I didn't say all of her money, I meant very specific profits. But that's neither here nor there, anymore. I'd like to give her the benefit of the doubt that she's more charitable and socially active than I've seen.
I guess my final sentiment on Beyonce and impactful celebrities in general is that, like it or not, she is a social activist just by the sheer magnitude of her audience/influence. She has an enormous megaphone. Time magazine threw her up on the cover a couple years ago with their "100 Most Influential People in the World" tag. You're right, widely popular artists shouldn't have all of these expectations placed upon them, but when you're that big there is a certain culpability and inherent duty. Maybe that's not fair, and maybe she doesn't want that weight, but that's reality.
To quote Spider-Man's Uncle Ben, "With great power comes great responsibility."
I have an impulse to get vinegary with people. Genetics, maybe.
Anyway, I wouldn't mind a discussion. Maybe I'm especially frustrated because I seem to be one of the few gay dudes in the LGBT community who is wary of Beyonce as an artist and social activist.
You realize I used the word "proletariat" to play off of ACTUAL people referring to Beyonce as a fucking Queen and sort of believing it, right?
And you make a list using examples to oppose me wherein you've essentially brushstroke insulted without having to be intelligent. A-plus, counterfeit Conan. Half of the time the comments on here have no gunpowder in the rifle, they're just full of weak snarky shit, trying (and usually failing, as is the case here) to pick someone or their position apart.
No. People aren't morally obligated to return favors when they become successful, especially financially, so there's no sour grapes. However, if she's reluctant to do even a version of what I mentioned above, while making money off of class/race struggle-themed lyrics, that does make her a hypocrite.
The songs are obviously catchy and stirring conversation; I just hope Queen Bey sprinkles some (most) of her tour profits from this album on the proletariat, in the form of assisting public programs or maybe her husband's scholarship fund. I think that's a fair expectation given some of what she's been capitalizing on.
Apologies in advance for this fire and brimstone tangent that's about to take place, but as far as tonight goes, this is the fucking anvil that dropped on the already shaky, arthritic camel's back.
Kanye was interviewed in GQ a couple issues ago, and in said interview he compared the constant lambasting and overall sour, nonchalantly dismissive treatment of celebrity behavior to be very similar to the treatment of blacks in the 60s. I could be paraphrasing, but it was something to that close effect. Naturally I wanted to roll up the issue and molotov cocktail his mouth for that statement alone, but then here's this bullshit. And honestly, sadly, it's not even Kanye alone who should be taking all this flack.
We really, really, really fucking need to stop heralding celebrities. I think a plateau will soon be reached where people just can't take this shit anymore, but until then; these musicians, actors, whoever—the majority of them— are flawed, broken, prone to spouting as much asinine garbage as the rest of us "civilians." Most of them will never really be participants, just passengers, albeit in first class. And what I mean by that is: from my own standpoint as someone who wants to succeed in the unconventional world of the arts (and as someone who has considered hanging up his hat in this field due to convictions fueled by moments like this), it's imperative to remember that all art, all of it, is just bread before the meal. That isn't to say art and its contribution to society isn't important, but it's far too subjective of a domain to have spawned this hierarchy in our world between "us" and "them." It's far too similar to Medieval Ages for my liking.
To get to this point where we've produced and then bred human beings who think—though manufactured or not—they're so supremely vital, for creating something that's purely enjoyable or entertaining, but not essential, we have failed as a culture. And that's seriously terrifying.
I lied to my boss—a pretty chill guy who isn't much older than myself—in order to be able to leave an hour or so early today so I could listen to this stream in peace. Tomorrow when I come in, I'll be honest with him and say I went on a pilgrimage to Heaven. And he'll understand.
Where the Wild Things Are?
Either way, Weezer's consistency (or lack thereof) confuses me. I can't tell if I'm just attached to the memories of the Blue and Green Albums in high school, or if they're genuinely just unchanging for the most part. Or if they're like living on life support and the cord needs to be snipped.
It appears as though Mistah Braff is in a competition with himself for having Indiest Soundtrack to A Film Indier Than Garden State. And, admittedly, I did love Garden State's soundtrack, I don't know if I can handle another competition between the World Cup, Wimbledon, and MLB, Dr. Dorian.
I really dig this track.
That said, for some reason this unfortunate thing popped into my head as soon as I heard it the first time:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zR5_KkxgGqE
Someone needs to tell me the secret of getting into Future Islands, because I'm tryin'. Just when I start to like a song, something negative happens, or I'm reminded of the lead singer's likeness to an alternative universe Sheldon from Big Bang Theory, and I just can't take that seriously.
I've never listened to a Black Lips song—at least not while I was in a cognizant state of mind. Regardless, this guy seems like so many burned-out, pseudo-activist floaters that I see around my neck of the woods. Even if he had valid points to express, it's like gnomes in his brain are just dicking around instead of working at the articulation machines.
Even still, Lorde is mostly whack (though relatively harmless) for a variety of reasons. One of which being a more intelligible, more informed version of what Cole was trying to say.
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