Tense times in the tentacle fandom
In which Zelda tags me, Kestrell, and Alexx in a post about H.P. Lovecraft, and I go off on the original post for spreading misinformation. I feel like a jerk, but I can't sit idly by and let this kind of nonsense circulate. Again with the "creative person was hallucinating" and "person with gross worldview was crazy and therefore a bigot" bullshit memes. ( Last time it was the "Salem witch hysteria was caused by ergot fungus" misinformation.)
From the OP:
Howard Phillips Lovecraft was an absolute trainwreck of a human being who among other things:
The “hallucinating due to malnutrition” thing here is BULLSHIT.
Lovecraft imagined strange things and wrote strange stories because he had an imagination. Lovecraft expressed disgust with various races and ethnic groups because he was a bigot and a white supremacist. You don’t need to be hallucinating for any of those things to happen.
Seriously, why does everybody throughout history with an imagination get relegated to the status of “hallucinating” or “on drugs” or “undiagnosed brain problems created this person’s personality”? That is such a crock. And yet, it’s everywhere. People will tell you that X religious leader, Y racist bigot, and Z public hysteria victim were “just high on ergot fungus” or “suffering from mercury poisoning” or “undiagnosed schizophrenic.” As if human beings couldn’t think things up and then convince themselves the thoughts were real!
At least, I wish people would stop circulating the “Lovecraft was crazy/delusional” meme. Maybe he had brain problems, we could speculate endlessly. My point is that even if Lovecraft was “hallucinating,” which I don’t for a second believe, but even if he was, that doesn’t make a person into either a writer or a racist. It kinda sounds as if OP buys into that idea; correct me if I’m wrong.
Gah. It's as I've said before: there's no resentment quite like the resentment between members of a very small and specialized hobby (in this case, fans of Lovecraft's letters). I would like to get to know OP, because goodness knows there aren't a lot of people who show this kind of interest in the letters and facts behind them. On the other hand, I fear I may have established myself as Grumpy Old Fan Who Will School You on the tumblrs.
From the OP:
Howard Phillips Lovecraft was an absolute trainwreck of a human being who among other things:
- Did extensive colonial era roleplay via the mail with his penpals and even dated regular correspondence as 17- just because he could.
- WROTE SO MANY LETTERS HE IS SECOND ONLY TO VOLTAIRE IN THE SHEER VOLUME OF CORRESPONDENCE WE HAVE FROM ANY SINGLE PERSON
- Once sat in the same chair for 9 hours from 10 pm to 7 am because a cat was sitting on his lap and he didn’t want to disturb it.
- Was terrified of seafood and most plants; as a result of this he lived primarily on a diet of baked beans and candy and (it has been theorized) was therefore constantly hallucinating from malnutrition.
The “hallucinating due to malnutrition” thing here is BULLSHIT.
Lovecraft imagined strange things and wrote strange stories because he had an imagination. Lovecraft expressed disgust with various races and ethnic groups because he was a bigot and a white supremacist. You don’t need to be hallucinating for any of those things to happen.
Seriously, why does everybody throughout history with an imagination get relegated to the status of “hallucinating” or “on drugs” or “undiagnosed brain problems created this person’s personality”? That is such a crock. And yet, it’s everywhere. People will tell you that X religious leader, Y racist bigot, and Z public hysteria victim were “just high on ergot fungus” or “suffering from mercury poisoning” or “undiagnosed schizophrenic.” As if human beings couldn’t think things up and then convince themselves the thoughts were real!
At least, I wish people would stop circulating the “Lovecraft was crazy/delusional” meme. Maybe he had brain problems, we could speculate endlessly. My point is that even if Lovecraft was “hallucinating,” which I don’t for a second believe, but even if he was, that doesn’t make a person into either a writer or a racist. It kinda sounds as if OP buys into that idea; correct me if I’m wrong.
Gah. It's as I've said before: there's no resentment quite like the resentment between members of a very small and specialized hobby (in this case, fans of Lovecraft's letters). I would like to get to know OP, because goodness knows there aren't a lot of people who show this kind of interest in the letters and facts behind them. On the other hand, I fear I may have established myself as Grumpy Old Fan Who Will School You on the tumblrs.