My favorite smells are the few that nearly transport me back in time, maybe like some form of déjà vu but I can't quite pinpoint what exactly those scents are. I'd never be able to recreate them intentionally. Two different soap scents bring me to two different familiar childhood places. Sometimes when I come back in through the back door I get a rather neutral smell but also very intense feeling like I'm suddenly at an old friend's rental house from decades ago. There's one smell that instantly brings me back to a childhood scratch n' sniff book. As a side note, I find that nostalgic textures bring back strong memories too.
When I was a kid, my friends and I thought it was funny when an older woman mentioned to us that she loved the smell of crayons and that they brought her back to her childhood. Now I understand!
I saw Sleeper as a yout and thought it was funny before I knew anything about Woody Allen as a person. I was old enough to rent that VHS, or however I watched it, but I certainly didn't mean to endorse him. To be fair, I haven't watched it again since.
ETA: This isn't some stance I've taken. This is just an anecdote about how I saw a movie both directed by and starring a person who some may find objectionable. For me at that young age, there was only the art because I was not aware of the artist so there was no "separating" to do. I'm not making any suggestions about what others should do.