# 18 Oct 2005, 01:51PM: The Fear Of Jerkitude:
Harlan Ellison v. Penny Arcade, and the court rules in favor of no one at all. If you have to be a jerk to be a successful and ambitious artist or businessperson, then what of those who don't want to be jerks?It often takes
self-confidence and self-immersion verging on the level of sociopathy
for creators to get their ideas on film or paper or CD without giving
in to all the "helpful" agents and marketers and producers who want to
water their vision down. And strong perspectives, especially outré
ones, generally produce the most interesting art. I've gotten to
interview a lot of my artistic idols over the last half-decade, and
guess what? Some of them are just not nice. And so what?