I read the news today, oh boy... John Lennon, December 8th 1980

Funkfingers

axisus said:

it seems like he was a pretty unpleasant bloke, which has coloured my opinion somewhat.

An unhappy childhood may explain some of that. The wife beating was synchronous with his alcoholic "lost weekend" period.

It would appear that the capacity of the general public to forgive (or turn a blind eye) depends upon how much emotional investment they have in a given artiste.

richardhomer said:

‘Starting Over’ was the single which was out at the time of his death and - for me - a frankly disappointing return.

I agree that the Double Fantasy and Milk And Honey material was mostly disappointing. This was inevitable when expectations for the comeback were so high.

My reaction then and now is that the praises heaped on the majority of the latterday material were disproportionate.

ICBM

Funkfingers said:

An unhappy childhood may explain some of that. The wife beating was synchronous with his alcoholic "lost weekend" period. 

It would appear that the capacity of the general public to forgive (or turn a blind eye) depends upon how much emotional investment they have in a given artiste.

He was certainly flawed. I wouldn't turn a blind eye to it, but there are degrees, and there can be reasons which may explain (not excuse) some behaviour.

In Lennon's case don't think he gets a free pass, but he doesn't strike me as a fundamentally bad person. I would admit to having some emotional investment in his songwriting though.