Do All Giants Fall?

Recently, Coz and I had been showering you with our entries for a contest held by media reviewer extraordinaire Rolling Stone. One of the finalists for the concert line-up was a tribute to, as the entrant so eloquently put it, cock rock. The article was subpar, and though I admit that my submission should not necessarily have won, this has me thinking.

I could call Rolling Stone on being trapped in sensationalism and, to a point, Howard Stern-ism. Covers that were once graced by an artistic photo shoot of Janis Joplin or Jimi Hendrix now features Christina Aguilera (though I do have to admit that she has cleaned up her act in preparation for her latest release "Back To Basics") half-naked sprawled on an automobile.
If you watch I'm From Rolling Stone or read the magazine's recent articles, the quality of writing is just downhill. Obviously, this can't be blamed fully on the magazine; just as with Saturday Night Live, the quality of the work is fully based on the quality of the people currently working there, and the original guerilla reporters pass away with time, passing the mantle on to hands sometimes undeserving.

I could call Rolling Stone on this, but I am not going to. Yes, Rolling Stone is no longer worth its namesake and I am embarrassed to have wanted to model myself after them. However, I think some mention needs to be made to the culture at large. American media has become a mere play-doh counterpart of its former marble statue. There is something inherently misguided about a culture that will fund not one, but two Jackass movies, a culture where Paris Hilton - whose only claim to fame should be that she happens to be an heiress to the Hilton chain - releases a successful album and lands movie roles. Three 6 Mafia wins an Oscar. Not a Grammy, but an Academy Award. Three 6 Mafia is heralded in the tradition of Bruce Springsteen, The Little Mermaid's "Under The Sea", Bob Dylan, and Burt Bacharach. We get our culture from Family Guy and our satire from South Park. (Now don't be fooled; these two shows are incredibly intelligent in these fields. But to be able to accurately name them pinnacles of satire and culture says something.) We trust a somewhat crude though absolutely hilarious comedian more than we do our actual news programs.

The "best" new music out there is a pile of lamented teenagers who probably bathe in hair gel, bemoaning how horrible they have it and how they can never get affection from the opposite sex, all while dating someone like Paris Hilton or Drew Barrymore. If that's not it, it's a band painted in the least sympathetic light possible, sounding like a second-rate Nickelback and praising getting high and chasing your ex-girlfriend, and this album tops Bob Dylan. It's all well and good for classic acts to know when they've reached their prime (ahem, Mick Jagger), but what we have in their place is unpromising at best and downright depressing on average.

It's hard out here for an American music fan. At least there's the British Isles.

And now a special comment on LoveGod'sWay

Following up on Doughnutman's excellent post about music that will turn you gay and why God hates that, I couldn't help but add my own $.02 to the pot. Are you fucking kidding me? Why do people like this still exist? A quick examination of the web site is like an exposé of the guide to Christian anti-homosexual protocol. First we have the abuse of an Oscar Wilde quote (which, much to the contrary of the author's opinion, was not about repudiating the gay lifestyle). But this is just the beginning, my friends, of a long, protracted declaration of bigotry, prejudice, and ignorance spewing from this unfortunate soul.

We also have the C.H.O.P.S. program, or Changing Homosexuals into Ordinary People. Well now, the only reason the LGBT community is contextually segregated from other demographics is no different than the reason Blacks, Women, Jews, or any other repressed and persecuted minority has been. That reason, simply put, is because of the unjustifiable, unfounded, baseless, and immoral labeling and singling out of a group of people due to a single defining characteristic of that group. Now, before I go any further, it's vital that an important distinction be made. Certainly a group like Al Qaeda is singled out based on the criterion that they perform acts of terrorism. In the same way, pedophiles and rapists can be singled out based on a lone trait. It is therefore imperative that the key difference is that being Jewish or Black or Gay has no inherent effect on any other person. Your identity cannot, by definition and cause, hurt, imperil, or pain anyone else; it can, however, be used AGAINST (i.e. to discriminate) the person who bears it. This is why these inalienable human rights are legally protected in the United States. To in any way encourage that one's identity be used in an inflammatory or degrading way, as the site clearly does, is unequivocally abhorrent.

