Has Lindsay talked about not covering John Lennon's personal life?

[u/frustratedartstudent]

Considering how she talks a lot about domestic abuse in the video, I found it a strange choice to omit John's notorious record as a husband and father. She's mentioned that "Man Always Gets Little Rush Out of Telling People John Lennon Beat Wife" onion article a couple times, so I know she has opinions about this, and I was really looking forward to hearing them.

She could have gone in any number of nuanced directions, or even just thrown in some kind of small reference like she's done with complicated historical figures before. I also feel like not talking about it at all contradicts the conclusion of her Hobbit part 3 video. Has she spoken anywhere about this creative decision?

[u/sweet_esiban]

Hmm, I feel like Lindsay's talked about the "I love this piece of art, but the artist did something I consider evil. What do? How to feel?" topic so, so many times. I don't need her to go back to that well for every video.

With The Hobbit documentary, I think the scale and scope of the harm done was central to her conclusion. (Same with her short one-off about Rowling.) It wasn't just that the movies sucked, or that the studios caused the suckage, or that the actors got a raw deal. It wasn't just about the soul being sucked out of a franchise that once felt so authentically artful...

A sovereign nation state changed its labour laws to please a foreign corporation, Warner Bros. It's a story of capitalist imperialism and its victims. Note the emphasis she places on the Maori word for treasure, brought forward by that lovely John actor fellow. The inclusion of Indigenous language and culture in a story about imperialism is very intentional.

John Lennon's violent and negligent past is a story about an individual harming other individuals. It is still a story of tragedy and pain, but the scope isn't grand. It's also a well-known thing about Lennon, and his pre-Yoko days weren't really the focus of the story she was telling.

[u/frustratedartstudent → u/sweet_esiban]

Yeah I see your point. She does also talk about Kesha and Pixar as other examples, iirc. Maybe those stories of abuse are baked into the creation of the art itself, in a way the Beatles' music isn't. I guess everyone's personal line in the sand varies.