Posts by Emma Hart
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Related: Pitchforks hurt!
Dude, come on, we did lick it better afterwards.
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And two more articles via GayNZ:
and a word from Peter Tatchell (Warning: includes Lindsey Perigo.)
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Sure hope you are right, because all other things aside Beenie Man has just been afforded the type of publicity money can't buy. He is officially Mr Ojectionality 2009 for "responsible NZers" and that shit sells.
As was alluded to before, it's been strongly suggested that these artists only signed the Reggae Compassionate Act because the boycotts had been so damaging to their income.
And of course those antipathetic to 'responsible NZers' will buy his music rather than pirating it, right?
And I'm glad you made the point about the society Beenie Man is coming from. Jamaica (thanks largely to the brand of church they run there) is "violently homophobic", staggeringly so.
It struck me that, given the number of people who were saying they'd never heard of him, that perhaps the Jamaican context was completely missing.
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had to consult actual lawyers
Not to disagree with the substance of Kyle's comment, but Chauvel IS an actual lawyer.
I'm not going to comment on the substance of Kyle's comment because I know Charles personally so I'm starting to feel kind of uncomfortable.
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Should we assume they don't know how to do their job, cos if so , what the hell are we paying them for?
Well, perhaps they didn't have all the information. After all, if:
I do think their point was that whilst aware of the contentious man's lyrics, they thought he had changed his way.
then the BDO organisers can't even be expected to do a google.
His intention may be in the right place but it becomes immediately divisive.
Another thing that intrigues me: the way the reaction to the invitation is construed as divisive (a word the BDO organisers used as well) but the initial invitation apparently isn't.
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What seems to have been lost in the outrage this week is that homophobia does not exist in Jamaica because Dancehall stars incite it in their lyrics,
Possibly because no-one ever said it DID. Which would make that something of a strawman argument.
"Music has no effect on people" is an argument no more sound than "Marilyn Manson causes school shootings". A constructive discussion of reflection and influence could be had, but only if people were prepared not to pretend that their 'opponents' were holding one of those positions.
(Often when I get into a discussion on a topic like this, I type the phrase "I didn't say that" and put it on my clipboard. Then I count the number of times I have to paste it.)
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a jolly little play that starts with the kind of gang brawling that gives Michael Laws a woody, goes through what would now be considered statutory rape and ends with a horrible teen suicide pact.
It's rather different, though. Portraying something does not mean advocating it, and Shakespeare comes nowhere close to even having any character say 'wouldn't it be great if all the teenagers killed themselves, now let's have sex with under-age girls'.
Musichall is not advocating a fantasy, either, but something that happens in real Jamaican life with depressing regularity.
Now, that doesn't mean that I think it should be banned, but pretty much all of the 'it's just like's I've seen on this haven't been even remotely equivalent. And I think the degree of 'incitement' or 'fantasy' shouldn't be judged against our culture, but the one it rises out of. Except in visa cases, where you are looking at the culture you're coming into. The Canadian Embassy in Jamaica makes all artists applying to perform in Jamaica sign a declaration that they've read and will abide by the Canadian Bill of Rights.
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Charles Chauvel's call for Beenie Man to be denied a visa to enter New Zealand was wrong on principle
I would agree with that, though I can also see that if you take the David Irving ruling as your existing precedent, then this is clearly worse.
My partner and I, once upon a time, decided that if we ever did a big overseas trip, we'd go to the West Indies at the same time as the Black Caps and do beaches and cricket and booze. What I've learned over the last few years has taken that right off the menu - though these days I'd want to spend my 'honeymoon' in Cardiff anyway.
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Don't read Gordon Campbells take on it then - it frustrated me and I'm nowhere near as involved in the issues as most.
Too late. I found it really depressing. I have some deep respect for Gordon Campbell, but I found that column really unfortunate. Spurious accusations of racism aside, Campbell quotes from the intervew where Beenie Man denies having signed the Reggae Compassiontate Act and says that no, he doesn't promise not to play those songs again, but never mentions it in the column and writes as though he doesn't know about it.
Tessa, the BDO has withdrawn its invitation to Beenie Man (which is not a ban, it should be noted, nobody's been 'banned'), but their comment on the fact makes very little sense to me. They appear to be saying, "We knew this was going to be offensive, but then we did it and it turned out to be offensive, so now we're not going to do it."
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I saw a certain All Whites player doing a Flintoff in a Courtenay Place bar on the Sunday afternoon!
Respect. How'd he get the pedalo in there?