Censorship - Alanis doing more harm than good?

M

mrx

New member
The quotes below are from a blurb I found on CNN regarding Alanis Morisette's stunt at the Juno's:
---------------------------------------------------------
"As you may or may not be aware, recently in the United States, I ran into a little problem with regards to a lyric in one my songs," Morissette told the near-sellout audience of 17,000, referring to her latest release titled, "Everything." The song includes the lyrics, "I can be an ***hole of the grandest kind."

"It was requested that I change a word in the first verse. Well, I am overjoyed to be back in my homeland, the true North ... strong and censor-free."

American radio stations threatened recently to ban the song, forcing Morissette to change the controversial word to "nightmare."
--------------------------------------------------
This is exactly what makes artists look like clowns. If she's really concerned about censorship, then why on Earth argee to censor her own material for the US market? If cash is her motivation, then why not shut the fuck up on the subject of censorship? I mean how stupid does she look arguing against the very thing she does? It's like the stupid line from Alan Jackson "I don't believe in money, but man could make him a killing..."

To keep this relevent to the forum, how far would go in changing your 'art' for a buck? Would it matter? If it did, would you change you work and still whine about it?
 
I have an original song and the opeining line is, "I got no money and I got no hope,
only this ole guitar and a bag o dope."

If I am in front of an audience that consists of primarily straight people or with lots of kids, say at a community day
I change it to

"I got no money and I got no hope, only this ole guitar and a bar of soap."

So, it really doesn't matter to me, I'd go for the money.

It's not like I'm saving the world or anything.
 
dragonworks said:


It's not like I'm saving the world or anything.
Click to expand...


There's the crux of the whole thing right there. The objective of the first ammendment is to garuntee people the freedom to dissent from their government. It is not permission to offend anyone you choose carte blanche.

------------------------------------------
Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
--------------------------------------------

I get so sick of all these self-important celebrities presuming that the Constition, one of the most important documents of modern times (and perhaps any time) was written expressly to protect their potty-mouths. Our founding fathers would be spinning in their graves if they knew that the document they labored and agonized over to "secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity" was being interpreted as a protection for boob-flashing the American public.
By parading out her little swear word and assuming it rises to any importance at all in the context of freedom and democracy, Alanis Morisette just looks silly.

I routinely alter lyrics so that they are appropriate for the audience. I was doing a school assembly the other day and in response to a child's question about reggae I jumped right into "I shot teh Sherrif". After about4 bars it suddenly dawned on me that it might be a bad idea to sing some of those lyrics in that setting. I just ended the song, made a little joke for the adults in the room, and went on with the assembly. NO big deal.

A
www.aaroncheney.com
 
There has to be some guideline's. Thats why I cant yell fire in a crowded theatre. She doesnt have to put that song out. If you want it out, play by the rules.
 
mrx said:

To keep this relevent to the forum, how far would go in changing your 'art' for a buck? Would it matter? If it did, would you change you work and still whine about it?
Click to expand...

'Art' ?
Come on, this is pop/rock music we're talking here, it ain't that important, even by the 'great' Alanis !!!

I'd change the lyric if requested to do so, no problem. If you can find some words that say the same thing and it means the song being played to lots more people as opposed to being banned from the airwaves then sure, why not? It's the logical thing to do.
Whether she's an 'asshole' or a 'nightmare' it means more or less the same thing.

Everyone compromises, the big names in the business compromise even more than the rest of us.

Having said that, getting a record banned was always good business, kids love forbidden fruit!!
 
Seems to me that Alanis was asked by a private company to change one word, and it's not like the government held her down and forced her to change a political stance. I think it's election year politics but maybe that's just me.

:confused:

War

Warren Dent
www.frontendaudio.com
 
Aaron Cheney said:
.... The objective of the first ammendment is to garuntee people the freedom to dissent from their government. It is not permission to offend anyone you choose carte blanche.
Click to expand...

I'd go one further and say that the 1st amendment gives you permission, or the right to offend people. BUT...where celebreties get tripped up is thinking this right guarantees them a forum.

The FCC, representing you and me, occasionally says "you can't say that over our airwaves." Which I'm happy to support. Sorry, Alanis and Howard Stern et al.

Ironically for Alanis - I read this week that Canada doesn't have protection of free speech in their constitution. They've recently made it a crime to even say anything disparaging about homosexualality, including suggesting that it may in fact be immoral!
 
