Phillip Larkin

It’s not surprising that people would disown their love of an artist and their work after discovering flaws in the artist personal character. That’s basically what this article is saying, is that Larkin was a beloved poet and novelist until everyone found out he was a racist pervert. I think to disown your love of someone or their work based on what you consider to be a flawed character is ignorant. Let’s look at another example of this from our history of America. Most of our early forefathers who we honor and cherish more than two hundred years after their passing were themselves slave-owners and built this nation on the principle that all men are created equal, as long as their skin is pale and they are of the male persuasion. By today’s standards, neither racism nor sexism is acceptable, but we still love our founding fathers. Why? Because although their character was essentially flawed by our standards, their goodwill and good intentions overshadows those flaws. Let’s look at another example from a more modern time. The blockbuster at cinemas this summer was Dark Knight and was considered by most critics of the film industry to be a masterpiece. If tabloids came out tomorrow stating that the director, Christopher Nolan, was a perverted racist, then would that make the film any less of a masterpiece? Another way to look at it is if Christopher Nolan wasn’t a perverted racist, would the film have still been a masterpiece? Christopher Nolan, just like Phillip Larkin, is a unique and one in seven billion human being so if Larkin wasn’t exactly who he was, could he have written the literature that his cash customers came to love and respect. If he wasn’t flawed in the ways people believed him to be, then he wouldn’t be the same Phillip Larkin that wrote what he wrote.