Honouring and Admiring the Immoral: an ethical guide. Drawing the Line: What to Do with the Work of Immoral Artists from Museums to the Movies

Abstract

I write this while listening to Michael Jackson's Beat It (1982). The song fills me with joy, confidence, and nostalgia. As well as being a musical marvel, it transports me back to my 90's childhood: ‘moonwalking’ with an old friend in her living room, without a care in the world. The art we choose to imbue our lives with has both personal significance and social meaning. So how should we react when the creator of a favourite piece is in some way immoral? As we all now know, Jackson has faced allegations of child sex abuse, and his songs consequently banned by several radio stations across the world. This poses at least two questions: When is the artist's immorality relevant to their art? And how should we respond to immoral artists? Drawing the Line and Honouring and Admiring the Immoral both offer elegant, balanced, and occasionally, wonderfully personal answers to these questions, and more besides.