The FCC, representing you and me, occasionally says "you can't say that over our airwaves."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

well its a little more than " you can't say that over our airwaves"

its more like "if you do say that then you must fire them if they work for you or else we will fine you $500,000 and make you sit in front of us and beg us not to take away your license. Please note the cameras all around you and your sincerity will in no way affect our decision which has already been made, but we wont tell you until end of the hearing."

they have cbs and mtv scared pissless. mtv has a version of "This Love" from Maroon 5 that is called the "super clean version" no other station plays this "super clean version". victoria secret has canceled their runway show in fear. cbs even bleeped out Janet Jackson saying "jesus" when david letterman kept asking her questions about her wardrobe malfuction. I'm almost curious to see the MTV music awards this year because i wonder how they will react to being watched by the evil eye of the FCC.....i have a feeling it will probably be a boring show. why dont they just replace it with an episode of sesame street so the FCC can breathe easier knowing they protected the us from seeing or potentially seeing boobies. LOL
 
jfrog said:
The FCC, representing you and me, occasionally says "you can't say that over our airwaves." Which I'm happy to support. Sorry, Alanis and Howard Stern et al.
Click to expand...


The problem is the FCC doesn't tell broadcasters what they can or can't say. They also claimed that don't use selective enforcement, then in the next breath say, they won't go after Oprah, because she is too beloved and it's easier to go after a lightning rod, like Stern. They also claim that they, the FCC, doesn't have to define what is indescent, because everyone knows what is meant by indescent.

So, what we have is the equivalent to having no posted speed limits, having the police say, everyone knows what a safe driving speed is. Then selectively ticketing people for doing 30 MPH, while more 'beloved' motorist drive by doing 45 MPH.
 
Indecent?

In Germany you can see lady-nipples in ads for shower gel, that is not considered indecent.
 
jfrog said:
...where celebreties get tripped up is thinking this right guarantees them a forum.
Click to expand...

Asolutely correct. You can say whatever you want to, but cannot compel anyone else to listen or care.

That's why media that broadcasts publicly with and expectation that I wide cross-section of people will be consuming it (i.e. free TV and radio over the air, billboards, etc.) is monitored with much more scrutiny than media that is broadcast privately (cable TV, Movies and DVD's, subscription magazines, etc).

There is also a colossal difference between a private company telling you to curb your language and the government telling you to. A private company can establish any kind of corporate culture that they want to. If they want all their employees and representative to wear brown leotards and pick tu-tu's, smile while they talk, and never use the words "bamboo" or "shrinky-dink" they can do that. If you don't like that you either keep your mouth shut or find another job.

A
www.aaroncheney.com
 
Good points about private companies versus governmental censorship.

Of course this has always gone on - The Stones changed lyrics to be on Ed Sullivan, Jim Morrison didn't. Morrison was willing to take the chance, the Stones were always driven by commercial concerns. End of story.

Today we have Prime Suspect being censored by PBS, but Helen Mirren comes out with class and says that there's more to America than NY and LA, and that maybe the folks who get out of bed at 4AM to jump start a neighbor's car during a storm in the mid-west don't want to hear f-bombs on free TV.

From a distance, just like 'Ironic' used the word incorrectly, it seems Alanis doesn't understand censorship.
 
Bringing up PBS reminds me that I have seen stuff on PBS that abosolutely blew my mind. I've heard the F bomb more times that I can shake a stick at! In fact, I hear the F and S words on PBS so often I could characterize it as routine.
The other night at about 10:30 or 11:00 they aired a program about hard-core porn and how women get into it, and I was aghast at what I was seeing and hearing on broadcast TV. I'm talking stuff that was so bad I blush to even describe it.
HOw in the world does PBS get away with that? My wife and I watched in horror for about 5 minutes just becuase we were too stunned to change the channel. It simply didn't seen real. I guess their motto is: Entertain the kiddies by day, hard core porn by night.

A
www.aaroncheney.com
 
Aaron Cheney said:
My wife and I watched in horror for about 5 minutes just becuase we were too stunned to change the channel.
Click to expand...

I think I saw the same thing, only I was even more stunned and couldn't change the channel for a couple of hours or so!!!
 
Aaron Cheney said:
Bringing up PBS reminds me that I have seen stuff on PBS that abosolutely blew my mind. I've heard the F bomb more times that I can shake a stick at! In fact, I hear the F and S words on PBS so often I could characterize it as routine.
A
www.aaroncheney.com
Click to expand...

Since the latest FCC threats, our local PBS station now begins with a disclaimer saying essentially "the following program has been 'editted for content' due to recent changes in FCC regulations..."

Prime Suspect had language removed by our station.
 
The music business consists of two word-concepts. They are Music and Business. They are separate entities with two different sets of rules and principles at work. The music guys do music and the business guys do business. The business guys have it a lot easier 'cause their motive is simple and clear...MONEY! Us music guys , on the other hand have it not so easy, as our motives are always mixed. We are motivated by money, certainly, but another huge factor is our VANITY.We crave attention and recognition. Alanis is subject to the same schizo stuff that we all fall prey to with one important distinction. She is quite unsightly and compensates by saying really schizo stuff now and then to get attention. Imagine if she flashed a tit ala Janet J. We'd all be falling out laughing about her pathetic nipples. So she says really mindless stuff and gets us to talk about her...mission accomplished.

chazba
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top