Well, Kurt Vonnegut had this to say:Originally Posted by Commodore 64
"I sometimes wondered what the use of any of the arts was. The best thing I could come up with was what I call the canary in the coal mine theory of the arts. This theory says that artists are useful to society because they are so sensitive. They are super-sensitive. They keel over like canaries in poison coal mines long before more robust types realize that there is any danger whatsoever."
So if the artist is actually sincere, and the public wise enough to make the difference, I'd say that's an extremely valuable social service right there. And rather than making jokes about them killing themselves and getting it over with, sometimes it just might be safer for everyone to recognize and address the problem, and maybe give a "thanks" in passing to those who pointed it out.
Just my 2 cents.