[thechat] re: Eminem & free speech

Kevin Stevens kjs at ratking.co.uk
Wed Jul 3 17:22:01 CDT 2002


> Cool.  & I agree.  The man has enough power that he needs to also
> take responsibility (IMO) for what he says and encourages.  Right on.
> But it isn't up to the media or government to *force* him to be
> nice...

Last time I saw Jello Biafra speak he mentioned Eminem. I can't remember if
he was refering to children in his family or just being metaphorical but he
said if your child comes home with an Eminem CD don't just say "You're not
listening to that!", get the kid to really listen to the lyrics and to
question whether what he has to say is really *cool* and try to point out
that wife beating and homophobia are not to be taken lightly.


> Another: Nirvana: "Rape Me" (is it about MTV or ?)  or Polly...

Polly always makes me feel uncomfortable, which I'm sure is the desired
effect, but Rape Me was definitely a poor choice for a lyric/song title. I
remember getting all militant when the Prodigy released the track Smack My
Bitch Up but was surprised to find I was the only one who was bothered by
it, even some feminists I knew didn't seem in the least bit outraged. I came
round to thinking that maybe this was the right way to deal with
deliberately outrageous things, don't rise to it.

Kevin Stevens
kjs at ratking.co.uk




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