From jake92028@yahoo.com Tue Feb 10 08:19:15 2004
Subject:Re: OT was Grammys...change of direction? now "sign o the times"

--- In CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com, tony orant wrote:
I hear what you're saying Jake, but the bottom line is art is
a reflection of life. And whether you like the art or not, or pop
culture as it were, it is an indicator of our times. Sex is used to
sell everything from toothpaste to motor oil. We rate movies not on
their quality, or their depth, but on how much skin is shown. Sex has
become cheap, or at least out in the open; for all we know, our
children may have a better grip on sexuality and morals than we
did...repression never did anything positive for anyone; the
Prohibition proved that

Seems to me folks had been drinking already for a few thousand years;
a bit harder and kind of dumb trying to stop the drink after it's a
ingrained cultural fact of life = an apples vs oranges situation. If
the music industry's promotions, shows, and advertising content just
keep pushing the raunch envelope, maybe Britney will be performing
with a dog on live TV in a few years at the award shows? And that'd
just be a sign of the times, right? = no limits, no problem, just
acccept it, sex is cheap and getting cheaper, music = sex, and oh
yeah - kids have a better sense of this than adults.

I rate movies closer to how the Academy Awards, Cannes Film Festival,
and the Independent awards rate them. So far, I haven't seen an
award for 'most skin and sex displayed.'

And really, all this hooplah about Janet's breast or nipple, or
whatever: please, we need to reign it back in. Since when is a
momentary glimpse of a beautiful woman's anatomy

A wha-what? We sure don't have the same taste in women. eew!

more damaging to our children than watching 3 hours of big,
steroided grown men bashing the living shit out of each other
intentionally for the sole purpose of pushing a dead pig's skin to
one end of a field or another??? Get a grip. The fact that everyone
is so up in arms about it betrays our values. Violence is ok, but
sex is not??? I'd rather my kids get a 2 minute glimpse of a naked
Janet Jackson then 2 minutes of slo-mo replay. We can shoot people
on television, have cop shows about child abuse, spousal abuse,
sexual predators and miscreants, violent crime and murder, but let's
filter the sex out of it. (shaking head)

I thought the pig skin thing was called football; it's a sporting
physical contest with rules, not unrestrained bloody violence. The
other violence you mention on television and in movies is maybe
unfortunate, although sad facts of life - that can be explained to
kids up through teens. But we have the choice not to watch or let
our kids/teens watch, until they understand it's a story and NOT a
promotion for how to behave ->unlike the music raunch of pop music
stars they look up to as a standard, which many do. About a week
after the Britney-Madonna kiss and publicity, two 12 to 13-year-old
girls passed by my place tongue-kissing and groping each other
giggling and laughing. They used to just walk by talking, on their
way home from school..

I play because I love making music and encouraging audiences to both
listen and have a good time. The romance, love - AND sex - in some
of the lyrics is a nod and a wink to folks who understand. I don't
need to go out on stage wearing a leather fetish mask and other
bondage getup, pierced and tatooed and dyed with my own nipple rings
in chains, maybe one of those "Clockwork Orange" fake weeny things in
front - to perform. This would be preferable to an audience watching
a fiercely contested football game per the sinister effects of that
violence, if I understand you, T. I'll just keep playing and singing
wearing a casual shirt and jeans - and boycotting certain P.C. music
awards shows. Walter j