Roman Polanski in 1980.
Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Roman Polanski, seen here in 1980, has made films that many now find difficult to watch.

If this summer's seemingly endless parade of beloved public figures bound for the great beyond earned it the blunt but evocative nickname the Summer Of Death, recent weeks have underlined another pop-culture trend that's far less bittersweet — but that might help define 2009 nonetheless. Call it the Year Of The Fan's Discomfort.

The latest example, of course, is Sunday's arrest of Roman Polanski, which once again puts the director's past front and center in the public imagination. Before that, former teen star Mackenzie Phillips went on Oprah and told the world that her father, Mamas and the Papas leader John Phillips, had sex with her when she was 19. Earlier in the summer, meanwhile, iconic record producer Phil Spector earned a sentence of 19 years to life — for murder.

And in each instance, there's a thorny question lurking behind the news reports: "How can I listen to his music, or watch his movies, in light of this?"

Difficult questions, after the jump.

 

Each of the above-mentioned men has contributed immensely to his field: Polanski is one of the great film directors, Spector arguably rock 'n' roll's greatest producer, and Phillips pere the shepherd not only of one of the great groups of the '60s folk-rock explosion but also of the Monterey Pop Festival, which helped turn Jimi Hendrix and the Who into superstars.

They've also been accused of — in Spector's case, convicted of, and in Polanski's case pleaded guilty to — despicable acts. For a lot of people, that's enough to cast a pall over their professional accomplishments. But I'd like to posit an uneasy mental truce separating the art from the person.