Can you believe this horseshit?

[Jeanette X]

http://www.boulderweekly.com/archive/070501/speakingout.html
I wish this asshole had left his e-mail.

A Case of Censorship
- - - - - - - - - - - -
by Omar Lutfey
(editorial@boulderweekly.com)

It has taken quite a while, but it appears most of the noise has died down from the "Ozzfest" concert that took place at Mile High Stadium on June 21, 2001. The concert, named as a tribute to the musical style of the rock musician Ozzy Osborne, received quite a bit of attention due to the inclusion of Marilyn Manson in the lineup. Various individuals and religious organizations requested that Mr. Manson not perform at the concert in respect for the violent occurrence at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, when Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 13 people before committing suicide.

Marilyn declined the invitation to stay out of town, and the concert took place without any large scale disruptions to the city of Denver. Now that the commotion is gone, we should sit down and carefully explain to our children why they should to be protected from hearing certain types of music. Here are some examples of various offensive lyrics and why we need to bury them in a deep, deep hole somewhere:


"I Want To Disappear" by Marilyn Manson.
"I wanna die young and sell my soul, use up all your drugs and make you come." These lyrics clearly promote suicide. Just by looking at the way he dresses you can tell something is wrong. If his music could stand up on it's own, he would not require the use of such distracting outfits when performing. The vocal inflections and musical accompaniment which mimic that of a cat who's tail is caught in a running garbage disposal are instruments of deception designed to mask the inherent wrongness of the lyrics.

"Suicide Solution" by Ozzy Osborne.
"Wine is fine, but whiskey's quicker, suicide is slow with liquor, take a bottle drain your sorrows, candied thoughts await tomorrows."
I don't know if Marilyn and Ozzy are friends, but these lyrics seem to have a lot in common. Legal action was brought against Mr. Osborne after a 19-year-old man killed himself in October 1984 while listening to this song. The suit was eventually dismissed after the defendant told the court a story about how the song was about a friend in the band who died after excessive drinking. Even if this story is true, we can't go around letting children misinterpret such lyrics.


"Can't Stand Losing You" by The Police.
"I guess this is our last good-bye, and you don't care so I won't cry, but you'll be sorry when I'm dead, and all this guilt will be on your head, I guess you'd call it suicide, but I'm too full to swallow my pride."
While the visible and auditory harshness of "musicians" such as Marilyn Manson and Ozzy Osborne raise a red flag to wildly inappropriate lyrics, occasionally artists who are more mainstream can produce lyrics that need to be hidden from our children's ears. The artist known as Sting was the lead singer for the band, The Police. Sting doesn't wear deviant clothing, and his musical style appeals to a wide cross section of our society. This makes him even that much more dangerous to our children. He looks like one of us, but he wants all of our children to kill themselves. Anyone who lets their children listen to this type of music might as well go out and buy their kids a few handguns and some whisky.


Theme song to MASH
"Suicide is painless, it brings on many changes, and I can take or leave it if I please. And you can do the same thing if you choose."
As if a movie that makes fun of the Korean war isn't bad enough, the theme song to the movie openly talks about the advantages of suicide. One of the plot lines of the movie involves a group of doctors who help another man kill himself. In one scene an enlisted man sings the theme song with a pleasant guitar accompaniment while the suicide victim lays in a coffin saying his last good-byes to his so-called friends. This emotional sequence of events can have a profound effect on not only children, but also adults.

While the 1970s movie isn't aired very often, the situation comedy based directly on the movie is still actively aired on several syndicated channels. Several cable television channels claiming to be family oriented air this series, along with an instrumental version of the theme song on a nightly basis. Our children could be humming along to this evil song without even realizing they are thinking of killing themselves.

These are but a few examples of the evil that exists in the world. We must send a message to the world that we don't want our children being exposed to this type of music. It should be banned from the radio stations, music stores and the Internet. We have a duty to monitor our children's experiences, to insulate them from that which is bad and unpleasant. Kids today have enough to worry about without having musicians putting crazy ideas into their heads.

Omar Lutfey lives in Boulder. Speaking out is an unsolicited column written by Boulder Weekly readers. Opinions expressed in Speaking Out should not be construed as those of the Boulder Weekly publisher, editor or staff.

