A couple weeks ago the Free World was in uproar over a breast on syndicated tv. Once again the decline of moral values was making headlines. Shame on us for encouraging such lascivious behaviour.
Yes encouraging. Even the pain-in-the-ass arch conservatives with nothing better to do than scream about how much more wholesome it was in their day. Even they are not doing much except encouraging more scandalous behaviour.
Girl, you know it’s true.
If Janet strutted around on stage completely naked in front of 90 million viewers for half an hour and no one raised an eyebrow do you think she or anyone else would ever do it again? Hell no. Waste of screen time.
But if half of us gasp like children and call up all our friends and swamp the Web downloading the video clip and the other half scream and yell and pull out our hair about how the country is going to hell…
Well, I’m just looking forward to the next televised breast. Maybe not on CBS, but you can bet the network owners are scribbling notes frantically to make the same thing happen on their other tv properties. That’s how we got Fox and UPN.
And Janet is probably laughing all the way to the bank. All she had to do was flash a tit, apologize for it, and enjoy the attention. Suddenly she’s sexy again. Maybe one second of bared boob is enough to carry another album. All press is good press. Case in point- her brother has had more limelight for freakish behaviour than he could possibly have hoped for by making music. And yet that limelight translates directly to record sales.
It all comes down to exposure (ooh- a pun!). A little scandal never hurt anyone. Well, some mid-level government employees, sure. But that’s what they’re there for. To take the fall when we scream like children.
But never mind the politicians for now. I’m talking about how to make money as a public figure. If you dare a little shock-value you win twice. The liberals love you for having a sense of humanity (I mean humour), and the conservatives get apoplectic that you would posess the affrontery to mock all that is decent in society. And then the liberals love you even more.
Tom Leykis has a top-rated radio show, and even he admits it’s not that he believes half the bullshit he slings. It’s that people tune in by the millions to love him or hate him.
But how about some perspective. What kind of world do you want to live in?
There was a time when a woman could be hung by the neck until dead for showing a bit of ankle. No, I’m not kidding. She deserved it. Parading about, showing off her body like a common whore. A harlot like that could destroy a town’s good reputation. Ankles should be covered and women should be proper ladies. Or killed, I guess.
Today, just across the water, girls have their labia sewn shut until their wedding night. But that’s the decent thing to do, right? Can’t trust her to control herself. Maybe if we also cut off her clitoris that’ll keep her in line. Yeah, let’s do that.
I have friends who have been fired from their jobs for having long hair, short hair, high heels or sneakers, a beard or a shaved head. More than one piercing in an ear. Any piercings at all. Too much makeup. Not enough makeup. Expressing an opinion or not speaking up. Laughing at work. Flirting. Not flirting.
In a world where you are punished for being an individual AND for conforming, how are we supposed to know what’s acceptable?
Yes, the answer is obvious to any dj. You will never please everyone. Someone’s going to bitch no matter what you do, and these days the worst death for a superstar is irrelevance, so why not keep the crowd screaming? It’s a win-win.
So. Does that make Outkast’s stunt acceptable?
Well… yes. And no. Again, what kind of world do you want to live in? If the conservatives had their way we would still be living in caves and eating raw meat. They’d be shocked to hear me say that, but it’s true. Conservatives have to be introduced to new things very slowly or they panic. They scream like little girls and bemoan the collapse of society. They’ve been doing it since we first stuck a haunch of mammoth in the fire, and they won’t be stopping anytime soon. So be gentle with them. They just can’t help being fraidy cats.
But to be fair if the liberals had their way we’d probably all be dead.
The stereotyped Indian-motif performance presented by Outkast was probably not a sharp move. Racism is still very much alive and well, and that makes people sensitive. I’m just glad it was black guys who made the blunder this time.
Was that a racist comment? Some people would say so, but all I’ve done is express my belief that had it been the more typical and tired stupid white guy scenario not only would it not have been such news (my theory) but we all would just have shaken our heads that white guys could have been so stupid. Us white guys are supposed to have learned politically correct behaviour by now.
Which says what about a blunder by black guys? Shouldn’t they have been even more sensitive, being the co-oppressed?
