Making Light

by Shaker rrp

So, I'm reading Pharyngula of all blogs and lo and behold, PZ has embedded an Amanda Palmer (of Rebellyon fame) video, "Oasis".* Why "Oasis"? Well, it's fun, natch, but also because it can't get shown on a bunch of outlets in the UK.** The reason why? Here's the email Amanda received:

I just thought I'd let you know that we have been met by fierce opposition on the Oasis track.

Which is disheartening, as combined with the video, we all felt it was a great promotional tool and track.

All our TV outlets have refused to play the video due to it "making light of rape, religion and abortion". This is the audio as well as visual.

Many of the stations like the track, and even the video but are bound by strict broadcasting rules. I personally find this quite ridiculous.

He's not the only one. Anyone who has seen "Oasis"—or heard it—should know that underneath that happy, poppy surface is a portrait of a young woman dealing with a hard time the best way that she can.

Let Amanda tell it:

i sat down one day in or around 2002 and wrote a tongue-in-cheek, ironic up-tempo pop song.

a song about a girl who got drunk, was date raped, and had an abortion.

she sings about these things lightly and joyfully and says that she doesn't care that these things have happened to her because oasis, (her favorite band) has sent her an autographed photo in the mail. and to make things even better (!!), her bitchy friend melissa, who told the whole school about the abortion, is really jealous.

(Read the whole post on her blog. Go on, read it right now.)


So this can't get shown in the UK because it's not a lesson ("Papa, Don't Preach") or just not sorry enough about that whole abortion thing.*** Among the stations that refused it are NME and MTV.

NME TV online is mainly a bunch of light pop, though there's a weird vibe to the Vampire Weekend's "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" and Mystery Jets' "He's Half in Love with Elizabeth." The only thing offensive about "Oasis" in that lineup is that it's much better than the rest.

But MTV? MTV has among its top videos:

• Fall Out Boy's "America's Suiteheart" starts off brightly with a cutout cartoon of a female TV reporter getting punched out by cutout ringmaster figure. Has sweet fuckall to do with the lyrics as far as I can tell. There's some other casual misogyny throughout.

• Busta Rhyme's "Arab Money" (yes, that Busta Rhyme). This video is never going to win any cultural sensitivity awards. Women are the usual markers of money and sex. And as an extra special treat, the refrain is "We getting Arab money!" with the bridge chanted Arabic.

• Bow Wow's "Roc Da Mic" which ends with: "JD used to have all the hottest whips and shit. I used to be like you know when I sell my first million. Im'a buy all these shits man all the girls you talking to man Im'a smash all them girls when I get older you know what Im saying. JD I know you remember that and I did it!…(laughs)" [Emphasis added]

Lily Allen's "The Fear" is up there too, a funny Kelly Clarkson one ("My Life Would Suck Without You"), and Beyoncé's nauseating "Halo". But there's also Kanye West's quintessential Nice Guy© video "Heartless".****

Why can these be shown, but "Oasis" can't?

Because "Oasis" will make you think if you listen to it. Because "Oasis" doesn't simplify anything for you. Because "Oasis" doesn't expect you to be passive even in your pop listening. Because "Oasis" doesn't treat women like objects. And because "Oasis" makes a joke about the Christianists, which is never ok.

And the jokes like "Oasis" makes are lights in this world, lighting up the dark places and chasing out the cockroaches***** of ignorance and intolerance. It makes the world brighter, unlike the Australian pastor from the story earlier today, who would cast us all into darkness.

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* It's always a huge surprise to me when bloggers I like, but stashed in one category in my skull, share my tastes in music, books, etc. There was a Charles Stross discussion on Crooked Timber that took me completely by surprise, though it shouldn't have, as they've also done this for Susanna Clarke and China Miéville. I won't know what to do when Glenn Greenwald writes about Cat Power some day.

** Bless the bbc. They played it.

*** Extraordinary for outstandingly bad web design and colossally missing the point on several of the songs cited.

**** Which looks great, btw, cartoon-style.

***** Hey, it's a metaphor. I like roaches as a species.