For almost as long as I've been seriously interested in the arts, I've consistently faced an issue regarding what kind of person the artist is and how that affects my enjoyment of the art they create. The most common response that I usually get when I bring up this idea is that I should "learn to separate the artist from the art" so that I'll more easily be able to enjoy music, literature, or any other art form. No matter how hard I try, however, I've never been able to put this separation into action. For me, it's important to hold everyone (musicians, artists, writers, actors, etc. included) accountable for their beliefs and actions. Especially in the world we live in today.

Now, I'm sure the initial reaction to this idea is something along the lines of "But doesn't that limit the number of things you let yourself enjoy?" And the answer to that is yes. It absolutely limits my options to a certain extent. However, it's not like I'm choosing to not partake in an artist's work because of some holier-than-thou stance. Instead, I actively cannot enjoy something if I know that the creator partakes in actions or beliefs that are, at least in my mind, objectively immoral. For example, in high school, I used to listen to the band Megadeth a lot. However, this happened to coincide with Dave Mustaine (the singer and original member) making claims that President Obama was behind the mass shootings that were beginning to become more frequent. On top of that, he'd begun doing things like using anti-LGBTQ+ slurs against fans in the middle of concerts. While some people had the "Who cares? He still makes good music." reaction, I found myself unable to think about anything except for Mustaine's beliefs and actions when listening to his music. And I think that was the start of this ideology for me.

There are even several examples involving people I know personally who make music. On a few occasions, there were people who I considered to be friends whose music I really enjoyed. That was until something really... wrong about their character revealed itself (like Islamophobia in one case) that flat out ruined all of their music for me. In that case specifically, it made five or so albums I own completely useless now. This idea isn't exclusive to music for me, though. I have a notorious frustration with Charles Dickens as an author because I feel his writing style derives from poor motives.

Art is too closely involved with who we are mentally and emotionally to just ignore who the artist is as a person. If I were a horrible, irredeemable person (I like to think that isn't the case), I wouldn't blame anyone for not reading or wanting to read my work. So much of who we are comes out in the things we create that if someone believes something harmful, it's bound to come out in one way or another. Not only that but ignoring these things and trying to "separate the artist from the art" gives artists free reign to say and do whatever they want without consequence. Which, in essence, helps to promote harmful behavior.

So if a musician, writer, singer, or any other kind of creator you enjoy expresses racist, homophobic, or otherwise harmful ideas, I would encourage you to not just ignore them. Don't buy from a self-labeled "Nazi band" or support someone who uses their platform to promote something dangerous. Everyone should be held accountable to their actions in the same way we'd normally expect a President to be.