Authority claims it is able to appreciate the work free of biography, of history. Authority gets snippy about stuff like that. Authority ignores the natural feeling that arises from biographical knowledge of a subject. Authority believes the work exists in an ideal state (ahistorical, alpine, snowy, pure).
The voice of authority says biography is fallacy. When I started to explore this problem, I discovered that male critics wanted the work to remain untouched by the life. Allen himself famously quoted Emily Dickinson: “The heart wants what it wants.” WH Auden said it more nicely, as he said almost everything more nicely: “The desires of the heart are as crooked as corkscrews.” We continue to love what we ought to hate. We don’t always love whom or what we’re supposed to love. Roman Polanski leaving court after being ordered to report for psychiatric examination in 1977. When I started to write about this problem, I realised I didn’t want to compile a catalogue of monsters – after all, wasn’t the history of art already that? I was trying to find out not about the artists, but about the audience. I’ve spent my life being disappointed by beloved male artists: John Lennon hit his first wife TS Eliot was antisemitic Woody Allen began a relationship with his partner’s daughter Soon-Yi Roman Polanski pleaded guilty to the statutory rape of 13-year-old Samantha Gailey (now Geimer). Could they still watch Shakespeare in Love? Could they enjoy Louis CK in Parks and Recreation? Could they still listen to David Bowie? Over the next months and years I travelled to college campuses to discuss this issue, and found the students I spoke to were as confused as I felt. All this was set against the backdrop of the dawning of the Trump era, which was ushered in by the soon-to-be-president’s Access Hollywood tape, in which he described grabbing women by the pussy. The Harvey Weinstein accusations had just been made public, followed by allegations against the comedian Louis CK, senator Al Franken, TV news stars Charlie Rose and Matt Lauer and many more. F ive years ago, in November 2017, I published an essay titled What Do We Do With the Art of Monstrous Men? It went viral right at the peak of the #MeToo avalanche.
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