I

t seems that society has 
a sort of rule of thumb in 
which artists are forgiven 

by history for 
their “strange 
behavior” 
because 
of 

their 
ability 

to 
create 
celebrated 
pieces, 

such as movies, books, etc. By 
“strange behavior,” I don’t mean 
the unusual oddities exhibited 
by geniuses, such as Nikola 
Tesla’s supposed habit of flexing 
his toes one hundred times a 
day. I’m talking about the more 
heinous crimes that were either 
not considered morally wrong 
during the artist’s lifetime or 
were simply ignored by those 
around them. Artists who are 
convicted or accused of rape 
or assault are, more often than 
not, forgiven, their actions are 
forgotten 
and 
they 
become 

idolized within their field by 
history. In contrast, the people 
who have accused these artists 
are 
oftentimes 
criticized 
by 

society — ostracized for daring 
to tarnish the reputation of such 
a respected person. Perhaps it is 
a desire to be able to enjoy the 
works of these artists without 
the distastefulness of knowing 
that this piece was created by 
a terrible human being that 
prompts the forgetfulness in 
regards to these crimes. 

The situation, in one case at 

least, appears to be changing. 
Recently, 
Bill 
Cosby 
has 

suffered a very public fall from 
grace, 
and 
though 
various 

celebrities still support the 
ex-comedian, it seems that his 
once-respectable 
name 
will 

forever 
be 
tarnished. 
Even 

if Cosby’s health were in a 
better state, I doubt that he 
would be able to find the same 
opportunities for work as he 
once had. Though I remain 
hopeful that Cosby’s downfall 
will eventually lead to the 
downfall of other celebrities 
who have been accused of 
sexual 
assault, 
I 
remain 

doubtful. 
Roman 
Polanski, 

who fled to France after being 
accused of sexually assaulting a 
13-year-old girl, is still making 
critically 
acclaimed 
movies. 

Woody Allen, whose film “Cafe 
Society” will be released this 
year, has garnered favorable 
reviews and featured an A-list 
cast, in spite of the fact that 
his adopted daughter, Dylan 
O’Sullivan Farrow, has accused 
him of sexually assaulting her 
(let’s also not forget the fact 
that Allen is married to a girl 
whom he met when she was 
not yet a teenager and was the 
adopted daughter of the woman 
Allen was then in a romantic 
relationship with). There’s a 
slew of other artists who have 
been convicted of predatory 
behavior, yet these actions are 
often forgotten by the media.

Since the mere fact that 

Bill Cosby has been indicted 
seems to be groundbreaking, 
it is interesting to consider 
what the future holds for other 
perpetrators who are now being 
punished. This is something I 
have thought of a lot recently, 
especially in regards to the 
publication of a piece by Dylan 
O’Sullivan Farrow’s brother, 
Ronan Farrow, “My Father, 
Woody Allen, and the Danger 
of Questions Unasked.” Though 
this piece appears to be a 
call to action to the media, it 
remains debatable what the 
role of critics, movie-goers 
and academics must play in 
response to respected men being 
recognized as perpetrators. I 
myself have decided to boycott 
any future film that Woody 
Allen decides to make. Though 
I enjoyed “Midnight in Paris” 
and 
“Annie 
Hall,” 
Woody 

Allen’s work is now effectively 
off-limits to me. I have never 
been a fan of Polanski’s work 
— 
I 
thought 
“Chinatown” 

perpetuated 
and 
minimized 

rape culture — so boycotting 
his work is obviously not going 
to be as hard as boycotting 

Allen. Though I enjoyed the 
“The Cosby Show” as a child, 
I have now decided to avoid it 
altogether in any way, shape or 
form.

I’m not asking for everyone 

to do what I am doing; I am 
instead hoping that the crimes 
of these men will not be swept 
under 
the 
rug 
by 
critics, 

academics or movie-goers. I 
hope that in the future, these 
artists are looked at holistically 
— that their actions outside of 
their creations be evaluated as 
well. Though I do believe that 
boycotting these artists’ newer 
works is the least we can do 
for the people whom they have 
allegedly assaulted, I wouldn’t 
expect others to subscribe to 
my actions outside of that, 
especially because it will be 
hard to try to ignore the huge 
effects that these men have 
had on their respective fields. 
Countless 
comedians 
cite 

Cosby as an influence, Allen’s 
work has been groundbreaking 
in the world of comedy and 
Polanski 
is 
highly-respected 

by many critics. It seems that 
it would be too much to ask for 
history to completely forget 
these men and their legacies. 
Whether we like it or not, the 
things that these men have 
done will be remembered for a 
period of time. The most we can 
hope for is that people will be 
aware that these masterpieces 
were created by bad people and 
stop trying to turn these artists 
into legends. Though these men 
may have been great at their 
craft, it should be remembered 
first that they abused other 
human beings, and, secondly, 
that 
they 
had 
many 
great 

accomplishments 
in 
their 

career. To do otherwise would 
be disrespectful to those they 
abused, as well as every other 
survivor who comes across the 
work of these artists.

