Authorial responsibility

One of the first novels that Stephen King ever wrote was a short piece of suspenseful nastiness called Rage, which was eventually published under his Richard Bachman pseudonym. Rage is about a troubled young man who takes his high school classroom hostage. After the massacre at Columbine, Stephen King opted to have the novel fall out of print. He was not pressured to do so. This was his choice.

But should authors (and filmmakers and artists and musicians) be held accountable for the actions of their fans? I've written elsewhere on this blog my thoughts about artistic responsibility, so what follows is just a brief encapsulation of my views on the subject of whether an artist, to prevent toxic inspiration, should self-censor:

No.

And no.

And furthermore: no.

Except maybe.

Please note that I'm referring to creators of fiction. Media commentators who incite violence should absolutely be held accountable. Politicians should absolutely be held accountable for any inflammatory nature of their speeches. There absolutely is a specific responsibility embedded in the communication of truths. I'm not saying they should censor themselves. I'm saying they should be willing to accept some of the blame if, frankly, a member of their audience does what they are telling him to do.

But artists don't tell people what to do. A work of art is not an imperative. If life imitates art, it's only because art has already imitated life. Even the most fantastical stories draw from what already exists. Stephen King didn't invent school shootings. It is impossible to control what a reader/viewer/listener will draw from a work. This is one of art's strengths.

However.

Currently, I'm writing a series of novels which deal with murder. I've done a great deal of research to prepare. Verisimilitude is very important to me. It's also important to me for the villains in my stories to be, for the most part, clever. The most estimable the villain, the better the story. But what if one of these clever murders inspires a real-life copycat? What if a reader uses one of my stories as a blueprint to commit an actual crime? Should I be held accountable? No.

Is this something I think about when I write?

Yes.

And it does worry me. It honestly does. All writers want their work to contribute something to the world, but none but the megalomaniacal would want their work to contribute that. I don't temper my plot out of fear, but I do know that I am putting something out there that contains darkness and I am wrapping it in entertainment. My art is imitating life. There are crazy people in the world. My hope, I suppose, is that none of them mistake my novels for textbooks.

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