I've lost track of the number of times I've heard people say that famous movie stars/writers/musicians 'should remember the people who put them where they are'; that is to say, be indebted to their viewers, listeners or readers. This started me thinking (which is always a dangerous thing). Is there anything terribly altruistic about buying a book, watching a film or listening to a piece of music? Correct me if I'm wrong (don't let the fact that I own a shotgun put you off*), but don't we buy books/music/movies because it pleases us to read, listen to or watch them? We don't do these things out of the goodness of our hearts... we do them because it makes us happy. So, why should the creators of these things 'remember' us? And what would remembering us entail exactly? I buy a lot of vegetables. Should the farming community remember me? Or is it only creative people who are earning a lot of money who need to do this remembering?
What are we owed, really, when we buy a book or rent a movie, besides being allowed to read it or watch it? We get what we pay for; the creator owes us nothing more. I have some Stephen King books around here somewhere, but I didn't put him where he is. He put him where he is. I watch 'Murder, She Wrote', but I think the show's success is down to Angela Lansbury, not me. We pay for their work because it's good... they're not good simply because we pay for it.
I'm not saying that I don't believe wildly successful people ever feel indebted to those who pay to enjoy their work. I'm saying that I simply don't understand any viewer/listener/reader's insistence that they are owed something more than the opportunity to enjoy what they paid for.
There seems to be the implication that the creative work in itself is not enough... that the person who buys it is being short changed in some way. We hand over £10 for a bottle of wine without suggesting that the owner of the vineyard should 'remember' us, so what makes a man who writes books or songs so different from a man who makes wine?
* I do not actually own a shotgun. But I do own a frying pan and have amazing upper body strength for a 5'4" female, so that may influence your decision.
