Do the Actions of a Creator Change Your Views of Their Work?

[Moonface]

If you need an example of the title, I'm sure most of us know about J.K. Rowling and the controversies she's managed to generate with people in recent times, and for some people they won't consume any Harry Potter content any more because of what she's said about certain matters.

So is there anything you've ever consumed whether it be books, movies, art, videos, or whatever else, that you view differently because of what the creator of it has done at some point? Or do you manage to keep the two things separate and continue to enjoy the content?

Edit: Ooh, this is the board's 600th thread. Yay!

[Dragon Lord]

Absolutely not. As the saying goes, "separate the artist from their work."

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, regardless of what those opinions are or how much you disagree with them. I wouldn't stop liking something just because the person who made it said something I didn't like. Using your example, I'm not going to throw away nearly 20 years of liking the Harry Potter series just because she said some controversial stuff. Cancel culture is a cancer to this world and needs to be... well, ironically, cancelled itself.

If the developers of any of my favorite games turned out to be the biggest, most massive pieces of shit on this planet, it's not going to stop me from liking the games they made.

[Moonface]

The only time I've stopped consuming something is when a person involved has done a really heinous act. For example, there is a lot of old Achievement Hunter content that I always liked. I feel uncomfortable watching it now because of the stuff Ryan Haywood did, especially knowing that he was grooming fans at the time. There's a lot of dark humour he made that's awkward to hear knowing that it wasn't actually just a joke for him, and there are even videos that have him outright lying about why he flew back late from one of the conventions to cover up what he had really done.

Lostprophets is another thing that I can't listen to anymore either. They have some great songs, but I don't like listening to the lead singer knowing he was touching children and using his position with the band to get the ability to pull that shit.

Opinions I can get over, but when it's stuff like what I just mentioned it's too hard for me to see things the same way anymore.

[Karo]

For me this does have an effect on how I go about interacting with certain products for example like I believe in separating artist from their creations like I wouldn't buy a new copy of a Harry Potter book if I know it was going to said creator.

Like the creator of minecraft Notch is honestly a big douchebag it not going to stop me from enjoying minecraft, but if I know any recent purchase would send money to him I would go through other means to get said item.

Honestly I am not all the time successful in my endeavor to try to only give money to people worth supporting like for example when Blizzard silenced the Hearthstone player that said Justice for Hong Kong Revoltuion of our time. I feell like my best course of action would be to not play blizzards games anymore but I honestly have failed at that and a lot of people have. There also Bioware whose world of Dragon Age and Mass effect that I love so much their abusive work schedules are just awful and I feel like I shouldn't support anymore new Dragon Age game, but truthfully I think I will end up buying it when it does come out.

I feel like taking action is a hard choice because people like and enjoy these products, but they maybe tied to an awful person that has showed no remorse or a company that engaged in abusive practices and shields abusers. If said person or company has expressed remorse and shown real change I could feel far more comfortable about potentially supporting them again, but most of them don't and most of them are expecting people to forget and ignore the skeletons in the closet which we often do.

[Moonface]

 There also Bioware whose world of Dragon Age and Mass effect that I love so much their abusive work schedules are just awful and I feel like I shouldn't support anymore new Dragon Age game, but truthfully I think I will end up buying it when it does come out.

To not buy a game due to issues such as crunch would mean to buy almost no game made by a large studio. However doing so is more likely to punish the developers than the people in charge who called for the crunch in the first place.

[Karo]

And really I honestly do believe that need to change crunch is brutal to developers mental help. Now you could argue that if a game doesnt do good the developers might lose their jobs but in this volatile industry even if they do their job. They might celebrate by laying them off anyways.

I sadly dont think their an easy way to force them to change their shitty ways and sadly we can only hope that competent management comes on board. I feel like doing the small things like talking about it and voting with your dollar is all we can do.

If we do nothing so many young developers are going to get abused and have their passion used against them. It everyone voted with their dollar and their was enough coverage to tell the CEO it was because of their work condition maybe they'd change their attitude.

[Moonface]

I expect indie studios will be what helps to curb crunch. For example Supergiant Games who made Hades made one of the best games last year and didn't crunch at all and never have for any game they've made. They're not beholden to some corporate entity who wants to meet some stupid target for a quarterly report to investors so they have full control. I think it would actually be worse for an independent company to enforce crunch because they can't claim the publisher forced their hand.

Unions would be the only real way developers of AAA studios would get better treatment but America loves to murder those the instant the idea forms because capitalism >> people.