But it gets even worse. Mr. Davies (who runs the website) has some multimedia to share with all of us curious would-be haters out there. Despite numerous attempts to stop this man's evil tirade of malice, he soldiers on undisturbed, singing of how much "God Hates Fags." Now, this is especially ironic since in a separate video message to his faithful he calls for tolerance and acceptance for all those who would malign his weight problem. So let me get this straight...he's attacking those whose lifestyle he disagrees with (in God's name, which of course for people like this is merely a manipulative tool for a self-righteous agenda), yet he condemns those who attack his lifestyle. This is not to say that it's alright in any way, shape, or form to degrade a person based on their weight or any attribute of their physical appearance. It IS to say, though, that the failure of this man to realize and acknowledge his own hypocrisy is absurd.

Then, of course, we finally get to what Doughnutman was talking about, the difference between Gay Bands and Safe Bands. What, pray tell, is a Gay Band? Well, why not let Mr. Davies himself explain:

One of the most dangerous ways homosexuality invades family life is through popular music. Parents should keep careful watch over their children's listening habits, especially in this Internet Age of MP3 piracy.

It's truly insulting to see Evanescence make the safe list, since they certainly do not endorse his platform. Music can do a lot of things. It can inspire us to unseen levels of creativity, hope and peace, it can brighten a dreary day, or bring us together through strife and conflict. But there are certain things music can not (or rather does not) do and that is turn us gay. It's interesting to see how Mr. Davies called for ultimate free speech when it comes to his anti-gay messages, yet he adamantly opposes people listening to what he considers to be inappropriate music. Music is fundamentally a series of wave patterns and thus cannot be appropriate or inappropriate. Lyrics perhaps can be, but they must first be put into the context of the song in which they reside. None of these bands evangelize the glory of a homosexual lifestyle, but even if they did, that's their artistic freedom to exercise or not exercise. The same freedom you, Mr. Davies, clamor for in order to preach your warlike proclamations.

While it may boil down to the fact that Mr. Davies has both the freedom and the right to express his misguided views, so too do we have that power. That's why I call on you, my fellow human beings of reason, of morality, of ethics and dignity and integrity, to exercise your First Amendment rights to let Mr. Davies know just how you feel. Let him regurgitate his doctrine of division and inequality, while at once proclaiming his 'Christian' homo-erotic love for Jesus Christ. After all, why should the hypocrisy stop at anywhere for him? By the way, doesn't the Bible also say "Judge Not, Lest Ye Be Judged?" (Thanks Harriet Hayes a.k.a. Sarah Paulson from "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip"). Well, here's my judgment on Mr. Davies. You are an unloving, hypocritical, prejudicial, bigoted, intolerant asshole, and you cannot possibly speak for God (nor can any of your brethren). There is no such thing as ministering love through hate or vice-versa. God is God, just as Love is Love, and Hate is Hate. And you are you, irrelevant and self-important, and I cannot wait for the time when you and your kind fall miserably to the bottom class and ranks of civil society, where your hate, fear-mongering beliefs and politics belong. Do you feel as I do? Let Mr. Davies hear from you:

donniedavies@gmail.com

Again that's: donniedavies@gmail.com. Exercise your free speech! Let's give him a piece of our mind.

And finally to introduce another new AtD Feature: Put This to Music! This is where you have the opportunity to take something discussed on the site, and put it to music! Compose an entire song, compose a few lyrics, create a freestyle rap, you name it; it's all fair game here. Post your responses in the comments, or if you're feeling ambitious upload your song to MySpace or YouTube. Just let us know about it, so we can work together to empower ourselves through music.