Neil Before Us

Separating the Ass from the Asshole

I’m not about to go into the details that this Vulture article about (in)famous author Neil Gaiman lays out. They are, quite frankly, disgusting, on at least three levels and six directions. And I think the case has been made quite clearly and comprehensively to find him guilty, even if it’s only in the court of public opinion.*

What I want to talk about (briefly!) is the age-old question that tends to follow the aged and older question “Why do powerful men do shitty things?” And that question is, “Can you separate the art from the artist?”

For someone like Neil Gaiman, I’m gonna go ahead and say that you can’t separate him from his art. Not when half his deal was about being an ally to women and minorities, with both of his fashionably shod feet firmly planted on the “right side of history”. A cool guy, but also a nerdy one that said all the right things. A guy who wasn’t gay, but would be chill about it if someone thought he was.

So for many people, buying his books was akin to spending time with him. It mattered that he presented himself as the walking embodiment of a Green Flag. It meant something. Even before social media was a thing.

This is the part where an eager, more driven writer would have a whole chunk filled with quotes and links to articles that prove that the above is true. I could do it, but it would take too long and my enthusiasm for talking about this asshole is waning. At this point I just want to get…