cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/20057251
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/20023406
this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2024
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Lovecraft was a xenophobic sack of trash and he shouldn't be adored by the cosmic horror crowd
TBH, he moved to the left in 1930s, being disillusioned with capitalism.
I mean, maybe, but his wife's biography of him paints a much different picture. It could be that her biography reflects just their time together, which would have been before the 30s.
Yeah, in 1910s and 1920s he was very reactionary, but the Great Depression really helped him to change his mind.
Politically yes, but it's well known his writing stayed pretty racist (even the later stuff). There's this funny trope that people with a Germanic last name are rarely evil in this writing, but Italian, Slavic etc last names are often depicted as bad people.
It's so pronounced that the people worshipping Cthulhu were often depicted more horrifically than actual Cthulhu. And it's obvious why: that was Lovecraft's biggest fear.
Still an extremely influential writer, you can't talk about cosmic horror without at least mentioning him.
Certainly, and I love the greater Cthulhu corpus, but his work is extremely problematic.
Separate the art from the artist. Many people who are shitbags produce good art and I can still enjoy the art without endorsing them. He was and is (and perhaps always will be) the GOAT in cosmic horror.
Except that his art also contains racist bullshit
The idiom "separate the art from the artist" actually means the opposite to that. It means that it doesn't matter what the artist intended, if it caused offense then it is still offensive. Rather than, it doesn't matter how much offensive stuff put into the art if I don't find it offensive then it's fine.
That's not at all the commonly known meaning. It's differentiating the art from the actions or beliefs of the artists. I like plenty of art, music, literature, created by awful people, but that doesn't reduce the meaning or importance of their work.