Journal #2 - Can we separate the art from the artist?

There is no journal this week for Grade 8, because most of them are at camp!  I hope it has been a heap of fun for all of you and that you come back as a unified class with lots of shared experiences and memories.   It was fun for me to meet the kids who participated in the in-house camp -- I hope some of you think about joining the drama club.

For all of the rest of you, here's a philosophical question for all of you to ponder.

Can you separate the art from the artist?  Many of you have probably heard about Nate Parker's new movie called "Birth of a Nation" which is about the Nat Turner slave rebellion in the southern United States in 1831 (I would highly recommend the great novel about it by William Styron called The Confessions of Nat Turner).  The movie was a huge success at the Sundance Film Festival.  After the festival, it was discovered that when Nate Parker (who directed, wrote and starred in the film) was 19 (about ten years ago), he was accused of rape.  It was when he was at college and he and his friend were at a party where there was a lot of drinking and his friend's girlfriend was intoxicated and unconscious and they apparently took advantage of her when she was in that state.  There was a trial and Nate Parker was acquitted and his friend was convicted, but later the friend was also acquitted on appeal when the victim did not testify.  She later committed suicide.  At first, when the story was reported, Nate Parker said that he had been a "dog" and was still learning about gender relationships and was sorry about the woman's suicide, but now at the Toronto Film Festival, Parker is deflecting questions about his past and trying to focus attention on the film.

Many people are now suggesting that they don't want to see the film because of Parker's past.  What do you think?  This question arises often, because artists are often not exemplary people -- many of them do bad things, many of them struggle with demons, sometimes of their own creation.

Should you not enjoy a work of art because it's created by a person who has done something you find reprehensible?  Is the work of art separate from the person who creates it?  What expectations do we have of artists?  Write your thoughts on this issue.