Nigeria, April 30 -- Art, literature, music, drama-what keeps them relevant, we are often told, is their uncanny ability to reflect society. They mirror us. They draw our attention to our values, our flaws, and our ideals. Drama, especially, wraps these themes in story, drawing from the very soul of human experience. We applaud this reflection and, by extension, expect those who carry the stories-the actors, the writers, the directors-to be noble torchbearers of the values they champion. We assume that such powerful storytellers must be wise, principled, and deeply connected to the moral lessons they portray. But assumptions, as they say, are tricky things.

There is a certain pedestal we reserve for artists, believing their creativity to...