yes

the entire argument that art is corrupted by the action of the artist is dependent on the idea of guilt by association.

A lot of us don’t believe in guilt by association. I am not responsible for the actions or views of other people, nor do I endorse them by my interaction with them or their works.

My dad was racist af. I knew him for 27 years and cared for him for ten of those years. Am I a therefore a racist? No. Only insane people would make that argument. And yes, there is a lot of collective insanity going on in the world. In the 2000s if you asked this question most people would laugh at it, but social media has warped people into believing that if you ever read Harry Potter you are a transphobe by the ‘associative transphobe property’ or something equally absurd, or if you watch the new upcoming HBO Harry Potter, you are going to become a transphobe. It’s a completely stupid POV and not any different than thinking that if you watch a movie by a Muslim director you are now Muslim. The background assumption also lurking int his guilt, is that there is a state of ‘purity’. If I denounce and never consume another HP product… I am somehow ‘purging’ myself of any possible transphobia!

It’s not any different with crime. If my dad killed someone, I am not in anyway responsible for that action. Yet, people are stupid and will start assuming that I am also a murderer or be more likely to murder someone. They will then make up arguments to justify this suspicion, it’s genetic, or I ‘should have known’ and stopped it and I am therefore responsible… blah blah. It’s especially toxic when you combine these things with the arrogance of hindsight and the exaggerated interpretations of events and words… like we were magically supposed to know in 1997 what JK Rowlings personal views were based on some random passage of her first book or something.

It’s tribal ape-brain nonsense that falls apart when you remotely begin to approach the idea with any skepticism or scrutiny.

It’s also equally as stupid as thinking if I read Mein Kampf or do primary source research for a paper on Nazi Germany… I’m a Nazi or I will somehow be ‘tainted’ by Nazi ideals. Essentailly it’s rooted in a fear response, fear of becoming the ‘bad thing’ or fear that others will think you are ‘bad’ if you enjoy the ‘bad person’s work’. It’s also even stupider when you realize a lot of these associations are completely false. For example Nietzche is considered a ‘Nazi’ by a lot of people, despite the objective historical record showing us he was not, but because his sister was and she edited his works after his death to curry favor with the regime. I had professors in college who woudln’t teach him because they were afraid of being labeled a Nazi because of this ‘his associations with Nazism’. Fast forward 20+ years and nobody ever talks about him in association with Nazism because that myth has been largely busted.

But again, it’s all about people’s emotional reactions and moral panic and their inability to understand that people’s actions and beliefs are entirely their own and your enjoyment of anything or consumption of it is not an endorsement. I can watch Pulp Fiction and not want to do drugs or rape gimps… but very dumb people think that I can’t do this and if I watch Pulp Fiction I must want to rape gimps or something. Or probably go as stupidly far to assume that I somehow will inherit Tarantino’s foot fetish if I like his movies…

People who think like this are the equivalent of those who think Haitian immigrants were eating cats and dogs because Trump said so and he never lies! It’s a baseless accusation that is entirely rooted in fear and ignorance and a need to perpetuate that fear and ignorance to solidify the in-group identity. It’s a form of witch-hunting, people desperate to show they aren’t the witch by casting blame on others who the witches in an effort to distance themselves from accusation.