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Authenticity is Everything
The Cancel Culture and its Effects on Autograph Collecting
I am wondering how - if at all - any of you may have been affected by the ever-increasing "cancellation" of celebrities in respect of their presence in your collections.
Has anyone "thrown out" (or felt compelled to do so) their Kevin Spaceys, Harvey Weinsteins, Will Smiths etc.
Not just Hollywood, of course, loads of other celebs in the entertainment fields. Also historical figures - it feels like each new day brings some new revelation about somebody which affects their reputation very negatively.
As a collector, how do you deal with this? Is it even relevant?
I am, myself, conflicted about the issue. It is on my mind because in the last week or so I have acquired a couple of items about which I was initially excited/very pleased to get, One, a very early book by a contemporary writer whose work I had admired many years ago but whose progress I hadn't really bothered to follow with much dedication. Turns out this author's reputation was pretty much killed by a sex scandal in the 1990's, It came as a surprise to me - if I had been able to find a bibliography for him other than Wikipedia I would be none the wiser. But I am affected now by this knowledge - in a negative way.
The second thing, an art piece, early 20th Century. Now I should have known about this fellow's reputation but I didn't - my bad. But - what an absolute creep. I can't enjoy looking at this picture knowing what I know now. I feel like burning it, tbh (yes, it's that bad!).
No answers here, only questions.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Findbooks on
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No doubt he was cancelled at the time, Eddy, but I would be surprised if there is a serious autograph collector on the planet who wouldn't snap your hand off for that.
I had to look at Wiki to remind myself of his peccadilloes. Certainly questionable that he married a 16-year old when he was in his late 50's - does it make him a paedophile? 16 is still the age of consent in the UK.
The rest seems to have been attempts to smear due to his political views.
I certainly would not include him in the company of Harvey Weinstein or Jimmy Saville, e.g. and would have no second thoughts about buying something related to him - but is that just about my preferences?
No answers, only questions.
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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on
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My thoughts as well. It's The Little Tramp! Highly desirable. A huge gulf between him and some creature like Saville.
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Permalink Reply by Eddy on
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It's hard to imagine the persecution he encountered at the time. He literally did go into exile. He was vindicated though, of course. He also received an honorary Oscar as an elderly man for lifetime achievement. If I recall correctly, the applause he received that night is still the record for length at any of the awards:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3Pl-qvA1X8
There's a book that's just been published in the last month by the brilliant Scott Eyman that apparently draws some parallels with our cancel culture of today:
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How do people explain the demand for the Nazi "celebrities," especially Hitler? His autograph commands thousands. My late father smuggled an autographed photo of Hitler when he came home from WWII. None of us knew of the photo until my father's death. None of us wanted it, so we sent it to auction house, sold it, and donated the proceeds to the National Holocaust Museum through an attorney. We were stunned that the Hitler signed photo went for over $5000!
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Permalink Reply by Josh Board NEW & Improved on
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while i didn't want to keep my OJ autograph and would never buy one of say....Hitler or Roman Polanski, etc....let's look at the other side of the coin. I bet EVERY one of you, has an autograph of someone in your collection that wasn't a good person.
Kobe Bryant would be one person. Michael Jackson (child molester). Ty Cobb, etc etc etc. And, you'll just justify owning those.
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