SpeakingOut is an open forum available to any of our readers. To reserve space or submit an article of less than 400 words, e-mail editorial@boulderweekly.com.

[GAsux]

Why how dare he! How dare he single out the MASH theme song! And not give mention to the blatant homosexual undertones of the actual show itself. For shame. For shame.

[Immortal Goat]

Wow, the human race is steadily going downhill, and it is not Ozzy Osbourne's fault, nor is it Maralyn Manon's. it is because of these self-righteous blowhards that wrote all that happy horse shit. I may not be a big fan of Manson, but I reapect his right to produce whatever music he wants. Sure, it isn't for kids, but anyone who says that music can lead people to suicide is FUCKED UP!! To commit suicide, a person needs to be extremely depressed about their own life, nit temporarily depressed because of some song's lyrics. The same goes for other forms of media as well. In fact, i am going to make a thread about that right now. Thanks for the inspiration, Jeanette.

[Protoclown]

It pains me to see someone so incredibly dense writing a column in any sort of newspaper, pamphlet, neighborhood flyer, or even scrawled on a barroom napkin.

Irony is a concept often lost on the incredibly stupid. And this guy clearly has stupidity in buckets.

[The_voice_of_reason]

My dad tells me to kill myself almost daily. I'm just fine. I am going to kill myself and leave a note saying that this guys article convinced me to do it.

[Sethomas]

'cuz life is a game that no one wins
But you deserve a head start the way your life's goin'
so throw in the towel
'cuz your life ain't shit
now take the towel
and hang yourself with it

[FS]

Once I got to the MASH song I was LOL :(

"I wanna die young and sell my soul, use up all your drugs and make you come." These lyrics clearly promote suicide. Just by looking at the way he dresses you can tell something is wrong.

I'm reading drugs, sex and fast living in this one, but suicide? He probably just had one Manson song and a point to prove. ;)

I'd say that it's incredible that there's still people out there dense enough to think that kids will just do whatever the lyrics of their favorite band tell them to do... but the fact that these people exist kinda disproves that point.

[Protoclown]

Yeah, I like the fact that he's trying to argue that children who watch the MASH television series and then later hum the tune for "Suicide is Painless", having NEVER HEARD the lyrical version, are thinking about suicide without realizing it. Like the tune itself magically carries a subliminal message or something.

[ranxer]

gee another fundamentalist christian whining about what rebelious kids like to listen to.
they're just pissed that the fear of burning in hell isnt everywhere >:

there's a good joke in there if ya do the parody on bush as an example of a role model.. pre-emptive murder anybody? id love to do some graphics for that, heeh

[FS]

The artist known as Sting was the lead singer for the band, The Police. Sting doesn't wear deviant clothing, and his musical style appeals to a wide cross section of our society. This makes him even that much more dangerous to our children. He looks like one of us, but he wants all of our children to kill themselves.

:lol I only just noticed this. Who knew Sting was a serial killer/singer.

Seriously, when you're so hung up on the weakness of the mind and what comes into it, how can you live your life? This person must either spend his life in a dark basement, or walk around on the street making crosses at everything.

[kellychaos]

I wish the people who would kill themselves (who are probably on the edge of doing it anyway) because of musical lyrics and the people who don't understand that lyrics about such topics would die ... then maybe I can listen to some decent music on the radio. In most cases, those lyrics are meant to ironic and/or descriptive of real life and, if anything, serve as advice against what's described.

P.S. The FCC can lift the cap on the amount of TV stations a corporation can own in major cities so that my news may be bent to hell and back but I can't listen to "Suicide Solution" on the radio?! Nice. :rolleyes

[pjalne]

Sting doesn't wear deviant clothing


Didn't he use to dress up like a fucking wasp? Wasps are deviant.

[The_Rorschach]

Sting may not have worn deviant clothing, but he did dance n Quadraphenia, and believe me, having watched it I hope such ballroom manoeuvres are considered deviant for all time.

