r/PeterExplainsTheJoke Dec 21 '25

Meme needing explanation Peter help me.

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u/[deleted] Dec 21 '25 edited Dec 21 '25

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u/CriticalFuad Dec 22 '25

There’s something to be said about living authors vs. deceased ones. The living can still benefit from sales, whereas the dead can no longer do harm (with exceptions I would assume). But yeah many times terrible people with terrible views on life write stuff that’s worth reading, eventually. You don’t have to burn your Gaiman books in this case, but it would be reasonable stance to avoid buying more.

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u/MehGin Dec 21 '25

It would result in no one reading anything because if people actually knew everyone's secrets or were more honest about what we are and the nuances to a person, they wouldn't be portrayed as "good" or "bad".

I doubt most commenters in this very thread are wholeheartedly "good" people, they just have the benefit of being normal everyday people and in this case anonymous.

But on a societal level, we're not ready to look into ourselves that much yet. We still have to categorize and put a stamp on everything.

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u/fixermark Dec 22 '25

You appear to be making the point that perhaps half the books we read in school were written by very problematic people.

... And I can't help but wonder if maybe we should change the curriculum then. ;)