We Are Who We Are, We Am What We Am

If a creator puts something in their work, that means they have it somewhere in their psyche.  It maybe counterbalanced with a moral / ethical sense that stops them from acting on it openly, but if they can imagine it, it’s part of them.

Like AI, some sociopathic individuals are capable of skillfully emulating what they see others do. If we’re lucky they emulate mostly positive things since that brings reward without repercussion.  If we’re not, they’re charming AF and deadlier than a viper.

A creator who promotes their work as an extension of their values when in reality that’s just a smokescreen for their egregious bad behavior cannot escape blowback when said behavior is made public.  Unless we find out he’s secretly donating to the Heritage Foundation, we’re not cancelling John Waters.  JK Rowlings, on the other hand, made her fame and fortune writing about triumphant underdogs only to turn on a tiny marginalized minority.

Some creators get away with egregiously bad behavior by highlighting that behavior and telling the world that’s the real them.  However bad their behavior may be, no one calls them hypocrites.

I am, deep in my heart of hearts, a genuinely inventive sadistic bastard.  If I woke up one morning and found I’d been granted absolute power, the question would not be if the streets would run red with blood but how long it would take to get them running red with blood.

10:30am if we’re lucky and I get my coffee.

I don’t act on these impulses because I see the practical / ethical / moral value of the Golden Rule, and just as I would like compassion, mercy, and forgiveness to be shown to me, so must I show it first to others.

But don’t think for a moment I’m incapable of thinking of things to do with a pair of pliers and a blowtorch.

© Buzz Dixon