As long as we're fresh off the subject of censorship (or things near to it) and things I can't take seriously, let's talk about the "Parental Advisory Label" that appears on some CDs. And let me stress, that's some CDs. Therein lies the reason I can't take the label seriously.
Compare two Green Day albums, American Idiot, and International Superhits! Both have lyrics including profanity (not constantly, but they use it). The same profanity, in point of fact. I'm not going to be like one of these people and sit there and count the "fucks" -- I'll only assure you that both albums have more than a couple.
American Idiot has the Parental Advisory Label. International Superhits! does not. Alright, what the hell? There must be some standard by which these labels are being applied, right?! So what is it about the one album that merits the label when the other one doesn't? (Gasp!) Could it be that being branded by the label is completely arbitrary? Say it isn't so!
Could it be that no ignorant parent has ever bought an album for their child, got it home, and then written an angry letter to the RIAA complaining that the "profane music" didn't have an advisory label?
Probably not. I'll tell you why:
1) Most parents aren't actually checking out what books, music, TV shows, and movies their children are exposed to. They're lazily and inappropriately putting responsibility on others to do that, which is how crap like the Parental Advisory Label comes to exist in the first place.
2) Any parent who did actually hear "the F-word" on their kid's record would be quick to fire off angry letters to the record label and the band, plus a spam chain e-mail warning everyone to stay away from the record in question. Would they ever write to the RIAA, the people who were actually responsible for making sure their beloved warning label got on there? Not a chance!
Ah, now see, here I go letting facts into a perfectly good rant, but I've now done my Google research and learned that it is voluntary whether a CD accepts the label or not. So, apparently, there's nothing to stop an album with "explicit lyrics" from shunning the label.
Really, though, this just changes the nature of the rant a bit. The question remains, what possible good does this label do at all?
8 comments:
You idiot... American Idiot bashes the Bush Administration, and we can't have that, now can we?
Fuck those stupid RIAA fuckers.
Oops, forgot the warning there, sorry kids.
"Bad language" is always intriguing over here on this side of the pond. I'm always amused to watch UK programmes where they bleep out the naughty words that the Americans will understand and then leave in the naughty words that they don't. Bollocks and wanker are good examples (even though bollocks was legally determined not to be obscene in the UK!).
It's also amusing to see it go back the other way - the word 'fanny' has very different connotations in the UK - fanny packs are not widely discussed back home.
Ya gotta love language.
God bless you Brits.
I've always believed Stuff it, wanker has a much better sensibility than Fuck off, cocksucker.
I remember my first episode of Red Dwarf when "smeg" was uttered. Fortunately, my recent exposure to the more gross bits of biology put two and two together. My younger brother had a wait a few years in school to make that same connection.
My mother had a somewhat prudish high school teacher who spent time overseas, so when my mother discovered "blast" among other Britslang, she was still repremanded. Blast!
I thought it wasn't mandatory. I bet they sell more to teens with the label on, so it's the opposite of a deterrent really. At Christmas, they probably sell more to parents if they don't use the sticker. Is International Superhits a compilation CD?
Mmm, smegma. Love it when Spike says "wanker" or Chief O-'Brien says "bollocks" (in Time's Orphan, IIRC).
My college roommate was given a "radio" version of Cypress Hill's Black Sunday from his sister for his birthday. I didn't know such copies of any "explicit" CDs were produced. Needless to say, it lacked that extra punch that only references to dope smoking and heavy drinking and incessant cursing can provide.
Ah you have to love the word smegma. There was an article many moons ago about a dust mite that inhabited mattresses and lived on it. Never seen so many mattresses vacuumed thoroughly in my life.
Wanker is another good word that has litle or no meaning here. When we first arrived it was widely used on a radio show - in fact I remember seeing it emblazoned in frigging huge lights at the (then) Hoosier Dome. One of the mercans at work decided it was a good word to use to refer to everyone. Then we explained the meaning of the word to him....
Yes, International Superhits! is Green Day's "best of" album.
Wanker and bollocks are two absolutely top quality words, and it's truly amazing how many Americans don't know what they mean. Just goes to show you how ignorant Americans of other countries -- even the ones that speak (mostly) the same language as us.
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