| GREG-STRANGE.COM |
"If you haven't found something strange during the
day, it hasn't been much of a day." -- John A. Wheeler
day, it hasn't been much of a day." -- John A. Wheeler
PROVIDING SUBSTANTIVE COMMENTARY ON THE
PEOPLE, POLITICS, EVENTS AND ABSURDITIES OF
OUR TIME. SERVED UP WITH ACERBIC WIT, YOU
SHOULD FIND IT QUITE SATISFYING.
PEOPLE, POLITICS, EVENTS AND ABSURDITIES OF
OUR TIME. SERVED UP WITH ACERBIC WIT, YOU
SHOULD FIND IT QUITE SATISFYING.
Fake Nudity--What's the Point?
"I can be an ***hole of the grandest kind." --- Lyrics from a
new song by ticked off Canadian singer Alanis Morissette,
which was refused radio air play in the United States unless a
certain word was changed.
Remember Alanis Morissette, the young Canadian rocker
chick who became a mid 90's sensation with her
gazillion-selling, angst-ridden album "Jagged Little Pill?"
That album, bulging with addictively catchy melodies, was so
blatantly autobiographical in nature, the songs erupting like
mini-emotional exorcisms, that it was described by some as
embarrassing, even within the context of contemporary
popular music.
You don't hear much about her these days, but she did
recently manage to cause a sensation as host of the Juno
Awards, Canada's version of the Grammies, where she proved
once again that she doesn't embarrass easy. In order to
demonstrate her disdain for what she referred to as
"hypocritical U.S. censorship," she disrobed on stage revealing
a skin-colored naked body suit, replete with cartoonish nipples
and pubic hair.
That must have caused a couple of million Canadian jaws to
drop before they figured out what was going on. It was a
satirical act designed to lampoon what she considers the
overreaction of U.S. government institutions to the Janet
Jackson Super Bowl faux pas. As part of the skit, Morissette
was told by the show's assistant director that "actually, we
can't show nipples or pubic hair on national tv." At that point,
she pulled off the fake body parts (she was clothed
underneath) and the satirical act of rebellion against
censorship was over with no more societal impact than, say, a
family of Canucks breaking line at Disney World.
Alanis went on to tell the audience about how she had run
into a bit of a problem down south of the border with a lyric
from a new song. It was requested that she change a certain
word from the line, "I can be an ***hole of the grandest kind" if
she wanted it to receive radio air play. "Well," she said, "I am
overjoyed to be back in my homeland, the true North . . . strong
and censor-free."
So what was she suggesting, that Canada is some kind of
hotbed of sexual freedom where women are free to run around
flashing all they want without worrying about oppressive
government interference (not to mention sexually aggressive
and violent males)? I must be missing something here. If
Canada is so wonderfully enlightened, liberated and
censor-free, and if Morissette is such an almighty noble
freedom fighter, why didn't she flash something real instead of
coming out in a goofy looking, flesh-colored nudie get-up?
Let's get real here. Alanis, from up there in Canada, the
"true North" as she calls it--which is like one big gigantic
Minnesota, except with a harsher climate--has criticized the
U.S. for basically not being free enough. Who--outside of the
entertainment world, that is--doesn't understand that without
the United States, every square inch of this planet, including
the frozen wasteland she's so proud of, would be lorded over by
tyrants?
Here's the real deal. Rock musicians who can't write songs
without dirty words in them aren't noble freedom fighters,
they're just immature snots who have failed to progress beyond
adolescence. A mature adult is capable of respecting, or at
least giving some consideration to, those few minimal
standards of decency that are in place to keep the public
airwaves from being turned into an excrementitious
slip-and-slide.
If there were a mature and caring adult who could sit down
and talk directly to this obviously confused and troubled young
woman, they might go about it this way: Alanis, let's say you go
over to your grandmother's house for Sunday dinner and let's
say that she is quite old-fashioned and disapproving of vulgar
language. Do you respect her values and sensibilities while
you're there and avoid needlessly insulting her or do you
selfishly insist on being the unending free speech warrior and
spew out things like, "What the f___ are we having for dinner,
grandma?"
See, it's not about artistic integrity or some epic battle
between freedom and censorship. It's about being a grown-up
person who is capable of comprehending that the many
benefits of living in a civilized society exist to the extent that
the members of that society are willing to compromise just a
little.
