In the midst of the ongoing Tom Cruise publicity machine/Scientology blitzkrieg, I find myself looking foward less and less to War of the Worlds. I find that my perception of Cruise as a very vocal proponent of Scientology is colouring how I view his work as an actor. (And yes, in the past I have enjoyed his work in a number of his films. He is not the great actor of his generation, but he is effective and enjoyable as a leading man.) But should my personal opinions about his beliefs affect how I experience his work?
It is similar to my experience with Ender’s Game and Orson Scott Card. Ender’s Game was one of my favourite sci-fi books from my teenage years and won both the Hugo and Nebula awards. However, in the past number of years, I have read a number of articles written by him which alter my opinion of him — including his articles denouncing homosexuality and his recent article reacting to the riots in response to the Newsweek article on Guantanamo Bay.
I’m not advocating that Cruise and Card shouldn’t express their views publicly. Go for it. Shout it from the rooftops. I’ll lend you a megaphone.
But I have the equal right to disagree with their message and avoid supporting their views.
But does this mean that their message is connected to and should overlay their artsitic works? Or should we be able to separate our perceptions of an artist’s work from their personal beliefs? Does partaking in their work mean you are tacitly supporting their beliefs?
I don’t know.
I’ll most likely go see War of the Worlds. But I’m not looking forward to it as much as I was before.
And I haven’t re-read Ender’s Game in years.
