How much celeb bad behavior are you willing to forgive?

donniedarko has some threads going over in the games tab about directors and he mentioned the next one would be about Polanski. This got me to thinking, how much bad behavior by celebrities are you willing to forgive?

For example, I cannot divorce myself from Polanski's crimes. Because they were against a child and the nature of what he did, I simply cannot forget about it when watching his films. To be honest, I don't go out of my way to watch his movies and I don't pay to see them. I don't care how much acclaim he gets, it just doesn't set well with me.

However, I can easily watch every new thing that Mel Gibson makes. What he did was ridiculous, racist, sexist, and all around repulsive, but it doesn't bother me for two reasons. 1) Gibson has basically been doing whatever the hell he wants for decades without anyone telling him "no" so bad behavior is sort of unavoidable, especially when mixed with alcohol. Think of it as absolute power corrupting absolutely (why do you think so many politicians get into sexual trouble? Because power corrupts). 2) Who hasn't done/said racist/sexist/stupid things while drinking?

Another one I can forgive is Lindsey Lohan. She's another one who is basically a product of her environment. When you gain fame and fortune early in life without a strong guiding force (responsible parents?) things like this are just bound to happen. I have sympathy for her more than anything.

So, who are some famous people that have done bad things that you cannot forgive? Who can you forgive? Who disagrees with me? Who else likes to play armchair psychiatry?

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I don't think I've ever held a grudge against an actor/actress/director for something they've done.

Except perhaps Michael Bay...I will preemptively hold a grudge against him for "Ninja Turtles."

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As long as their art is good,their personal life don't interest me at all,really.

Depending on the act, you can separate the crime from the art. With Polanski, I haven't read much into it but from what I have heard it doesn't sound like rape rape, just underage stuff (and I keep in mind that people love to trump up charges, plus the girl even said it's been blown out of proportion and never mentioned rape), which is extremely odd to me, but I don't really think about it when I'm watching his movies. He's a less than good person, that's pretty common, Bruce Lee is a genius but he cheated on his wife. There's always a line for reverence.

As far as Mel Gibson goes, his views correlate with his art, and he disgusts me hence why I don't like his movies.

This is my point exactly, though. Is there a point where you would allow it to cloud your judgement of their work? Or to ignore their work completely?

I'll give a better example. Let's say instead of saying antisemitic remarks to a police officer, Mel Gibson had gotten drunk, ran over a pedestrian and killed them. Is manslaughter great enough of a crime to stop paying attention to him?

Look at Pro-Footballer Leonard Little. He was convicted of manslaughter for killing someone while driving drunk but they let him play football for years afterword. IMO, once you cross a line like that you should just not be allowed to be in a role model type profession after that. And, like it or not, pro-players are role models; the same with filmmakers/actors/etc. If I had been in charge of the NFL I'd have said "sorry, you can't play pro ball anymore."

@wintertriangles I don't care how mature a 13-year-old may act or pretend to be, there aren't any that can truly, honestly make the decision to have consensual sex, especially with someone much older than themselves. Taking advantage of their age, IMO, and in the opinion of the law, is pretty damn close to rape rape. It's not the same, but it's really close. That's why I can't get over that fact. Again, I haven't ignored Polanski's films, I just don't pay to see them nor do I put real effort into it. I watched a couple on Netflix streaming and that's about it.

I can keep it separate. If an actor does something I don't like then I will be critical of that behavior, but it won't affect how I feel about their work. I'm not thinking about the actors (or director) personally when I am watching a movie.It's only their body of work that I'm interested in.

Certainly movie people, just like any one else should be moraly and legaly accountable for their actions. However, their art should be considered on it's own merits. I try not to appreciate people for their popularity as human beings but rather for their unique ability as artists. I have no problem seperating the two, whether it be art or sports or anything else I can judge on it's own merits. I never liked Tyson as an idividual outside of the ring but I certainly admired his ability to knock people out.
Roman Polanski's taking advantage of a minor is despicable but his ability to successfully direct movies is unquestionable. Even though personaly I wouldn't want to have anything to do with a pedophile, it doesn't mean that I should deprive myself of the opportunity to enjoy his art. I leave it up to God and the legal sytem to hold him accountable for his actions.
Maybe I can distance myself from his transgration as it is not personal.
If it became personal, then, certainly my response would be personal as well.

For me it depends less on how much bad to what they did. I have a real problem with Mel Gibson because I am convinced he is an Anti-Semitic Holocaust Denier but in the closet so he occasionally says remarks in private that shows his real attitude like when drunk then makes cowardly indirect public comments that shows a similar bias but won't be direct about it. I admit Roman Polanski bothers me less, but I was never a big fan anyway and haven't seen a movie of his in decades.

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- Paula

They're both pretty bad. One in a anti-semitic and the other in a rapist.

It took Mel Gibsons wife along to figure it out though Maybe she she a true Catholic?? And she thought, God will help....who knows!!

They're both pretty bad. One in a anti-semitic and the other in a rapist.

