Written by Gabriella Gamez
We’ve all heard the old adage before, but is separating the art from the artist considered a controversial act in 2019? Let’s unpack this together.
It’s no secret that Twitter has a heavy hand in the progression of Cancel Culture and Call-Out Culture, which can have some dicey consequences on their own. The internet allows us to access knowledge of all kinds within seconds. Social media allows messages of all kinds to spread like wildfire. It can be used to call out bad behaviour, expose secrets, and end careers before they start. Call-Out Culture is a double-edged sword any way you slice it (pun intended), and its reach has even prompted the likes of former US president Barack Obama to comment on the phenomenon.
Even the book community is not immune to Cancel Culture’s reach, and it seems to do as much good as it does bad.
On one end, reviewers can easily reach other like-minded people who have no interest in separating the books from their toxic authors. Prominent book reviewers have been using their platforms to raise awareness about the toxic behaviours and beliefs of popular authors for years. With the rise of Twitter and subsequently Cancel Culture, reviewers can easily relay the facts with damning screenshot evidence, express their disgust, and vow to never support said-author again. Like-minded readers and reviewers are quick to follow suit in liking and sharing the original thread, further spreading the word into Book Twitter.
On the other end, when negative threads about popular authors like this one reach users who think differently, the stan wars begin. Die-hard fans of the author rise up in droves, accusing the original poster of jealousy and having nothing better to do than to tear down someone else’s success. Trolls show up to stir unneeded and irrelevant chaos like it’s their job. No one likes finding a reason not to love something they love, and Twitter is an easily accessible source to give a voice to the backlash. These users take a defensive stance to express their displeasure at their favourite thing being antagonised.
Amidst the cesspool of self-righteousness, judgement, and trolls that have defined Twitter for years comes an even greater discussion. The popular belief was once (and possibly still is) that we should be able to let the body of work stand on its own apart from the author. It is entirely possible to love the book without loving the author. Why should we “cancel” talented, successful authors just because of one or two (or one or two hundred) mistakes? Isn’t it possible to enjoy the work they produce without supporting them as people? Should we take into consideration that accused authors still have the ability to grow and change as people? These questions can only be answered by individual consumers for themselves, because as any Twitter thread will prove, no one appreciates being told what to do.
We don’t support authors who are nice and caring people if we don’t like the books they publish. But does that mean we should knowingly support and buy from authors who have harassed readers that review their books badly, have expressed bigoted beliefs that hurt marginalised groups of people, or have written content readers believe to be toxic or harmful, simply because we love the books they publish?
A recent example of bad behaviour comes from a Twitter thread about a piece of fanfiction Tamsyn Muir, author of the recently published Gideon the Ninth, wrote in 2011 on AO3. A book reviewer shared information about the fanfiction Muir wrote that featured child rape and paedophilia (the characters are allegedly around thirteen-years-old), including screenshots from AO3.
Screenshots of the said-fanfiction were also attached to the original tweet. Trigger warnings for the fanfiction include underage, non-con (nonconsensual), pedophilia, and abuse.
Below is a note on the work and a scene from the fanfiction. The trigger warnings above apply, so please don’t read if you’re sensitive to any of the topics mentioned.
The thread gained immediate attention from other Twitter users, and people took sides very quickly.
Some were disgusted that Muir could write something so foul as a kink. Others didn’t see why people were making a huge deal out of a fanfiction that had all the trigger warnings tagged. Some could see both sides of the argument and urged people to make up their own minds rather than follow Twitter trends.
This is far from the first time a popular author has been called out for toxic behaviour. Cassandra Clare, author of The Shadowhunter Chronicles and often proclaimed a Queen of YA Fantasy, faced controversy for allegedly plagiarising The Mortal Instruments series, as well as cyberbullying anyone who had anything negative to say about her online. Brandon Sanderson, author of the Mistborn series and The Stormlight Archive, has shared anti-LGBTQA+ beliefs over the years and while his views have changed since his 2007 blogpost, there are still reviewers who think his views haven’t changed enough. Sarah J. Maas, author of the Throne of Glass series and A Court of Thorns and Roses trilogy, has come under fire from fans for a complete lack of, and then unthoughtful execution of representation of marginalised groups in both of her popular YA fantasy series.
Despite the amount of criticism these authors have faced over the years, their books are still extremely popular and always get on the New York Times bestseller list with each new book release. Hundreds, if not thousands of stans can be found across social media. Some readers may know all about their favourite authors’ toxic behaviours and choose to ignore it or separate the books from the author, and others may be completely ignorant to it.
It’s no coincidence that when discussing the ethics of separating the art from the artist, the artists we’re talking about are already incredibly popular. “Talent” and “taste” are subjective terms, but it’s the masses of readers who ultimately decide which authors are talented. Any average rating on Amazon or Goodreads can tell you this.
While there is nothing objective about art, but there are objectively right and wrong actions (although we can also go down a wormhole deciphering which actions are right and wrong, but that’s a different discussion on its own). How do we as readers reconcile the subjective art from the objective wrong?
As reviewer platforms grow, there comes a responsibility to share the information they stumble upon with their followers. Because readers and reviewers are the ones who make an author’s career, it’s important that they are also made aware of the facts about the authors they’re supporting and buying from without telling them what they should do about it.
No one knows how long the trend of Cancel Culture will live out on Twitter, but it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere in the meantime. Whether you see it as activism or cyberbullying, no one can deny the amount of dirt it can dig up or how fast it can spread across the platform.
After all, information is key. Despite what readers will personally decide to do with it.
Hmm, it kind of crazy when you get into the mind of an author