Just watched 12 Monkeys (1996), and it's a little uncomfortable seeing Bruce Willis portray a character struggling mentally, know of his real-life problems with frontotemporal dementia. It's not the time of year yet, but I'm wondering if my enjoyment of Die Hard will be reduced, since the hearing loss he suffered on that film may have been a contributing factor.
The Crow (1994) - on which Brandon Lee died, and Rust (upcoming) - on which Halyna Hutchins died - aren't films I'd normally watch anyway, so I don't know how the deaths would have affected my decision to watch them. Conversely, Kevin Spacey is in a lot of films I like, but it's a bit queasy seeing his performances, with the suspicion that we all now know why he's so good at portraying creeps.
So do you just try to enjoy a film as a film, or does real-life events ever stop you re-watching them?
Sounds like you are talking about two different things. Some of these things are outside the control of the creators :12 Monkeys, Crow, Rust and some are are a result of the art they create and within their control : Miramax, Polanski, Gary Glitter. I hate to say it but there is most likely some sort of art in everyones life that that they absolutely love that was created by someone who did something terrible and I'm not talking small stuff like an inappropriate joke or statement they didn't actually mean. I think there is difference between supporting and ignoring bad actions vs enjoyment of art. I think I can separate real life and art enough to listen to a Gary Glitter album, watch a Polanski or Miramax film but would I wouldn't want to condone or support the individuals awful and criminal behavior.
There was a nagging doubt when I wrote the question on whether there was enough of a connection between what I was using as examples of meta-knowledge about particular films. From the responses received so far, it looks like there isn't.
Also, I've been more controversial than I meant to be, so I'll avoid compounding it by trying to explain myself. Harder than it looks, this whole posting stuff on social media thing.
The question has always intriguid me. How our experiences or knowledge change our perception of art and film.