Recently, I made a trip to the Second Chance Thrift Store on Demers to pop some tags and partake in other various thrift store related activities.

While I was there, I took a look at the vinyl they had on hand at the time, and I noticed something odd: there were 13 Manhattan Transfer albums, and a dozen Bill Cosby comedy albums.

This led to the question “What did Manhattan Transfer do?”

As it turned out: nothing. But this made me think about the reason that Bill Cosby’s multitude of comedy albums had ended up in a charity shop. It wasn’t because they sucked, or  that no one knew what to do with them.

They were worn, as if they had been used a lot. It looked as if someone had really enjoyed those albums at one point. They were there because Bill Cosby has been accused of many sexual assaults.

But that doesn’t make his comedy more or less funny. This was recorded well before any allegations had surfaced against Cosby.

Don’t get me wrong, I think Cosby more than likely did all of the things these women are saying he did. But should that change my opinion about the art he made?

Take Richard Wagner, for example, a fantastic composer from Germany who left a large influence on the artistic world.

He was also an anti-semite.

There are countless writings in which Wagner expresses his negative feelings for the Jewish people. And yet, we still hear his music performed, even after it became part of Nazi propaganda.

Another example is the infamous case of Roman Polanski. Polanski is a visionary director who has made many amazing films. He was also indicted for sexual assault in 1977 and fled the country.

You could go on, whether it’s the racist antics of Chevy Chase, or R. Kelly’s incident with his urine, artists have done horrible things, but should I allow that to characterize my view of their art?

On one hand, I love movies by Polanski, but I acknowledge what he has done. I shouldn’t let that, however, color my vision of his work.

On the other hand, you could argue that loving these people’s work could enable them to behave in the way that they do.

In the end, I try to separate the art from the artist, and view it by itself. So if “Fat Albert,” or “The Cosby Show,” come on, I might still give them a watch.

Alex Bertsch is the opinion editor for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected].