Our modern-day economy thrives on capitalism and the entertainment industry thrives on controversy.
This leaves us, the consumers, asking ourselves what we will or won’t support.
After all, who knows how to be an ethical consumer?
Is this not a question we all ask ourselves? How do we consume while maintaining our morality? And how does consumption impact our morality?
This month, news about popular fantasy and science fiction writer, Neil Gaiman, has caused fans to reconsider their support for his work.
Neil Gaiman is a British writer, best known for his books “Good Omens,” “Coraline,” “American Gods,” and “The Graveyard.” The amount of TV Shows and movies that Gaiman has inspired or helped create is hard to count but some of his biggest successes are the “Good Omens” TV show from 2019, “Coraline” the 2009 Claymation film, and “The Sandman” 2017 film and 2022 TV series.
Gaiman has been called one of the best Fantasy and Science Fiction writers of the 20th century. But recent allegations have made fans reevaluate all his creations. Last year, a podcast by Tortoise Media reported on sexual assault allegations against Neil Gaiman. Then, in July of 2024, only five women publicly spoke out against the author.
Now, there are eight. An article published by New York Magazine on Jan. 13, “There is No Safe Word”, details all the allegations quite thoroughly. I will not get into the nitty-gritty of each allegation because I do not claim to have the sources they have, but I can provide some of the key details.
The lead allegation is from a young woman who was a nanny for Gaiman’s son, and her retelling of the event includes lots of attempts to try and leave. Another woman, who didn’t want to be named, explained that while she initially consented to sex with the author, his actions made her uncomfortable and scared. She said her attempts to leave were ignored.
Fans of Gaiman’s work are going back and rereading passages they once thought to be feminist as a monster of an entirely different nature.
While none of these allegations have been proven, and Gaiman himself wrote “I don’t accept there was any abuse,” it has caused many shows and movies related to his work to take a step back. Fans everywhere are shocked and trying to understand how such beautiful works of imagination came from such an ‘awful human being’ (if the allegations are true that is).
While I don’t know for certain how much Neil Gaiman makes off of every book sold, every episode watched, or every movie streamed, I am assuming he does benefit.
How do we, the consumers, decide where to draw the line? At what point does the art separate from the artist? And at what point do we choose to stop consuming the art of problematic creators?
And now that you know more about the artist behind the art, are you still willing to go watch “Coraline” or “Good Omens”?