, sexist, and homophobic slurs on the show, a thing that happened numerous times during the show's several year run.

I want to stop here and explain why I find slur use problematic. People say that these words cause them pain. Those people are harmed emotionally and psychologically when the words are used. This isn't something that I experience, but they do. I do not want to put harmful words into the world. I don't want to perpetuate them. I don't want to embolden others to use them. My tolerance of slurs was hypocritical and shameful. I condemn my actions.

I watched that show for years. The slurs bothered me, but I didn't stop watching. I just skipped the episodes that the offender was on, so I wouldn't have to listen. I regret that now. Supporting that show contributed to it's influence and signaled my approval. People who wouldn't have encountered slurs otherwise, did because of me.

Rewatching the show, in order to share it on this site, drove the point home. In my willingness to appreciate art in private, but unwillingness to share it, I'd become a hypocrite at best, and a racist, sexist, homophobe at worst. By facilitating an art monster, I'd become an art monster.

Discovering that problematic work got me thinking about other works I'd collected. And I realized there were more. There were bigoted things I'd already shared. Things that wrinkled my nose when I heard them, but I'd tolerated them for the art. And now I'd exposed my friends to them. To everyone I exposed, I'm deeply sorry. I'm going to try very hard not to do that anymore. From now on, if I share art, I'm going to make sure it is properly vetted. You have my word.

-Ty

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