He wasn't exactly a hero, but...

I just read that Jon Schaffer of Iced Earth faces Federal charges after being fingered in surveillance footage as one of the people involved in the January 6 insurrection.

I'm kind of torn about this because I've been an Iced Earth fan for decades. I've got their albums, I've seen them live, and imagery from the lyrics has inspired my scifi writing. Also, Schaffer's bandmates apparently weren't involved, but that's no guarantee they won't get thrown under the bus because of that association.

But if Schaffer goes free and releases another album, I honestly don't know if I'll buy it. I just hope he gets a fair trial, because anything less will just make a martyr out of him to his fellow right-wing cranks.

cherry

I think in these kind of situations, pirating is an honest option. Well, as honest as it can get.

As time goes on, there are a lot of actors/artists/etc that we're learning as horrible people. And while I don't want for my hard earned money to go towards them, I do still want to enjoy what they have created. So, pirating it is!

You could also financially support any projects other members of the band are in even if you don't enjoy them. That way the innocent members still are still supported by you.

firefliesblueskies

Oh, I just realized we got our reply system back!

starbreaker

I think that happened a week or so ago. :)

firefliesblueskies

I've not been around a ton since the boss tried the whole ass letterboard thing

zampano

For me, the key question is whether you're contributing to someone's power to do things that you find objectionable. This can mean giving them money, for example, so in your case I wouldn't buy anything new the guy puts out. But I don't think it means you can't still like music he's done in the past, or even like things he puts out now (provided you're not supporting his platform, like I said).

starbreaker

This is why I don't mind buying used copies of movies starring Kevin Spacey. As long as the first-sale doctrine holds, guys like him get no profit from secondhand sales.

caffo

I like this idea. Going to steal it for my own amusement (and start doing it).

starbreaker

Go for it. Buying more stuff secondhand might save you some money, too.

It's a tough decision when you enjoy the content of someone that you so strongly disagree with. Harry Potter and Ender's Game is one of my favorite series, but I can't say I like JK Rowling, and I like Orson Scott Card even less. What can I do but separate the art from the artist?

pink2ds

I don't think this really is much for debate because it comes down so strongly to how people's emotions work differently.

When I hear the titles "Chinatown" or "Knife in the Water", I immediately flinch, Polanski's connection to those works hit me like a gut punch. [Cue the anti-skubs immediately overly literally interpreting that sentence.]

So if the argument is to separate the art from the artist, that'd require a big effort from me.

And it's just as true that if the argument is to hold artists responsible, that'd require a conscious effort from those who work in a different way, those who don't automatically have that emotional reaction.

As for me, there can be degrees of badness. I think Florence from Florence+The Machine has made a lot of really awful decisions such as participating in the "No Light, No Light" video but I can still stomach listening to her records (for now—I mean, those bad decisions keep piling up).

But someone who actually hurt people, actually beat people up or killed them is more difficult to listen to.

I'm not promising to be super consistent about this because, as I've argued, it's so emotion driven.

starbreaker

Never buying new from assholes seems a good policy.

pink2ds

He seems to have been heading in that direction for the last decade💔

starbreaker

Now that I'm looking at it, you're right. And as long as he had been content to talk shit I wouldn't have cared, because griping about the government is the American Way™. But Schaffer wasn't content to gripe, and he went about acting on his beliefs/opinions in a completely counterproductive way.