Hero Takes A Fall
 

Yes, these words are the title of the old Bangles song:


But this thread is about people you, or others you knew, once admired and no longer do. Examples:

Sammy Sosa-once beloved in Chicago, but hs star fell after he became too much a prima donna, interested in his own glory rather than bringing his team (the Chicago Cubs) to victory. He took steroids, he used an illegal corked bat in a game (which shattered), he alienated his teammates, and now he is a pariah instead of a hero.

Lance Armstrong-a relatively similar story.

Anyone you can name?

Rolf Harris :( I admired his artwork for years. I even stopped clearing the paint off my palette so it looked just like his.
Now he's a convicted paedophile. I can't bring myself to look at his paintings anymore and they were so beautiful.

Ouch. :(

My sister has read a number of German authors. She may not have admired Guenther Grass as such, but she lost all respect for him when it was revealed he had been a soldier in the SS in Nazi Germany-and spent decades having kept it hidden until the opening of East German records revealed the truth. Many others who once admired Grass no longer do so because of this.

Dan Slott.

The man used to be one of my favorite Marvel writers, working on making She-Hulk funny and relevant, giving The Thing an A-list title that ended way too soon, hell his recent work on Silver Surfer is'nt too bad all things considered and reminds me of the "good old days", even if it is just Doctor Who fanfiction in disguise.

But then he got the gig writing Spider-Man in 2008 right off the heels of the infamous OMD storyline, and unfortunatly he's one of those Marvel writers that is not on the side of anyone who liked Peter and MJ married or in a meaningful relationship. In fact, every time someone criticizes his wretched handling of the characters, his absurdly campy approach to writing, and idiot ball storytelling, he frequently vents at, baits and abuses the people venting back at him, bringing up the sales success of his books and then abuses his freedoms as a writer to make the characters act even more irrationally and obnoxiously, essentially doing it to piss fans off. I don't agree with the death threats he received over "Superior Spider-Man" and I acknowledge the sales successes, but having dealt with him personally on Facebook recently, I can no longer approach the man without recommending he see a goddamn shrink. He thinks he's god's gift to Spidey writers when in reality he's the worst thing to ever happen to the franchise, and I'm someone who's lived through Howard F*cking Mackie.

John Krifaluski. Once an excellent cartoonist, by 2003, he was a whiny, disturbed prick.

David S. Goyer. I had immense respect for him from The Christopher Nolan Batman movies. But then I heard him say some weirdly sexist things and I lost that respect for him.

Frank Miller. Loved his early work like The Dark Knight Returns and Batman Year One. Even read and enjoyed some of the comics from his run on Daredevil. But from what I read about him, he's become a real nutcase.

David Sim, author and creator of Cerebus The Aardvark. By the mid-1990's he really went off the deep end and fancied himself some sort of great serious artist, and got nasty to anyone who called him out on it. Actually he ended up becoming nasty period. I wonder how Gerhard was able to put up with him.

None. I've never admired or idolized famous people such as musicians/actors/athletes/etc. because I know they're human and faulty just like everyone else. And since I don't know them personally, why would I care about their personal problems? Being famous does not make them gods. Obviously some of them had crappy later works that have disappointed me as a fan but that's not even close to what this thread refers.

The only people I've truly admired have been my parents, and fortunately, they've never taken a fall. :)

Not my hero, but David Wise can be put in this thread.

The turtles definitely took a fall in that new movie. Woof.

Actually, that would be more of a "jump the shark" situation.

I'm not a big fan myself, but Orson Scott Card is in this category for me. I admired his talent as an author, even if I didn't care for most of his books, but when I discovered his views on women and gays, I was disgusted by some of the comments he has made. Worse still, many of his views have begun appearing in his work, which a writer should NEVER do in fiction. Fiction writers should not push their own political and social agendas in their writing. PERIOD.

Agreed. I respected his impact on the franchise, but his snarky claim to have "created" most of it is laughable and reeks of sour grapes.

Done all the time by many different writers though. Ask Robert Heinlein, Ursula LeGuin, etc.