It took Mel Gibsons wife along time to figure it out though Maybe she a true Catholic?? And she thought, God will help....who knows!!

You know, it bugs me a little bit that Sean Connery beats his wife... But he's the *****.

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The Freedom Roads

Wow! I am completely stumped...

When I started a thread about watching films objectively vs. subjectively most of you said they couldn't be watched without subjectivity. When I say that I try to be objective when being critical of a film I get people looking at me like I'm crazy.

And yet, I stand (near) alone on a subject that is very much separating ones emotional response form their critical one! How does this happen? You're all able to separate the artist from the art but not yourselves from the art? Wow!

I guess I'm as weird as people have been telling me all these years. I usually just shrugged it off, now I have to actually question its validity...

At least I'm consistent there

I don't read much about celebrities personal lives so I don't have this problem.However,I've heard about Mel Gibson.Well,now I do watch Gibson differently in movies but it doesn't affect my rating or liking the movie.As it was mentioned,art and their personal lives and problems should be separated.

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"Anything less than immortality is a complete waste of time."

It really depends on who is behaving badly. If it's an actor that I love - such as Russell Crowe with his serious anger management issues - I'm more willing to forgive. If it's someone I kind of like or am indifferent to, I'm less willing to forgive.

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It's all down to the moral of the person who is holding the grudge and down to the crime itself.

Some people will boycott Mel Gibson for sexism, or for being prejudice to anything that isn't Catholic.
I for one, don't hold religious intolerance or sexism as a reason for having a grudge against someone. Nothing personal to anyone, it's just my stand-point: I don't have a problem with any religion myself and I'm certainly not sexist (can't afford to be, I've got two daughters lol!), but if someone else does or is, hey, it's up to them.
There's nothing I can do about their mentality.
My best mate in the whole world is Irish Protestant. He extremely intolerant of other religions yet we get on like a house on fire.

Tiger Woods is one that most have dropped due to his adultery. I've lost all hope in the guy too. Personally, there's no need for what he did. If he was unhappy at home, be honest about it and file for a divorce. Don't bloody cheat on you spouse moron!
Schwarzenegger has gone down in my list too bacause of the same reason.
I haven't completely dropped them, but they certainly need to prove themselves again.


But when it comes to the nature of personal morals:

My personal morality on drugs is that certain out-of-control celebs should be boycotted: Basically anyone who is a complete junkie and are more famous for being wasted and collapsing in a gutter outside a nightclub than they are for their 'talents'. Whitney, Britney, Winehouse, Katona, they're all junkies, so get them off my telly. I've got no time for narcotics.

My other personal standpoint on certain crimes is people like, for instance, Polanski. They should be boycotted too, just like Gary Glitter has been. Any kiddy-fiddler should be, no matter how talented they were/are/have been/might be.
Personally, the death sentence should be inforced, no matter who they are.


My above points are very specific point, yes, and they're very specific on my own personal basis. But my point is: It's up to the individual morals on who and what is forgiven.

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Looking at it from perhaps a backwards perspective, I've never once loved a movie and then later found out something about an actor, director or writer and changed my opinion about the film (whether higher or lower). I also have never "boycotted" any film because of what a filmmaker may have done, no matter how beyond the pale it seems. In cases where a person has not actually been convicted and sentenced, I'm not planning on setting myself up as some kind of judge and jury either. Maybe that makes me seem foolish or callous, but I have enough problems accepting my own shortcomings, judging my students, and counseling my family and friends, so I'm not going to pile on to somebody else's weaknesses; there are plenty of others who will do that.

I'm not trying to cop out, but if I have to have made a value judgment on an artist's personal life before I can witness their art, it makes the whole process feel bass-acwards and not very fun or aesthetically pleasing to me. Sure, I often like to study up on some artists, but that's usually AFTER I've been exposed to their work. I'm still more interested in their art though because I don't believe in judging anybody based alone on whatever it appears their worst act may have been. On the other hand, I'm comfortable judging them on their art and perhaps then drawing some conclusions about them, but not really enough to make me canonize or excommunicate them.

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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page

I hate the people I hate, I like the people I like. I've yet to change my opinion of them because of their personal life or some incident.

So you won't watch a Polanksi movie?

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Suspect's Reviews

Not really, no. I've seen The Ninth Gate, The Tenant, Chinatown and Rosemary's Baby. I won't pay to see his films and the ones I have seen were seen on Netflix/rented because someone else wanted to watch them. Chinatown I saw when I was first getting into film and I wasn't aware of what he had done. To be honest, i don't remember much about it. It's the only one I'd be tempted to watch again.

Point is, I don't want to give the man any of my money and what he did is always in the back of my mind when watching his films. I can't be my normally (attempted) objective film watcher when watching his films. That's the main thrust of what I'm getting at, is there anyone like that for you all? Someone who, no matter how hard you try, you cannot get that aspect of their personal life out of your head causing you to watch their work with a skewed perception?