You don't have the guts to take the truth or consequences
This started out as a comment to sharpest-rose, then it got really long and it got really late, so I saved my thoughts and went to bed.
The whole EE thing made me really uncomfortable from the start, but I didn't say or do anything (other than, of course, not listen to their music/follow her links to stuff about EE/etc), because you know what? I am used to being offended by everybody who creates media, even artists that I love. Diane Duane wrote A Wizard Alone, where the climax of the plot hinges on magically curing an autistic kid, but that doesn't take anything from my enjoyment of the rest of the series, and I felt the same way about EE. Sure, it's an offensive piece of shit, but in the grand scheme of things it was no big deal. (Yeah, I know that's a really stupid attitude to have. If the world didn't keep making offensive art, I wouldn't have had to get used to it.)
But then the criticisms started showing up. And she decided that the best way to respond to critics was to laugh at them, ignore their concerns, treat them like there's something wrong with them for just not getting the ~~statement she was trying to make, blocking them. And that's when I got really angry. You don't shut down criticism like that, if you're, y'know, an adult and not a kid on the playground. You don't round up all your friends and fans, who follow you blindly, to shame people who disagree with you. You especially don't do that to your fans, and you especially don't do that to your fans when you are an artist who relies on a small-but-dedicated fanbase. Because you fucking need us, Amanda Palmer, we are the people who give you hard-earned money so you can do your ~~art.
And then, this morning, this: "@amanda palmer: nothing to quell a day of internet controversy like red wine, Regina Spektor and people who actually know me."
Guess what? Who you are on the internet? That is you. Things that you do on the internet? You are responsible for doing them. You. You. You. Without getting too far into poststructuralist nonsense, all anybody knows of you is what you choose to present to them and how they interpret that, online or off. I can't stress this enough. Sometimes I almost wish everyone else in the world had the same ridiculous online social anxiety I have, so they would think and think again about everything they said, everything they posted. Because if you think about what you are saying, well, you tend to come off as a whiny, privileged asshole way less often!
I'm not deleting her music from my computer for the same reason I didn't get rid of Elizabeth Bear's books after Racefail: The joy her music gave me still happened, the tough shit listening to her has helped me get through still happened. It might be a while before I can listen to it again, though, knowing that she's just another asshole and, well, not the girl I thought she was.
The whole EE thing made me really uncomfortable from the start, but I didn't say or do anything (other than, of course, not listen to their music/follow her links to stuff about EE/etc), because you know what? I am used to being offended by everybody who creates media, even artists that I love. Diane Duane wrote A Wizard Alone, where the climax of the plot hinges on magically curing an autistic kid, but that doesn't take anything from my enjoyment of the rest of the series, and I felt the same way about EE. Sure, it's an offensive piece of shit, but in the grand scheme of things it was no big deal. (Yeah, I know that's a really stupid attitude to have. If the world didn't keep making offensive art, I wouldn't have had to get used to it.)
But then the criticisms started showing up. And she decided that the best way to respond to critics was to laugh at them, ignore their concerns, treat them like there's something wrong with them for just not getting the ~~statement she was trying to make, blocking them. And that's when I got really angry. You don't shut down criticism like that, if you're, y'know, an adult and not a kid on the playground. You don't round up all your friends and fans, who follow you blindly, to shame people who disagree with you. You especially don't do that to your fans, and you especially don't do that to your fans when you are an artist who relies on a small-but-dedicated fanbase. Because you fucking need us, Amanda Palmer, we are the people who give you hard-earned money so you can do your ~~art.
And then, this morning, this: "@amanda palmer: nothing to quell a day of internet controversy like red wine, Regina Spektor and people who actually know me."
Guess what? Who you are on the internet? That is you. Things that you do on the internet? You are responsible for doing them. You. You. You. Without getting too far into poststructuralist nonsense, all anybody knows of you is what you choose to present to them and how they interpret that, online or off. I can't stress this enough. Sometimes I almost wish everyone else in the world had the same ridiculous online social anxiety I have, so they would think and think again about everything they said, everything they posted. Because if you think about what you are saying, well, you tend to come off as a whiny, privileged asshole way less often!
I'm not deleting her music from my computer for the same reason I didn't get rid of Elizabeth Bear's books after Racefail: The joy her music gave me still happened, the tough shit listening to her has helped me get through still happened. It might be a while before I can listen to it again, though, knowing that she's just another asshole and, well, not the girl I thought she was.