The Critic

You ever hear that "everyone is a critic"?
Yep, rough, especially if people don't know where you're coming from. They shouldn't either. Because as an artist your art needs to speak for itself. And if it's an agenda you're tackling, people will be unkind. Not because they're jerks. Because they're opinionated jerks.

Art is so subjective. A lot of this is because everyone has a truth they hold to themselves as what is art. No one knows. Even I think I know. But I don't. I just make what I can and hope for the best.

But the minute you add in tropes. For instance, child abuse, elderly abuse, alcoholism...now you've tacked on something people can grasp onto. The truth for them. For instance, if it were about alcohol, I'd think I were the expert. A million experts chiming in on it. All with a valid opinion. None with a modicum of skill to do what is already done. And that is the aggravation of art.