Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/09/15/macabre-arts-maven-christine.html
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My eyes!!! The Whiteness is blinding!!
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Am I the only one who saw the headline and thought it was that batshit crazy Senate candidate from I believe Delaware in 2010?
Then I realized that was Christine O’Donnell.
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The privilege is stunning.
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Eldrich horrors and gimp storage in the basement supplied at extra cost!
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Is it? She’s a business, and bought this house for business purposes.
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Online, they found an amazing Italianate mansion built in 1873 in central New York and bought it sight unseen
That’s as far as I got. Anyone who thinks this sort of thing would be a harmless romp, doesn’t live in my world.
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Yes. Yes it most certainly is.
Paraphrasing:
“Hi. I bought a house sight unseen across the country and then thought - you know what - I’ll just keep my California house too. You know, the one with 1000 adorably campy tchotchkes that I have the time and money to curate oh so preciously…”
By all means ‘do you.’ But to broadcast it out in this twee tone in this current social context? Tone deaf at best. Ginormous bubble of privilege more likely, which is fair game to be called out.
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Yes I am.
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Yes, perhaps. But also extremely hard work and dedication to her creative endeavors, which is how she got the money to HAVE such privilege. And in this shitty daily horror show we live in, it’s nice to see people taking some joy in life.
Look, I’ll be the first to drag the rich any chance I get. They’re obnoxious, out of touch, and generally odious individuals whose sense of entitlement you can smell from halfway across the country. They don’t do a days real work and hire people to make their homes wonderful (or their ten yachts).
But Christine has busted her ass to get good at what she does and, frankly, deserves a little joy in celebrating her off beat ways. What you call “twee” is simply her way of sharing her love of things, combining her interest in creative arts with Hollywood production and a deep love of horror. When she’s showing off her former home, she’s showing off all the work she did herself personally, not hired people to do for her.
And it’s not even an expensive place. $329,000 for that mansion. Needs a ton of work I’m sure, but she’ll do it justice.
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She’s worked extremely hard for what she has. I’ve been a fan of hers long before she was on YouTube and before she had a small Netflix show. I used to follow her posts on Reddit and I was blown away by her talent, slightly jealous too. I’m so proud of everything she’s accomplished! I don’t believe she deserves comments like these. There’s plenty of privileged influencers that flash their wealthy they barely worked for that you can complain about.
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I’m happy to support people and their art on Patreon, but when they start dropping over 300k on a house (unseen) that’s going to require another several 100k of renovation… Are you supporting their art or lifestyle… and if the lifestyle is their art is this that much different from an influencer house with carefully arranged cobwebs?
Much of the money is coming from people who have less than the artist and I’m wondering if the artist has any responsibility in how that money is used? None, at all? Perhaps, I have several directions on this one and am not sure. In fact I’m not sure about any of this… but people who started small with patreon and are now cleaning up and flaunting their wealth does leave me feeling icky. It feels a bit like they’re still receiving scholarship money after becoming an investment banker and the new kids are locked out of that cash.
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It would appear that the only way to earn your respect is for McConnell to practice her art but to remain financially strapped. And in doing so, she might prove she’s not exploiting anyone. Wealth is subjective; if you have a one room studio apartment, but also a sofa that a homeless person might use to sleep on and to get in out of the cold, you have an extravagance of wealth that the homeless person doesn’t have. You are therefore wealthy in relation to the homeless person. If we compare McConnell to someone who owns a dozen houses, she is no longer viewed as wealthy in context. So. Who decides where boundaries of wealth begin and end? If people are “cleaning up” on Patreon, it would seem you might have an opportunity to “clean up” also, should you have the talent. The opportunity is equal.
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Oh… you’re taking what I said way too far. But I apologize if my tone seemed disrespectful, I never meant for it to be. She has my respect, I like what she does and think she’s very talented at it. While I don’t follow her work I’m always happy to stumble across it and take a quick look. Nor do I think she needs to be poor to accept money. Neither did I compare her to other people to evaluate wealth or tried to make larger comments about her wealth as a whole (of which I know little), and just tried to focus upon this single act. In truth I tried to shift it away from her and instead towards a consideration of Patreon.
I’ll say it again… I’m not sure if this is okay or not, but it feels icky. That might be some issue I have. Perhaps it’s because the idea of owning two houses (for anyone) is a bit much for me. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth looking at what Patreon promised it was going to be and what it has now become.
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Thanks for replying and clarifying the intentions in your original post. I didn’t think you sounded disrespectful. I think the questions you raise are valuable. E.g.: “Do artists owe their patrons any responsibility as to how their earnings are used after they have someone’s financial support?” I think these are long-standing queries that each artist will have to answer for themselves. And patrons will have to decide if the actions and work of the artist deserve their continued support. In a free-market system, financial support is always given willingly, and extracted when the product is no longer valuable to the purchaser. Also, I return an apology to you, if I seemed harsh in my first post. It wasn’t my intention.
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Christine is a hard working female, who made her own way. If you see it as privilege, that’s you projecting.
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Many creepy abodes exist upstate IIRC and may sell cheap because maintenance and utilities are NOT cheap. I could have bought a Finger Lakes mansion for a pittance but fuck the ongoing costs, I’ll stay here in a wildfire zone.
Thank you and well said.
I thought Patreon was for supporting creators to do their work not so you could buy a new house and then keep your old one for “reasons”
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As a resident of the greater NY area I can confirm that there are a number of these old victorian style houses dotting the countryside that are all sitting neglected to some degree or another. Sometimes one I’ve driven by hundreds of times will get bought up and renovated, but equally as often they just sit and continue to rot.
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