[Kyng]

In general, no. I'm almost always able to separate the artist from their work - although, that goes both ways. For example, I'm still very much a Harry Potter fan in spite of Rowling's opinions... but, if she ever starts slipping those opinions into Harry Potter, then I won't be accepting those into my head-canon.

Also, if an artist starts donating their money to a cause that I find objectionable, then I'm going to be disinclined to spend any money on their work (since I won't want it going towards those causes)... but, that's rare.

[Moonface]

In general, no. I'm almost always able to separate the artist from their work - although, that goes both ways. For example, I'm still very much a Harry Potter fan in spite of Rowling's opinions... but, if she ever starts slipping those opinions into Harry Potter, then I won't be accepting those into my head-canon.

I think the same could go for the opposite, where not maybe her but someone working on the IP could try putting things in that oppose her views too. Like say she is opposed to gay rights (this is an example to help explain my point) but a game or something that she isn't directly involved in adds a gay character. Normally it would just be seen as representation and positively (if done right) and such but in this case people would question it no matter how well it's done because they know that the original author doesn't support it so are the people being represented really feel like they are when there's a conflict of messages. I think being against something can potentially have the trouble that the subject isn't addressed at all in any fashion, which depending on the subject maybe causes problems too.

[Nightingale]

Sadly, there were a few national and international figures whose works had touched me deeply and entertained me that fully that I simply cannot follow anymore because it only took a few days of reading their thoughts on certain topics on Twitter to ask: "Were you always this much of a tool?".

I actually don't know what happened to J.K Rowling, but she always seemed like too much of a showoff on social media and that sat terribly with me as a fan, although it will NOT stop me from liking the worlds and characters she has created.

[Moonface]

I think an interesting case to consider under this question is what one does when 1) content is created by one party and 2) that content is published by a different party and that party turns out to be a bit shit. Case in point, Activision Blizzard. The developers of the games aren't all part of the problem, but what they create is under a company that is riddled with problems. You want to support the developers that are innocent, but doing so also supports the publisher that's not innocent.

I can't actually decide where I stand on that one because of how double edged the sword is. For example if a new Crash game got announced, I'd love to support it and the developer but then I'd also support Activision who really don't deserve any of my money in the wake of what they've been doing. I could get the game pre-owned to avoid that and get what I want but then I'm hurting developers who don't deserve to be tarnished with the same brush as their publisher. I really don't know what option there is that works out well all around and it sucks.

[Nightingale]

Some people like to contact the developers and buy from them directly, even if that technically still gives money to the publisher.

Maybe that works for your case?

[Dragon Lord]

I think an interesting case to consider under this question is what one does when 1) content is created by one party and 2) that content is published by a different party and that party turns out to be a bit shit. Case in point, Activision Blizzard. The developers of the games aren't all part of the problem, but what they create is under a company that is riddled with problems. You want to support the developers that are innocent, but doing so also supports the publisher that's not innocent.

Doesn't alter my decisions to get a game at all. I'm still going to get the Diablo II remake at some point regardless (I haven't yet just because I don't have time to fit it in right now). As I've said before, in that situation, the proper parties will take care of what needs to be taken care of, I have nothing to do with it. I just want to play games.

I'm sure I've given money to plenty of companies/parties that support things I dislike, but that doesn't effect my decisions at all. What they do with the money (such as donating it to the campaign of a politician I greatly dislike) is their own business. As long as I'm getting the desired product I want, that's all that I care about.

[ShiraNoMai]

I think an interesting case to consider under this question is what one does when 1) content is created by one party and 2) that content is published by a different party and that party turns out to be a bit shit. Case in point, Activision Blizzard. The developers of the games aren't all part of the problem, but what they create is under a company that is riddled with problems. You want to support the developers that are innocent, but doing so also supports the publisher that's not innocent.

Doesn't alter my decisions to get a game at all. I'm still going to get the Diablo II remake at some point regardless (I haven't yet just because I don't have time to fit it in right now). As I've said before, in that situation, the proper parties will take care of what needs to be taken care of, I have nothing to do with it. I just want to play games.

I'm sure I've given money to plenty of companies/parties that support things I dislike, but that doesn't effect my decisions at all. What they do with the money (such as donating it to the campaign of a politician I greatly dislike) is their own business. As long as I'm getting the desired product I want, that's all that I care about.

I can recognize good art when I see it, but I will actively choose not to engage with it on a monetary value if it means I can stop supporting those that use their platform and monetary gains to actively harm many of my friends and colleagues in industries I care about.

[WR91]

In short, yes but not in the way most do. Like for me, I used to be a big Chris Benoit fan but after what he did to his family I could never enjoy his matches again.