I'll
still be rambling a lot here, but it really does connect.
There
was something at church that really irritated me a few months ago. They were
having a musical talent show, and the announcement on when to try out specified
all genres but rock.
One
of my early thoughts was how dirty country sometimes gets, despite being
generally popular with religious types. Really, it's such a ridiculous distinction
when you consider the many beautiful and wonderful songs that would be classified
as rock, and some of the trash that would not be rock. Of course opinions on
what is trash and what isn't vary, but genre is a very poor criterion.
Let's
leave music and go to comic books, to The True Lives of the Fabulous
Killjoys. I have written about it before. As important as the story that
did happen was to me, I may have been more affected by the story that didn't
happen. Shaun Simon and Gerard Way both refer to it in
their notes from the special edition.
That
story would have been kicked off with the protagonist's Ramones' tape getting
erased. The villain actually didn't change that much. In Shaun's words...
"The
gang would have found that another former gang had now become the largest
health care corporation in the country and were hell bent on making the world a
safe and clean place by removing all that was dirty, like the Ramones."
My
first response to that was "The Ramones aren't dirty!" but, then
"Beat on the Brat" started playing in my head.
Beat on the brat,
Beat on the brat,
Beat on the brat with a baseball bat,
Oh yeah, oh yeah, uh oh.
Okay,
that sounds pretty ugly. It is ugly. But then for the people who experience it,
and are in the life where that happens and to be cheeky about it, that's
empowering. It may not be the best way of dealing with it, but it is a way that
can help, and that can lead to other ways.
(I
never have done that post on subverting the language of your oppressor. Some
day.)
It
sounds like the people trying to make the world safe and clean should be the
good guys, but it doesn't turn out that way. None of us who remember Camazotz
from A Wrinkle in Time (or any of the other various science fiction
places that were supposed to be utopian and ended up being dystopian) should be
to surprised by that. Enforcing perfection goes badly.
What
Shaun and Gerard did was remind me how badly we need the Ramones. When things
are wrong, you need a way to give voice to it. There will be people who won't
want to hear it. That's why it's helpful that there are people who are willing
to be rude and offensive, or to be buffoons, sometimes, because that happens
too. We need people who can cause a ruckus.
There
are different ways to be the voice of dissent. It may mean marching or blocking
train tracks, or pulling down a flag, or interrupting a rally. Sometimes those
actions have concrete effects, and sometimes it is mainly discussion. Art may
be more likely to inspire discussion, but then those discussions can lead to
changes, so you never know.
We
have to allow room for the things we find ugly. Okay, I do love the Ramones,
but I rarely enjoy hip hop. I still see it's value, more and more all the time.
I usually don't enjoy metal - all the anger of punk with none of the fun - but
there are people who need it. If there are people who feel less lonely because
of it, or feel like it gives them a voice, I want that for them. That doesn't
mean subjective art is completely impervious to objective criticism, but it's
something to keep in mind.
So
when we are seeing protests and offended by them, own that, but examine it.
Should you be angry at the interruption, or angry that it's apparently the only
way of being heard? Are we disgusted with people who need our support? Is our
comfort worth their blood?
Those
are questions worth asking. There are ugly things inside us too, and they only
come out honest examination.
"The
way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them." - Ida B.
Wells
The
wrongs will be ugly. Don't blame that on the light.
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