Writers live through their work, and if a book is good enough, an author can achieve immortality. But once a writer becomes an all-time great, people start to focus on their genius and forget about all their flaws and foibles. That's okay if the author is just your average Joe, a nice person with no skeletons lurking inside their book-filled closet, but what if he or she is actually a horrible human being? A racist? A scumbag? An attempted murderer?
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Writers live through their work, and if a book is good enough, an author can achieve immortality. But once a writer becomes an all-time great, people start to focus on their genius and forget about all their flaws and foibles. That's okay if the author is just your average Joe, a nice person with no skeletons lurking inside their book-filled closet, but what if he or she is actually a horrible human being? A racist? A scumbag? An attempted murderer?
It's common knowledge that you don't need a beautiful soul to create beautiful art. Look at any number of famous painters, musicians, or writers, and it's clear that a beautiful soul is a requirement that ranks way below being a higher-functioning alcoholic in the creativity stakes.
Nobody's perfect, but some people aren't even close. This includes some of the most beloved figures in all of history — they look great at first glance, but a closer look reveals the deeply flawed, kinda terrible people they really were. These folks from history were downright awful.
It's no secret that there are plenty of terrible politicians in history. Something about being drawn to politics seems to suggest that you might be just a teensy bit wrong in the head. Horrible and ill-considered policies abound. But every now and then you get that shining diamond in the rough: a politician who doesn't totally suck. They emerge and amazingly do some good for the country and everyone loves them. They go down in history as heroes and good, decent people.
Some musicians just have a freakish amount of talent. Most of us learn at a young age that we are not those people. The realization probably came as soon as you were old enough to read social cues and you tried showing off your amazing talents to anyone except your pet. (Daisy is a very good dog, but maybe not a very good judge of musical ability.) Those who do have that freakish amount of talent are the singer-songwriters, the people who can play any instrument they pick up, the ones who get lost in the music of their own making whether they're in the studio or on stage. There's something almost magical about listening to a true musical genius, and they've definitely earned our respect. But it's easy to forget that behind all that music is a very ordinary person, and sometimes, that ordinary person is a terrible human being.
