So…
It turns out, contrary to popular opinion, that I’m human after all.
There is an author, whom I will not name in this post, who penned a 7-book series, a 2-part stage play, and at least three supplemental pieces for the world those characters inhabit. The empire built on this intellectual property is immense, from movies to theme parks, toys, games, even branded food items.
The problem?
This particular author is well-known for… hateful rhetoric toward a specific segment of the population.
And, gods help me, I love that world she built.
Last year and into this year, full-cast audio recordings of the 7-book series came out. In December, there will be a television show based on this world, a retelling of the story already adapted in a theatrical film. There was a line of snack foods infused with the flavor of its signature beverage.
This hated author has received and will receive revenue from all of these.
When it comes to specific actors, it’s easy for me to draw a definitive line in the sand and not cross it. When Mel Gibson turned out to be a racist and alleged abuser, I already loved Lethal Weapon, What Women Want, and Hamlet. The people who worked with him on those films had no idea who he was, so there was no reason for me to penalize them by refusing to watch. However, I did not see Daddy’s Home 2 or the Peacock show set in the world of John Wick. Those people did know who he is. Those people will not get my money.
Same with any number of people accused of harassment or assault. If I loved something before they revealed their true nature, I have continued to love it. I have not supported anything they’ve done since.
But this is slightly different.
Yes, this author’s world touched me long before her hate-filled tweets flooded the internet. But the full-cast audio recordings… the food items… the upcoming series… These all happened / are happening after.
It’s a world I love, a world that should be tainted by the touch of her continued involvement, by her compensation whenever it’s consumed by someone.
If I had stuck to the books and movies I already owned, there would be no quandary.
However I haven’t. I bought the full-cast audiobooks. (I’m on #7 now.) I bought — and enjoyed — many of the snacks. I am excited for and (again, gods help me) plan to watch the television show.
My ethical line, so easy to hold in the cut-and-dried realm of specific actors, is blurred (to put it nicely) when there’s an entire immersive world involved. I know that engaging in these things puts money in the pocket of someone whose views I oppose. I also recognize that the money I give her is less than 0.00000001% of her net worth. Still, can I continue to consider myself an ethical person when I succumb to the lure of this world I have loved for 25+ years? After all, when I began to boycott a fast-food restaurant chain because the founders were revealed to be homophobes, the money I denied them amounted to about that same percentage.
When I enjoy this story in a format released post-hate, I’m part of the problem. And still I can’t deny myself the story. I can’t bring myself to exit the world.
In a reality of trying to separate the artist from the art, or a “death of the author” mentality, knowing that I am contributing — even in that fraction of a percentage — to hate feels even more heinous.
I don’t support hate.
I speak out against the things she espouses.
But I love the world she created, and for better or worse, hypocrisy be damned, I must live with myself within it.
WRITING REVISING IN PUBLIC
I wish I had news on this front. Revision is hard. Still stuck, and I’m no closer to figuring things out than I was last time.
GAMING THINGS
On the Pathfinder front: We’ve gone back to Skull & Shackles!
After that long-winded tirade about how Wrath of the Righteous is just too hard for us Filthy Casuals™, all it took to get us back in a less intense zone was… someone else bringing it up.
Yup. I whine, no one listens. Another player complains, and we get to do what I’ve been asking for all along.
Not complaining, though. In our first session back, we won! It all came down to a villain with two defeat checks. The gunslinger took one; I took the other.
Man, it felt good to be actually useful in a game! I do have to admit, though, that there’s an armor in this set that we didn’t encounter — but happened to see when we were removing cards from a closed location. It’s an alchemical armor that I need!
There are cards in these games that, to use them, we must put them back in the box. As an Alchemist character, if I use a card with “Alchemical” as an attribute, I get to put it on the bottom of my life deck instead. This armor has a power that would let me do that and absorb ALL damage.
You don’t even know how overpowered that feels! Much like my weapon, which has two uses. Use it once per game, do some damage. Put it back in the box (or, in my case, on the bottom of my life deck), do more damage.
Overpowered. And I love it!
Also on the recent game front, a fun little party game called The You Quiz, a “Mother-May-I” style game in which one person is the Royal, standing at the top of a staircase. Everyone else is at the bottom. The game asks a question about who’s at the top that round, and each player comes up with answers that the Royal then accepts (answerer advances) or rejects (answerer stays put). First to the top becomes the new Royal.
It was fun to play, but I’m not sure how often we will. I like Trivia Tricks better.
WRAPPING UP
It’s hard to admit a flaw. It’s even harder to admit that the flaw won’t be corrected anytime soon. To reconcile our hearts with our actions and find ourselves lacking. To admit we’re human after all.
We’re not always our best selves. We can only try. And when we slip, we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and try again.
I hope, when you slip, you forgive yourself your flaws. That you hold your head high. And, most importantly, you remember that you’re a wonderful human being whose presence on this planet makes it a wonderful place to be, flaws and all.
Have a wonderful June, fellow human.
Stay beautifully flawed.