I haven't seen any discussion here about Gaiman, and maybe it's because we don't really want to go down that road with another celebrated person. I don't know even know what to say. I've admired his writing, my brief interaction with him at a con was positive (signed Coraline on-camera for a charity auction with which I was involved), I'm a huge fan of The Sandman, and I was looking forward to Season Two of the adaptation. A year ago it sounded like sleaziness and I didn't look too closely. With these developed allegations, which certainly sound credible, we're staring into the possibility of significant sex offenses. It looks bad even should it turn out some of the allegations have been distorted or exaggerated. Even Amanda Palmer comes off as a tad suspect, though again, I don't know the truth-- and I had not followed just how rough their divorced proceedings had been. I generally ignore that sort of celebrity news.
If you haven't gone down the rabbit hole opened up for a wider audience by the Vulture article, I caution you, it's a very rough ride.
(Mind you, it's worse when someone with actual political power does horrible things and gets a pass, but still).
Anyone?
Replies
I haven't read the Vulture article, because every time I run across it or get a link to it, it's behind a pay wall. I've seen other article which summarize that article or discuss part of it. so I've kinda felt like I don't have the full facts (such as we know them).
And, as you say, I don't know what to say. There have been any number of comics creators whose work I've enjoyed who had their #MeToo moments, and I'm kinda running out of things to enjoy. It's hard to separate the art from the artist, but if we do we're hypocrites, and if we don't then we can't enjoy the work any more. It all sounds unforgivable, but then, I really would like another season of Sandman. Bah! This is a lot of work for a no-win scenario!
Then again, it may just be that I've simply exhausted my outrage reservoir with last year's election. Ask me again in a few days.
I was putting together some notes to start a discussion on this. I was going to call it "To Sleep Perchance to Dream--What to do about The Sandman". The accusations and details are pretty damning and widespread, not just to Gaiman but the industry on the whole as, once again, profitability is far more important than accountability.
It is similar to the Joss Whedon situation, another creative man using his influence to take advantage vulnerable women.
I wish I could remember who said it but one comic book writer said that the female audience prefers artists to writers. They always ask for a sketch. No one asks for a paragraph. So Gaiman was the exception to the rule. He was dark, deep, mysterious and British. And successful in many media!
I've heard that if you read Sandman #17 (Jl'90) "Calliope" now, Gaiman was telling you who he was. Actually I think that you could go back to Dream's treatment of Nada. Another story that did not age well.
Of course, what about The Sandman? Can we still enjoy it? Can we still recommend it? Can we still study it? Does DC still promote it? Keep in print? Keep sending him royalties? What about the artists? Should they suffer too?
What about the characters? Are they tainted? So many questions with answers that seem wrong either way!
I haven't discussed it yet for a combination of reasons. Perhaps chief among them is that I feel all too aware that there isn't a whole lot of good to be achieved by formulating my opinions on the whole matter.
To be sure, the situation is disgusting and probably criminal. I hope it is investigated and the due consequences happen. But I stop short of hoping that me discussing it will somehow help. Probably an aspect of my current process of disattachment from social networks, which have disappointed me a lot lately.
But beyond that, I certainly feel hurt by these findings. I still admire much of Gaiman's work, but I definitely can't condone what currently seems all but certain to have happened. This does deserve discussion; I just don't feel much of a drive to engage in it right now. I want some time to build up emotionally and carefully consider what I feel and what I hope to happen.
This is its own kind of sleaziness, but someone has the article without paywall. Again, the allegations get darker than I think most of us imagined.
No comment at the current time on the ethics of circunventing the paywall and publishing the results, but I will point out that this copy seems accurate and that the original article has been updated since. A line at the trailing end of the text points out that a certain person that is mentioned by name early in the second half of the article asked to have her surname included as well.
This is truly a dismaying situation.
Well, now I've finally read the Vulture article. Now I need to take a shower.