Philip Spiess
I tried drawing the line, but I'm not a very good artist.
On the other hand (maybe I should try to draw with that hand), one of my cultural heroes is Richard Wagner, who was a totally despicable individual from all accounts receivable; who demanded everything of everybody; who nearly bankrupted the state of Bavaria by his monetary demands on its ruler, "Mad" King Ludwig II, of the House of Wittelsbach; who was anti-Semitic, although his favorite -- and the best -- conductors working under him were Jewish; who stole the young wife (Liszt's daughter) away from his principal conductor, Hans von Bulow, causing von Bulow, Liszt, and Cosima (the daughter and wife) to adore him faithfully the rest of their lives; who was banned politically for years in the German states and who is today a cultural hero there; whose early operas were trounced in Paris, yet that is where they had their first great successes; at whose feet the great German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche first worshipped as a young lad, then later threw him over when he realized what a cad Wagner was (and then Nietzsche promptly went mad); whose legacy, thanks to his philosophy and offspring, was a virulent form of Nazi supernationalism, yet he is culturally revered in most Western capitals today -- I could go on and on, but you get the idea.
Then there was that drunken sot and penniless ne'er-do-well, Edgar Allan Poe. . . .
Or the lascivious Charles Chaplin, lusting after under-age maidens. . . .
And hmm. I just read this line in the book I'm currently reading: "'Funny where people draw the line when it comes to their morality, isn't it?'"
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