• Diabolo96@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    9 days ago

    Both of his parents were extremely mentally ill from syphilis. That’s why the theme of generational curse is so prominent in his work.

    As for how racist he was, You just need to know that he wrote a book where the big revelation and last sentence of the book was something along the lines of, “worst of all, she was an n-word”. The book’s name is Medusa’s coil

    • slacktoid@lemmy.ml
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      9 days ago

      Yeah he was a homophobe and a racist for sure. But how much more than anyone else from his time. I love the themes he brings in but I think other people have done a good job of showing his ideas without the fear he had in him, Shape of water comes to mind and I think del Toro does a great job in showing those themes of the unknown and all.

      There’s a video on his (HP) work by HBomberguy which I think is really good.

      I didnt know about the reason for his generational curse… That’s pretty cool!

      • Jiggle_Physics@sh.itjust.works
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        7 days ago

        He was racist to the point where friends, and acquaintances, of his, at the time, were put-off by it. Their expression of how uncomfortable it made them was one of the factors that went into him renouncing his bigotry.

      • Jiggle_Physics@sh.itjust.works
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        7 days ago

        His racism was bad enough that his friends, and acquaintances, at the time, found it off-putting. Their expression of how uncomfortable it made them was one of the factors that eventually lead to him renouncing his bigotry.

      • TrousersMcPants@lemmy.world
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        9 days ago

        Personally I think Lovecraft having these issues makes him a more fascinating author to me. The fear of otherness is so prevalent in his work, it’s like looking directly into his soul