Movies

Those are two very different examples...

For Bruce Willis, yeah, watch the heck out of his films and celebrate his talent and the joy and entertainment that he brought to us. Everyone ends up dead, and it's rarely pretty, so perhaps we shouldn't let it ruin our past.

However... Lee died during the making of the crow and that's more complex. Was the film finished to honour his life and his skills, or was it finished purely for financial reasons?

I'd like to think it was the former, and that when we see a film it is never the work of one actor, not even a bunch of actors and a director, but hundreds of people all bringing themselves to the endeavour of making.

And that's how they live for ever. Scratching their name into the desk of the world by making something that will be here long after they have gone.

And I think that should be celebrated.

Sounds like you are talking about two different things. Some of these things are outside the control of the creators :12 Monkeys, Crow, Rust and some are are a result of the art they create and within their control : Miramax, Polanski, Gary Glitter. I hate to say it but there is most likely some sort of art in everyones life that that they absolutely love that was created by someone who did something terrible and I'm not talking small stuff like an inappropriate joke or statement they didn't actually mean. I think there is difference between supporting and ignoring bad actions vs enjoyment of art. I think I can separate real life and art enough to listen to a Gary Glitter album, watch a Polanski or Miramax film but would I wouldn't want to condone or support the individuals awful and criminal behavior.

When I was in college I discovered Woody Allen and I became a huge fan. I find it hard now to even want to watch his films. Yes, I know, he was never convicted of anything. But you gotta admit leaving his longtime girlfriend for her adpopted daughter which he helped raise (some would say "groom") is off-putting and makes it very hard to ignore all the allegations.

Id say I can easily separate these things. E.g. I still love Woody Allen movies

Altho if I find out the creator's a weirdo, I'm unlikely to financially support the film by purchasing it

Everytime I rewatch The Hateful Eight, I get a little excited when Kurt Russell smashes the guitar. I have a similar reaction to Viggo breaking his toe in LOTR. I suppose it does affect my enjoyment but not in a bad way. More that I like knowing those little details about how the sausage is made.

I'll admit I have different feelings for different reasons. For example when it turns out that the director was a horrible guy (Stanley Kubrik to Michelle Duvall in the Shinning) it does sour it a good chunk, while on other instances I just prefer not to go there (the Jeeper Keepers director being a convicted pedophile).

I think the saddest case of this for me is the Land Before Time, and Ducky, who's VA was murdered not long after the movie released. Watching that movie and knowing that always left me feeling more sad than when I started.

To me, NO. Good movies are art, like any other art, painting, music, poetry, etc. In general art can't be judge by its creators lives. Extreme examples: Marquis of Sade or William Burroughs in literatura. Movies are a team work, to me "mistakes" from one member do not spoil the whole movie.

Frequently great artist are not good persons, if that were true almost everybody will be a (great) artist.

Yes, it does influence me. Especially when I find out some of the creators or actors are/were jerks, I loose all interest in watching the film.

Maybe it's for a different talk but bad situations surrounding movies don't tend to affect my viewing of them. It's only when it comes to bad social engineering attempts like Hollywood's recent obsession with blackwashing character's who are canonically ginger that really make me think twice about watching a film.