Warning, this story is really horrific and will be heartbreaking for any fans of his, but Neil Gaiman is a sadistic [not in the BDSM sense] sexual predator with a predilection for very young women.
Paywall bypass: https://archive.is/dfXCj
Warning, this story is really horrific and will be heartbreaking for any fans of his, but Neil Gaiman is a sadistic [not in the BDSM sense] sexual predator with a predilection for very young women.
Paywall bypass: https://archive.is/dfXCj
No clue what he did (have not yet read the article). Haven’t really consumed any of his media. But I did buy a coloring book based on some TV show he did?
Anyway, I bought that book because of how fucking weird it was. I remember thinking at the time the artist behind it seemed like a pretty twisted up dude.
I’m surprised everyone else is surprised, but my perspective is fairly unique - not having experienced/enjoyed any of his art beyond some crazy coloring book without the context to understand the pictures.
This is probably one of those perspectives that’s best kept to yourself - or at least not shouted through a megaphone, as is the effect of posting your thoughts online. Please don’t take my tone as harsh or judgemental there, just friendly advice. I know you mean well, but your unique perspective really doesn’t give you the opportunity to grasp just how much Gaiman seemed to genuinely be a good person. He wrote the kind of stories that were powerful and meaningful to marginalized people in particular. He focused on voices and perspectives rarely given the spotlight at the times when he was writing, and he wrote sensitively and thoughtfully about issues facing women, queer people and people of colour despite being, to my knowledge, none of those things himself.
For a lot of people this is genuinely heart breaking. It’s easy to say that you should never put anyone on a pedestal, but Neil was one of his rare people who really seemed like he deserved the acclaim and the trust that he was given. While I absolutely get that you mean no harm by what you’re saying here, it unfortunately comes across as very smug and self-serving in a situation where a lot of people are dealing with a very real and very justified sense of abject betrayal.
This comment didn’t need to be made.
You really, really should use this as an example for yourself in the future to read the room. That means read the article before making a thoughtless comment on something you obviously didn’t fully grasp.
As if the comment section is some sacred place where only somber reflection can occur.
I genuinely liked the other person’s thoughtful response.
You just seem bitter.
You apparently still haven’t read the article. Given the reactions to your comment, you may want to go see why the comments are “sombre”, as you put it.
It’s behind a paywall for me. Did you read it?
I did. It’s a culture vulture article, you just need to use an incognito tab.
As unpleasant as the content is, just read the article. And remember that lots of folks have trusted Neil Gaiman for a long time (I’m 50) to tell stories they connect with, especially in the 90s when there were fewer writers to do so.
I… don’t understand why you felt the need to share this. You didn’t read the article and aren’t familiar with his work? What is it that you are contributing? What are you saying that others should hear?
Respectfully, it sounds like you are talking to hear yourself talk. Not every memory or thought I’d worth sharing, in fact, most are better left unsaid.
Especially when it’s about coloring books in a thread about systemic and repeated rape.
I found it interesting to think about his darker side hidden in plain view all along. Didn’t seem like the sort of thing that would be offensive.
It’s clearly a bad faith statement to characterize my comment as being about “coloring books” in a thread about “systemic and repeated rape”.
Read the comments. People are upset they don’t get to like one of their favorite authors anymore. That’s what the thread is about.
You evoked rape to strengthen your argument? That’s fucking gross.
It’s literally what the article is about. Which would’ve been a faster read than you arguing with pointing at your out of place comment. Not informing yourself is a very odd thing to get defensive over.
Cool. This is about a rapist who enjoys inflicting pain on very young women, but I’m glad you enjoyed the coloring book of someone else’s art based on his stories.
(He’s a writer, not an artist.)