As the world slowly begins to open up, entertainment news has been slowly trickling out.
One such unexpected bit of news is of the eventual reboot of Ren & Stimpy.
For those not in the know, Ren & Stimpy was a popular animated series that got a lot of play on Nickelodeon in the 90s.
I talk a big talk about loving Hey Arnold! but I was a HUGE Ren and Stimpy fan. I attribute the show to my twisted dark sense of humour that I’ve carried today into my childhood.
And so when I read on Twitter that Comedy Central was going to bring Ren and Stimpy back, my initial response was…mixed.
For one, I’ve been burned before. The show was rebooted back in the early 2000s on the now-defunct Spike TV (today the Paramount Network) as Ren & Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon. It was crass, unfunny, and just straight up gross. Fool me once…
Second, and it saddens my soul to say, I can’t harbour that same fervent love for the series I once had, as a five-year-old kid jumping off the walls to Happy Happy Joy Joy on Saturday night SNICK.
My love for the show has been tarnished by the actions of the show’s creator, John Krickfalusi.
In 2018, a damning expose was published on Buzzfeed detailing the behind-the-scenes daliances of John K. Apparently, his perversions went beyond the gross-out gags on the small screen. Several female victims have since come forward about John K’s inappropriate behaviour, and John K himself had admitted to carrying on a relationship with an underage 16-year-old girl.
Knowing what I know now, about how the animator who made his claim to fame through children’s entertainment, abused his power to take advantage of young fans and aspiring artists, makes it difficult to watch the show with the same innocent eyes.
Some fans of the show argue that it’s still possible to enjoy the show without the stink of John K. In fact, Kricfalusi was fired by Nickelodeon after the second season of Ren & Stimpy, and the rest of the Games Animation crew took over the duties, with voice actor Billy West doing double duty as both Ren and Stimpy after Kricfalusi’s departure. Some would even argue that some of the best episodes of the series came in seasons 3-5, without any involvement from Kricfalusi.
This is all to ask the overarching question: is it possible to enjoy art if the artist is problematic?
Ren & Stimpy was such a huge part of my childhood, and that can’t be taken away. But it’s hard for me to embrace any sort of nostalgic sentiments for the cartoon when I recognize it came from the mind of someone who caused so much real-world harm and distress to girls who were not much older than me at the time.
That said, I’m looking forward to the reboot, especially since John K. will have no involvement in the new project.
Recently, I’ve decided to continue reading the Harry Potter series after a 20-year hiatus. (I stopped after Goblet of Fire).
J. K. Rowling has recently come under fire for her controversial stance on the transgender community. Her comments are reprehensible, but Rowling is still responsible for the most popular young adult novels of the twenty-first century.
In this instance, I feel can I separate the author’s politics from the universe she created. But I think all creators—be visual artists, singers, writers—need to be mindful of the impact of their actions on the gifts they offer to the world.
What do you think? If a person is mired in scandal, does it effect your enjoyment of their work? Leave your comments below!