On the topic, however, the man has a legitimate point. Laws are neither moral or immoral, they are standards of acceptable actions within a society. I think everyone will grant me this point. There are many influences which can contribute to a society's idea of what is acceptable, and also unacceptable. Literature, film, music, any and all of these have access to a large enough platform of distrabution to influence a society. Movies beget trends, mostly benign, as does music, but the messages of both must also be taken into account. I think many of you discount the importance music has played in America. It has had almost an absurdly large impact.

Am I championing censorship? Hardly. But I am saying that, like anything else, an element of responsibility needs to be involved. Children cannot be expected to show restraint or responsibility until they reach adulthood, no more than you can expect a puppy not to piddle on the floor prior to housebreaking. Is this man truly an asshole for believing that children shouldn't be exposed to questionable lyrics before they have the maturity to seperate reality from fiction? I don't think so.

His entire point was summed up in this sentence: "We have a duty to monitor our children's experiences, to insulate them from that which is bad and unpleasant." Is banning excessive? Perhaps. Is letting such plausibly influencial and purely negative lyrics run rampant irresponsible? Certainly.

[Zero Signal]

Shouldn't the question be asked:

WHY ARE THEY EVEN ALLOWING THEIR CHILDREN TO LISTEN TO THAT KIND OF MUSIC?

At least not until they are old enough to formulate enough cognizance to know that they aren't to be taken as "Go kill yourself".

I absolute love this about "Suicide Solution":

"Even if this story is true, we can't go around letting children misinterpret such lyrics."

I do not even have any words to express my disgust at this ignorance other than: :rolleyes :rolleyes :rolleyes

[Protoclown]

His entire point was summed up in this sentence: "We have a duty to monitor our children's experiences, to insulate them from that which is bad and unpleasant."

Or in other words, "We have a duty to monitor our children's experiences, to insulate them from THE REAL WORLD."

[The_Rorschach]

With all due respect, what do you know about the real world? Or, for that matter, the majority of Americans?

Largely, people are little more than economic animals, producing/consuming niche-filling plebes. They are incapable, or merely uninterested, in seeing anything beyond themselves. The Real World isn't an absolute, it is defined and substantiated by the society which choose to create it. What we understand to be socially acceptable here in America is by no means the world standard. Nor is it the same as the standards of acceptability in this country fifty years ago, let alone a hundred. You may see morailty as a relative concept and suicide by the young as an immutable fact of the world we live in, but I personally see them as trends which could very well have a tremendously negative implication later on.

When we stop attributing importance to human dignity, and view the loss of life through callous eyes, how long will it be before acts of clinical euthanasia for the elderly or retarded are condoned? Or murderous acts taken casually in stride? Will genocide be considered an acceptable solution in times of war? Don't be so quick to laugh, I beg you. How many would invision American as it is now back in 1940? The possibilities for this nation are limitless, negatively or positively. The choices we make now as a society will ultimately decide which is more prevalent.

Look beyond today, and peer into tomorrow Proto - There is the Real World.

[FS]

I think the article might've been more effective and less subject to ridicule if the writer didn't revert to the standard thoughtless rant - accusing singers of actively seeking the death of their fans, for one.

[Preechr]

I didn't actually read the article. I'm just responding to ya'lls responces to it. I have a question:

Does entertainment have a purpose in society, more than just to fill our empty spaces? Should some segments of entertainment be responsible for pushing our boundaries? There will always be "easy-listening" for those who have found their comfort zone, but should music and visual art force always us to deal with more and more advanced complications of a society that is ever maturing?

Actually, that's a series of questions, I know...

I remember, as a younger person, actively seeking music that spoke about issues I had yet to think of or yet to deal with on a mature level. I think DRI, for instance, helped me in more ways than one... it served as an escape on one hand, but exposed me to gun control, for instance, when in the area in which I grew up that was a non-issue. That didn't make me pro-gun-control, actually, even though that was their message, but it made me realize there was alternative thought to consider.

[The One and Only...]

Not only is he ignorant, but he chose some of the least offensive bands out there.

I mean, if your going to talk about evil bands, talk about Dark Funeral or Cryptopsy. It will get them some exposure.

[Helm]

Cryptopsy are not really satanic or anything like that at all. Did you just pick a name out of a hat or something?

[pjalne]

Maybe someone should tell this guy that Suicide Is Painless was written by a thirteen-year-old.