AnnPowers said:
“Don’t censor music and artistic expression.”
Eminem’s music, in particular the songs “Kim” and “Stan”, is a continuation of a tradition in American music and art in general: the gothic killer ballad, which has been with us since blues or folk music. of the Appalachians. “Stan” is like an Edgar Allan Poe story, if you think about it. Johnny Cash shot a man just to watch him die. This is something that has had a very strong and enduring role in the culture.
Self-styled moralists are taking up arms over something that has always been part of the development literature. If you are a child, you have to learn about violence, about hate, about death, about fear. That’s part of becoming an adult. And if Eminem doesn’t give it to you, you’ll get it from your own nightmares. The illusion that children have to be protected from that is related to a kind of fetishization of innocence, which is not realistic.”
ann powers
Music Critic, The New York Times
We live in a society where we are taught to hide our true feelings and emotions. When I look back at the way I was brought up at school and at home, I now know how hypocritical it was. Teachers and parents tried to hide something from reality. We imagined a safe world with nice people. Religion (particularly the way it was taught) added to that misimpression.
Eminem’s work seems to be progressive for conservative people. But the same conservatives would also have rejected Baudelaire or any other controversial poet or writer centuries earlier. Conservatism is a form of intolerance in general.
I have felt insecure for much of my life and didn’t know how to act the right way around people, I was too afraid to speak my mind.
There’s something I’ll probably never understand: why are references to suicide so taboo in people’s minds? Many people also blamed Goethe for his work “Die Leiden des Jungen Werthers” (“The Sorrows of Young Werther”) because many young people committed suicide after reading his book. It is not Goethe’s fault, but the decision of those young people… but do we really need someone to blame? Anyone has the right to end his life if he feels that his pain is unbearable. My cousin committed suicide when I was 15 years old. She surprised me, but I don’t judge her for it. It was her decision to stop her immense pain.
MTV also censors notions that have to do with suicide.
The “Tatu” “Not Gonna Get Us” video was considered shocking and would be censored not because it featured two lesbian girls, but because they appear to commit suicide at the end of the video.
I was very surprised to discover that the word “die” in the sentence
“I’m so sick and tired of being admired/
I wish I could die or be fired” from Eminem’s song “The Way I Am”. How is that possible? How could MTV censor a word like “die” as if death doesn’t belong in our everyday reality?
They allow phrases like “People killing, people dying/Children hurt and you hear them cry” from sweet songs like “Where’s the love? by Black Eyed Peas and dare to censor “die” in “The Way I Am” video?
How far should we take hypocrisy?
So many writers and poets like François Villon in 15th century France have been considered scandalous for their use of vulgar language. Many people want to pretend that vulgar and popular language did not exist (surely the same people also use it in their privacy). Popular and vulgar words are also part of our culture, there is no reason to ignore them.
Why should we censor notions like suicide, murder, and death that are present in music when our kids are already playing violent games on their PlayStation and watching “Hannibal” and “Scary Movie” on TV? A little violence helps kids get rid of their own aggressively and shouldn’t necessarily be seen as dangerous and negative.
The best way to protect our children is not to hide the reality. The closer they are to reality, the better armed they are to face real battles in life.
