It’s become stylish to criticize people like Steve Jobs, Quentin Tarantino, Joss Whedon or even Lena Dunham for being jerks and (sort of) bullies. Want to cancel them for their alleged transgressions. But here’s the thing: those people almost certainly would not have been able to produce the quality art and products they have sans those characteristics that supposedly condemn them.
And you can kind of tell the effects this has had by absence — because the quality of art has declined enormously since woke, sensitivity readers and cancellation became de rigeur.
You do not get all that far by not pushing too hard sometimes. There’s a reason Tarantino always manages to coax the absolute best out of his cast, and that Dunham crossed boundaries with her actors: she was attempting to get something true out of them. (I’m not a fan of Girls, but the bits I’ve watched there’s no denying it’s well-made and has a voice.)
Artists are always transgressive and should be so. We need those people. They will always be going too far, opening doors many people feel should be left closed. And that’s exactly what they should be doing.