—Elena Hubbell can be 

reached at annapl@umich.edu.

M

ost of the time when I 
attend a University of 
Michigan-sponsored 

lecture 
from 

someone 
in 

the technology 
industry — be 
it a designer, 
researcher, teacher, engineer or 
investor — he or she focuses on 
choices they made to keep their 
business, 
product 
or 
process 

authentic and diverse. However, 
there often seems to be an 
elephant in the room, so to speak. 
Rarely do these speakers discuss 
their finances. It’s no secret 
that if a speaker is invited to a 
University event, they are a leader 
in their field, often with years of 
experience at various positions. 
It’s not a stretch to believe they are 
financially successful — especially 
if this speaker is from a Silicon 
Valley company or an up-and-
coming startup. It’s also not a 
stretch to believe that some of the 
students who attend these events 
are aiming for similar career 
trajectories. And money, whether 
you like it or not, is a massive factor 
in deciding upon a path for many 
people — particularly for students 
with years’ worth of loan debt.

I recently attended a talk given 

by Erin Teague, a University alum 
and Silicon Valley businesswoman 
and engineer. She spoke at the 
School of Information as part of the 
“Women in Information Careers” 
series. The expected questions 
about being a woman of color in 
the industry, job satisfaction and 
time management began to flow in. 
However, Teague largely steered 
the discussion toward her rise 
from UM undergraduate engineer 
to various jobs at Morgan Stanley, 
Harvard and in Silicon Valley, 
including her current management 
position at Yahoo. Not only did she 
focus on the specific choices she 
made to ascend these positions, but 
she also highlighted the financial 
impacts each choice had on her 
life.

I had never heard a speaker 

discuss their personal finances 

candidly, whether the speaker was 
male or female. Usually speakers 
focus so much on promoting the 
message of the company that they 
overlook the sea of debt-ridden 
internship seekers in front of them. 
Students are even more nervous as 
they see the career model of their 
parents’ generation — working 
for 30 years at the same company 
and retiring with a full pension — 
is neither viable nor particularly 
desirable for themselves. It was a 
breath of fresh air when Teague 
spoke frankly that professionals 
should see their time and skills as 
money-making assets and follow 
both their interests and their 
wallets to the best opportunities 
that arise, and not simply stay 
comfortable with their original 
negotiation. 
Teague 
advocated 

for professionals to weigh the 
benefits of salary, equity, options, 
etc. and confidently renegotiate 
when appropriate. She spoke of 
evaluating these assets at market 
value, negotiating confidently and 
effectively for raises and knowing 
what you are worth, monetarily 
speaking.

Equal pay for equal work is 

a concept that is rightfully and 
finally in the zeitgeist as feminism 
and social equity become common 
sense. But we need to get past 
simply discussing the problems 
of women being paid less and 
of 
recent 
graduates 
entering 

uncharted territory. We need to 
have upfront conversations with 
students 
about 
understanding 

how to value themselves and their 
abilities. We need more people 
— more women — like Teague 
speaking out honestly and without 
fear of seeming too materialistic, 
too ambitious or too masculine to 
educate college students on how to 
take advantage of their degrees. We 
need to not be afraid to broach the 
taboo of truly fair compensation 
in discussion — because money 
isn’t everything, but it certainly is 
important.

—Madeline Nowicki can be 

reached at nowickim@umich.edu.

5
OPINION

Thursday, June 2, 2016

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

INTERESTED IN CAMPUS ISSUES? 

Every Monday at 7 pm, the Daily’s opinion staff meets 

to discuss both University and national affairs and 

write editorials. 

E-mail opinioneditors@michigandaily.com to join in 

the conversation. 

ELENA 
HUBBELL

Recognizing the evil in our icons
Let’s talk about value

Roland Davidson, Caitlin Heenan, Jeremy Kaplan, 

Madeline Nowicki, Kevin Sweitzer, Brooke White.

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

MADELINE 
NOWICKI