If so, then what happened? In fact, to take the question to its limit, how could that performance have made it through perhaps two hundred people from conception to full dress rehearsal, and no one said anything? Surely, if the situation were likely to result in the outrage of an entire segment-of-convenience of society, someone would have piped up to point out the gross racial stereotyping of an underadvantaged minority?
What am I missing? How did that performance make it to air?
Must be the decaying moral fibre of society, running rampant through the decadent media, because I just don’t understand how something like this could happen. How could oppressed black guys get away with stereotyping oppressed red guys?
Well, sarcasm will get me everywhere. What I’m saying is that the question must have come up and been dealt with, and the potential scandal was deemed playable.
In a society so predictable in its reactions, all parties concerned were perfectly well aware of the risk of insult, and they were fine with it. I’m not saying the insult was deliberate for the sake of scandal. I think more highly of Outkast than that. Every live performance needs a theme though, and I guess they figured neon-green buckskin leggings and a steaming teepee would be fun. The chicks were hawt. And what’s a live show without some scandal these days? It’s so hard to be original, too…
So. What society do you want to live in? Mrs White Bread herself, Martha Stewart has already shown that even the most starched of collars and well-mannered of madams are not above a few smudges. Everything you’ve ever heard about Immaculate Society has been shadowed with basic humanity, and worse. Temptations abound. Greed. Lust. Indifference. When you distance yourself from the simple fact that people are human and not above making mistakes, you tend to make more of them.
There is no such thing as perfection when you’re talking about people. We lie, cheat and steal. We kill each other over stupid disagreements like how we got here or what happens when we die. Pretending to be perfect just makes the fall that much more fun to watch for those of us who have come to terms with being human.
I say: postive reinforcement. Choose. Quit bitching and do something. In this consumer-driven society all you have to do is not watch. That’s it. Lock your doors, close your blinds and block every tv channel that’s ever shown some skin. Eat only unprocessed foods or foods that your mom fed you. Only buy it if it was made in the USA. Only read books written by the same authors you always read, or whom have been recommended to you by your local religious authority.
If you do all these things you will create your Utopian Society. No power is stronger and more hopelessly gelded than The Consumer. If you do not watch Fox, Fox will die. If you do not attend movies featuring gratuitous sex scenes, there will be no more movies like that. If you excercise your simple right to choose your sources and styles of entertainment, those sources will prosper while those less worthy die off.
But if you write letters and make phone calls and broadcast radio shows and continue reading and watching and tuning in just to keep whining, all you’re doing is telling the rest of us what to download next.
Whew.
As long as I’m picking on whiners, I’ll send you to some lighter food for thought.
[update: coming up next- the Conan In Canada Story]
Whew!is right. Where do I start? How about with some simple numbers. According to this months ratings the Grammys pulled in 26.5 million viewers. So far ONE person has publicly complained. Yet the torch gets carried by the media and we end up with news reports, blog entries and even comments like these very ones I stroke right now.
Next I shall move to the mud slinging. I clicked on the link in Mischiff’s post and happened to read this: “…the only surreal moment was when they began with a real Dine (Navajo) traditional song …”
Of course three paragraphs down the same fellow is quoted as saying this: “The fact that Outkast opened their performance with a traditional indigenous song is like a slap in the face to many Natives.”
Whut?! Make up your mind. Clearly just finding a way to complain. I’m still confused at what they are complaining about. The fact that they wore costumes that resembled historical native Indian wear? Why is that wrong? I’m still missing the point here. Were they holding banners that said “Indians are bad people”? Now that I have tried to discredited someone else’s opinion here is mine.
What if they were making a Hollywood movie? Someone would complain that the costumes were not authentic or accurate to any specific native group. So if they are not specific to any group who is finding this offensive?
How about if they had been barefoot and dressed up in cover-alls, wore straw hats and puffed into a stoneware jug with a red bandanna tied to it? Would someone from Arkansas be offended? What if they dressed up as Pilgrims? Mounties? What would have been appropriate for them to wear? Baggy jeans, football jerseys, gold chains and a do-rag perhaps? Maybe a pin-stripe suit would be better. As long as they wear something we are used to seeing or something we ourselves would wear.
