In the original context that launched this thread, Blizzard and/or Activision-Blizzard management has been accused, quite widely and convincingly, of some pretty extreme sexual harassment, assault, and at least one person has ended their life (it's implied in the source article that it was related to this treatment, but it isn't completely clear if that's so.) It's probably the most extreme example of gaming industry sexual misconduct I've seen to date. Ubisoft had similar issues just last year, and other studios and developers have as well.
The discussion led here:
I thought it deserved a focused discussion, and I'm not just talking about gaming here. Film, music, art, writing, TV, and any number of other issues.Sudy wrote: ↑Tue Jul 27, 2021 11:01 amI don't know, how much should? Should we not watch Polanski movies? I'm not being contrary; I often ask myself and others these questions, and I don't know the answer, or if there's a universal one. (I sure as hell don't want anything to do with Marilyn Manson anymore, but then I never liked him much to begin with... I just enjoyed some of his tunes. But now I can't stand the idea of listening to him.)noxiousdog wrote: ↑Tue Jul 27, 2021 10:41 am Not to turn this into R&P, but how much bad behavior would it take for it to affect your buying decisions? There's already a suicide involved.
Is not buying the company's product sending them a message? What if I continue playing Hearthstone every day but just don't buy anything? Are these the right actions? Or just the only ones we have? It's a bit different, but there are many other destructive companies I pour money into. What about the "good" people still working for this corporation? Presumably a boycott won't actually be big enough to shut the company down, so then is there any point at all? A glowy feeling? And if it does shut the company down, was that the right thing to do? This culture needs to be challenged everywhere. What are the best ways to do that? Other than calling it out and not participating in it oneself, obviously.
We live in a world where all sorts of ugliness is coming out of the closet, from hostile environments to racism to sexism to straight up rape. We have already mentioned Polanski, Activision/Blizzard/Ubisoft, Marilyn Manson. I could bring up Mel Gibson, Bill Cosby, OJ Simpson, Woody Allen, Dustin Hoffman, Michael Jackson, Ryan Adams, R. Kelly, Jimmy Page, Johnny Depp. You get the idea.
Then you get peripheral examples. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon knew what Harvey Weinstein was doing and didn't act. Piers Anthony wrote some really disturbing stuff into his books, including bestiality and pedophilia, but other than writing about it, never (that we know of) did anything in the real world. Do we react to thought crimes and/or mental illness if not acted upon? Or Joss Whedon, who was basically accused of being an aggressive asshole.
Lots of people have been accused, but it isn't entirely clear what happened - did they or didn't they? Neil deGrasse Tyson, for example. Do we react to the accusation if we don't know the truth? Is the accusation enough? Can we allow ourselves to think, "It's so common for men to do this that we have to act as if it were true"? What happens then when a life is destroyed and then the accusations are found to be questionable? Are we the ones who did the harm? Chris Hardwick comes to mind, as does Randy Pitchford of Gearbox.
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So, back to the topic. Can we/should we continue to appreciate art when the artist is rotten?
I still feel creepy watching Mel Gibson. And holy crap, I don't know if I could re-watch Smallville after Allison Mack's utterly over-the-top stuff - sex trafficking, forced labor, blackmailing women for rape, brainwashing, hell - she branded her initials onto women's genitals! Wall of weird - no kidding!
Some are easy. If one artist does something terrible, it's easy to avoid their work. Bill Cosby's stand-up, for instance. But what about when one terrible person is involved, but the work of many innocent people is also affected? Roman Polanski is blech. It's easy to justify avoiding his stuff. But what about Mia Farrow's work in Rosemary's Baby? Does his skeeziness mean that we should avoid her acclaimed performance? Is that fair to her, and is avoiding Polanski worth the cost of the harm to her (and every other person involved with that film?)
Back to Activision/Blizzard - If a company is run by multiple terrible people, do we punish the company by boycotting their products? Doing so stops our supporting the terrible people, but comes at the cost of harm to the employees and the shareholders? Activision-Blizzard has ~10,000 employees (most of whom rely on profit sharing) and ~2,400 shareholders. Does boycotting the putrid boys club management justify the harm to the 12,000 others?
Seriously, I'm asking - I don't know the answer. I don't want to give money to Blizzard. I don't want to support what they are and what they're doing. But at the same time, I don't want to push and participate in a response that has a negative impact on thousands of employees (including the ones who signed the open letter, including many of the victims themselves.)
Where are the lines? The lines between punishing the abusers and harming the innocent? The line between accusation and guilt? The line between thought and action?
The line between artist and art?