So what does that mean to Alanis Morissette in practical
terms? Well, all she has to do is put all the potty-mouthed
bombast she wants on her cd's, thus maintaining her "artistic
integrity," and record "clean" versions of her songs for radio air
play. Is that really such a harsh burden to bear for the sake of
having a just a modicum of decency in an otherwise
freewheeling society?
Get over yourself, Alanis. Oh, and by the way. You know the
line from that song of yours, "I can be an ***hole of the
grandest kind?" You can also be just an ***hole, period.
"I can be an ***hole of the grandest kind." --- Lyrics from a
new song by ticked off Canadian singer Alanis Morissette,
which was refused radio air play in the United States unless a
certain word was changed.
Remember Alanis Morissette, the young Canadian rocker
chick who became a mid 90's sensation with her
gazillion-selling, angst-ridden album "Jagged Little Pill?"
That album, bulging with addictively catchy melodies, was so
blatantly autobiographical in nature, the songs erupting like
mini-emotional exorcisms, that it was described by some as
embarrassing, even within the context of contemporary
popular music.
You don't hear much about her these days, but she did
recently manage to cause a sensation as host of the Juno
Awards, Canada's version of the Grammies, where she proved
once again that she doesn't embarrass easy. In order to
demonstrate her disdain for what she referred to as
"hypocritical U.S. censorship," she disrobed on stage revealing
a skin-colored naked body suit, replete with cartoonish nipples
and pubic hair.
That must have caused a couple of million Canadian jaws to
drop before they figured out what was going on. It was a
satirical act designed to lampoon what she considers the
overreaction of U.S. government institutions to the Janet
Jackson Super Bowl faux pas. As part of the skit, Morissette
was told by the show's assistant director that "actually, we
can't show nipples or pubic hair on national tv." At that point,
she pulled off the fake body parts (she was clothed
underneath) and the satirical act of rebellion against
censorship was over with no more societal impact than, say, a
family of Canucks breaking line at Disney World.
Alanis went on to tell the audience about how she had run
into a bit of a problem down south of the border with a lyric
from a new song. It was requested that she change a certain
word from the line, "I can be an ***hole of the grandest kind" if
she wanted it to receive radio air play. "Well," she said, "I am
overjoyed to be back in my homeland, the true North . . . strong
and censor-free."
So what was she suggesting, that Canada is some kind of
hotbed of sexual freedom where women are free to run around
flashing all they want without worrying about oppressive
government interference (not to mention sexually aggressive
and violent males)? I must be missing something here. If
Canada is so wonderfully enlightened, liberated and
censor-free, and if Morissette is such an almighty noble
freedom fighter, why didn't she flash something real instead of
coming out in a goofy looking, flesh-colored nudie get-up?
Let's get real here. Alanis, from up there in Canada, the
"true North" as she calls it--which is like one big gigantic
Minnesota, except with a harsher climate--has criticized the
U.S. for basically not being free enough. Who--outside of the
entertainment world, that is--doesn't understand that without
the United States, every square inch of this planet, including
the frozen wasteland she's so proud of, would be lorded over by
tyrants?
Here's the real deal. Rock musicians who can't write songs
without dirty words in them aren't noble freedom fighters,
they're just immature snots who have failed to progress beyond
adolescence. A mature adult is capable of respecting, or at
least giving some consideration to, those few minimal
standards of decency that are in place to keep the public
airwaves from being turned into an excrementitious
slip-and-slide.
If there were a mature and caring adult who could sit down
and talk directly to this obviously confused and troubled young
woman, they might go about it this way: Alanis, let's say you go
over to your grandmother's house for Sunday dinner and let's
say that she is quite old-fashioned and disapproving of vulgar
language. Do you respect her values and sensibilities while
you're there and avoid needlessly insulting her or do you
selfishly insist on being the unending free speech warrior and
spew out things like, "What the f___ are we having for dinner,
grandma?"
See, it's not about artistic integrity or some epic battle
between freedom and censorship. It's about being a grown-up
person who is capable of comprehending that the many
benefits of living in a civilized society exist to the extent that
the members of that society are willing to compromise just a
little.
So what does that mean to Alanis Morissette in practical
terms? Well, all she has to do is put all the potty-mouthed
bombast she wants on her cd's, thus maintaining her "artistic
integrity," and record "clean" versions of her songs for radio air
play. Is that really such a harsh burden to bear for the sake of
having a just a modicum of decency in an otherwise
freewheeling society?
Get over yourself, Alanis. Oh, and by the way. You know the
line from that song of yours, "I can be an ***hole of the
grandest kind?" You can also be just an ***hole, period.