See my point? How is this different. I will tell you how it is different. It would be different if they were wearing Nazi Uniforms, or white robes and hoods. Hell, maybe they could get away with that. Wearing KKK outfits. They could, I couldn’t. They could get away with dressing up like Colonel Sanders, but I couldn’t paint my face black and walk around with a bundle of cotton. We are sensitive to historical references. We associate the ‘costume’ with a terrible incident or era. Not the person.
I have made some extreme examples to magnify this silly commotion over a musical group wearing costumes on stage during a performance. What is wrong with being a Native American? Nothing. Why are you ashamed of someone wearing your ceremonial outfits? Would it have been better if they were not green? Somehow people are upset at Outkast because of the terrible unjust experienced by native Americans. If they had dressed like Western Europeans that would be OK. How back assward is that? It’s like celebrating the oppressor. Just to make sure everyone is clear here; It is OK to celebrate the heritage of native Americans…only if you are native American. Everyone else go to hell.
Maybe I should sue Outkast for being to black. They aren’t recognizing my whiteness. And those shoes he wore, I can’t afford those. He is blatantly oppressing me by pointing out my financial duress.
COMMENT:
Sigh:
Do i want to comment on this? Should i spend the next hour or so negotiating my thoughts to ensure i don’t offend. But then again, this isn’t really about trying not to offend now is it.
Lets begin be saying that i have been doing my best not to comment on janet jacksons (from here forward to be referred to as JJ) breast, simply because i did not want to encourage the outrage for such a ridiculous and miniscule incident. And just for the record, JJ didnt apologize, she refused to, thats why she was cut from the grammys and justin timberlake (from here forward to be referred to as JT) was not. For this i give her respect or props if i may be so bold.
And yes, this was nothing more then a publicity stunt, and it worked. For everyone. if janet strutted around on stage completely naked in front of 90 million viewers for half an hour and no one raised an eyebrow do you think she or anyone else would ever do it again? Hell no. But do you think that if no one reacted to the crazy bible thumpers screaming about human morality, do you think they would continue to do it? Not for long. Its human nature to move on if you are not being noticed. So are we not just as guilty of giving them a voice by reacting to as JJ and JT are for starting it up in the first place?
I remember not too long ago having a 3am conversation in dennys about who has the upper hand. The media or the consumer. Do we set the trends or do they simply connive us into doing and acting in a way that benefits them? Many would argue that they are in control. But if that were the case, would we all not still be smoking? It may not be readily apparent but the general public as a group has a large say in what the media presents. They give us exactly what we want. Controversy. Not any controversy, but controversy that we can brush off, that doesnt affect us too emotionally. That we can make a big deal about and then shrug off as ridiculous. Completely washing over any major issues that may be looming. Things we should be talking and thinking about. Like the fact that many people in north america are starving and there are children living on the streets. But this is not the news we beg for. We beg for JJ teet.
Proof? Three people who claim to be intelligent, knowledgeable, worldly people are still talking about it, on this website. And many more are reading and thinking about it.
But this is just a segway is it not?
So is dressing up in mock native american attire and dancing around in simulated native dance going too far? Thats a fairly relative question. And you can bet that if it had been a stage full of white guys it would have been a much bigger deal. But we are talking about minorities mocking minorities, and somehow in this PC society we have deemed this as not too bad. So why should it be worse if they were white?
In truth, it shouldnt be. In an ideal world all races / genders would be treated equally. And therefore, political blunders by one race would not be considered worse then when committed by another race. But this is not an ideal world. In fact far from it.
It was not that long ago that all native americans lived on reservations and were forced to learn english, that black people had to sit on the back of the bus and drink out of separate water fountains. I think we can all agree that we have come along way since then. And that we dont want to go back.
But are we out of the woods? 75% of men still make for money then women for doing the same job. A married white male is still more likely to be hired for a job then a single man, woman or minority with the same experience and education. The majority of people living below the poverty line in north america are black, native or hispanic. Less then 1% of CEOs in north america are not white men. Givin these stats, is it no wonder that that people are a little resentful?
