It's sad when you realize someone whose artistic skills you admire immensely turns out to be an asshat. I don't have any problem with someone whose beliefs run contrary to my own. Heck, some of the best discussions I get into are with people I disagree with. However, as a rule the other person should have at least some grounding in reality.
I doubt I'll "defriend" (anyone else hate that word?) this person, but I'll probably be utilizing the "Hide" function a bit more liberally on Facebook.
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You left out most of the personal details to keep things private, and I can appreciate that Rich. On the other hand, that prevents me from responding to the specific situation, so I'll have to address the issue in general.
I have friends on the Internet who I like to think are true friends. I have others who are good acquaintances, and I know some people through my computer that if I catch them on line, I'm polite enough to say "Hi" if given the chance, but otherwise let them be.
Yet no one within any of those three groupings would know me from their next door neighbor if we met in person, and if we did, I'm sure we would discover the two personas are not exactly the same.
For example, being a writer, I can take my time and chose my words carefully before I post anything on line, while in the real world I stink at public speaking.
Best advice I can give you is also the most obvious: just take life as it comes. You can always admire the work publicly and not like the person privately.
"However, as a rule the other person should have at least some grounding in reality."
Uh-oh.
Lee Houston, Junior said:
I wonder how I would feel about said creator if I hadn't started hanging out on his board.
I don't think it's hard to figure out who this thread is about, given the timing, and I have the same feelings on it. Even then, there's a difference between knowing a person's views and actually participating in them, via message boards, I think. That make the connection stronger but also can make it more unpleasant if it goes that way.
At some level, we can disassociate our feelings about the person from the work, and enjoy the latter on its own. But for me, the unpleasantness of what I know about the person and how it affects me can taint the enjoyment I get from the work. So I think knowing I don't think much of a person's personality or beliefs might keep me from buying their stuff because I can't disassociate those enough to enjoy the work any more.
In this case, it doesn't bother me so much, but I probably will keep his opinions in my mind as I'm reading future work (if there is any). That might ultimately lead me to stop reading it.
That can be the problem with the Web; it lets us get to know the creators whose work we enjoy on a new level that isn't even possible at convention appearances. That should usually be good, but every so often it's not.
As the country song goes, I wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then.
-- MSA
I haven't a clue, but I'm a bit out of the loop these days.
Gah!
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