What Do We Do with the Art of Monstrous Men? (5200)

Claire Dederer’s article touched on an issue that has been on the minds of many throughout the whole #MeToo movement. She asks the question, ‘Is it okay to still enjoy the art of those who have hurt and taken advantage of others?’ She opens the article by listing off the names of famous men that have been accused or convicted of sexual assault or harassment. Anyone paying attention to the news in 2017, when the article was published, would immediately be tuned into the subject of the article, if the title didn’t already give it away. She lists 17 names, most of whose allegations we have known about for years, and all of which have at least one renowned work of art or attribution to their name. Doing this, she sets up the juxtaposition between fame and accountability well. 

Hearing a woman talk about her conflicted feelings about liking the art of men who hurt other women was very impactful. I don’t think this article could have been written by a man and have come across the same. The conflict lies in the guilt that Dederer feels at wanting to watch and enjoy the movies of Woody Allen or Roman Polanski. She expressly claims that guilt and therefore claims accountability for her thoughts. 

The intended audience for this article I think is split. On one hand, she is speaking to other women who might be in the same predicament. A lot of her anecdotes impress upon the shared experiences of women in a world where assault and harassment are so common. On the other, she is speaking to men who might not understand that predicament at all. Her remarks on the backlash she received for even mentioning the discomfort that one of Allen’s movies gave her is proof enough that that was a perspective that men just didn’t have. 

Dederer’s closing is equally as powerful as her opening. Her comparison of the indiscretions of male artists versus those of female artists creates a stark contrast between the way the world views men and women. The audience is left questioning their own conceptions of monstrousness and how they perceive art.