*disclaimer*
I am not a raging PCer, and i do see the other side of this argument. Why should todays white man pay for the mistakes of his forefather? Well in and ideal world, he wouldnt have to. And yes most CEOs are also 60+ and started their careers when black youth were just starting to be bused.
*/disclaimer*
So how have we come as far as we have in less then 100 years? By not putting up with it. By not allowing ourselves to be degraded and stereotyped. By standing up for our rights and fighting for equality. And we have come a long way. More so in communities less white bread then victoria. But there is still a lot of racism and bigotry in this world. Going both ways. My high school washrooms were riddled with graffiti with statements like all white bitches must die. Yes very creative, i agree, but if you have never felt racial slander directed toward you, you can have no idea the effect. And it is this feeling that holds us back, and simply breeds more hatred. Its a vicious circle.
So we want to keep moving forward right? Keep trying to evolve into a society where people are not judged by race, creed or colour? (notice that this phrase from the 70s does not include gender?) How do we do this? We stop degrading our fellow man (human, person, whatever, you know what i mean) by ridiculing his traditions. We do our best to respect each other and each others heritage.
So. Does that make outkast’s stunt unacceptable? Only if we, as a consumer based society choose to see it that way. We dont know what their intentions were, or who did their choreography. We could choose to see this as an integration of two forms of musical expression, bringing early america and modern america together to develop into something completely new. This is how we evolve is it not?
whew
Dj: for some reason your blog does not ‘remember my personal info’.
Alison: Agreed. BUT, What about seniors discounts, and the fact women can have their own gym but men can’t have their own golf course? As an average 5’9″ white guy I have the LEAST chance of working as a civil servant. However if my grades were worse and my mother was native I could join the RCMP. Heck if my mother was native I wouldn’t have had to pay $15,000 for college either. However I do agree that the rest of my life might have been different as well. (MIGHT have)
So just as woman are allowed in men’s locker rooms and men are not allowed in women’s, we are striving for equality in gender and race yet forgetting that the phrase ‘white male’ applies to both. (I don’t wish to open the whole racial/gender bias can-o-worms as I already have here and here So if you want to vent more go there.)
Getting back to the topic mischiff laid out: How many times have you hear either of us say something, then follow it up with “I don’t really know what that means.”? Well usually it is because we are throwing something out there for shock value. It breaks through the fog of white noise we sometimes get lost in and focuses us for a second. *Blink-Blink* “Whut!?…did he just say?” In my mind that is/was exactly what the JJ thing was all about. As for Outkast? It was just a happy little dance number that would have gone on to obscurity along with the rest of the song and dance numbers from the Grammys that we never heard of.
Speaking for myself I only know of two acts at the Grammys. Beyonce/Prince and Outkast. Were there any more? I’m serious. Did anyone else perform? I have heard nothing. See how this works?
Flashy neon green ceremonial wear gets noticed. Remember that for your next job interview.
Gurton: i completely agree. there is no reason why someones race or gender or height should have anything to do with getting a job or getting a scholarship. and I am most definitely not an advocate of any kind of exclusive club.
but that is not the society we live in. many believe that white men are getting the shaft due to affirmative action and other such government imposed incentives to hire women and minorities. but there was a reason for this in the first place was there not? Society was making an attempt ensure that all people were getting the same opportunities. Im not saying it worked, but that was the attempt.
My point here was simply that if we want to live in a world where people are judged (for lack of a better word) on their merit and integrity and work ethic, we, as individuals have to make sure that we are not judging each other based on anything else; because, we, as a group are the ones who have the power to change.
And you can bet your boots your life would have been different had your mother been native, hell your life would have been different if you had grown up on the other side of your street. We cant pretend we have any idea what its like to grow up not white. Just like any native person, or black person has no idea what its like to be white. They only have what to media has shown them; that is the life of the privileged white man.
Err… the media has also portrayed The White Man as suffering every cruelty imaginable. But I will certainly grant you the point that the media popularizes stereotypes.