HALF ART
CHRIS THURMAN: To separate the abuser from his art may amount to double standards
Is it always reasonable, or even possible, to separate predatory artists from their art?
Redi Tlhabi has never been one to mince her words, but the former radio talk show host’s Twitter commentary has become more cutting of late. For example: "I don’t even have energy to challenge your stupid argument. You are beyond help if you think a debate about abusers’ talents and successes have a place here." What had so invoked Tlhabi’s ire in this instance? An article by Haji Mohamed Dawjee in the Sunday Times last weekend, asking, "Should a sex pest’s actions stain their art?" In Dawjee’s defence, she wasn’t making an argument so much as reflecting honestly on her own contradictory views each time a new sexual predator is exposed in Hollywood (it is the art of filmmaking that she has in mind in particular). Echoing Xan Brooks in The Guardian, Dawjee recommends separating the artist from the art — a necessary starting point for any attempt to redeem a piece of work that seems tainted by ugly disclosures about the person who created it. This seems like a sensible proposal, the s...
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