What’s more important: the art or the artist?

Difficult situations can arise when art gets mixed up with politics. The meld often evolves into a typical case of having to separate the art from the artist.

You can admire, say, a movie such as 1954’s “On the Waterfront,” which won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (Elia Kazan), Best Actor (Marlon Brando) and so on.

But if you choose to see the movie strictly in political terms, you may see – as many critics have seen – the whole production as a justification for the “friendly witness,” career-saving actions of Kazan, screenwriter Budd Schulberg and co-star Lee J. Cobb.

Not that one rules out the other. As with many of life’s situations, both can be true at once: “On the Waterfront” is a great film … and it can be seen as a justification for amoral behavior.

Consider now the story that was posted on Kirkus.com regarding Kamala Harris.

Harris, as was made clear this week, is Joe Biden’s choice for vice president in his run for the 2020 presidential election. Kirkus is the well-regarded website and source of literary reviews, prizes and news.

The story I’m referring to is headlined “Critics' Thoughts on Kamala Harris’ Books.” Written by Michael Schaub, it runs down some of the reactions to books that the U.S. senator from California has written.

Schaub points out that Harris’ 2019 memoir “The Truth We Hold: An American Journey,” for example, was described by Kirkus itself as a “politico-aspirational” book, though “better written than most in the category.”

Others were even less complimentary.

“Reading this book,” wrote NPR commentator Danielle Kurtzleben, “one does get a sense of being in a jury box, patiently listening as a lawyer methodically – if tediously – lays out a case.”

And speaking of addressing mixed messages, Hannah Giorgis, writing in The Atlantic, faults Harris for failing to “meaningfully reconcile her punitive track record as a California prosecutor with her more recent activist-adjacent positioning as a national Democratic darling.”

Harris also found time to write a children’s book, 2019’s “Superheroes Are Everywhere,” which Kirkus said was “Self-serving to be sure but also chock-full of worthy values and sentiments.”

But, Schaub adds, that book attracted at least one positive review. Common Sense Media critic Regan McMahon called it an “encouraging, uplifting book” that’s “all recalled with a light, kid-friendly touch.”

Schaub avoids asking one essential question, which is whether Harris would ever have been published had she not become a national political figure.

Maybe, maybe not. But even if she had succeeded in interesting a publisher in her life story, much less her children’s book, it’s doubtful she would be receiving this much attention if she weren’t a vice-presidential candidate.

Sometimes – and this may be one of them – artists themselves are more important than the art they produce.