My earnest take on the WAP Grammy performance vs. Dr Seuss thing is that it’s an unsurprising result of what happens when one side gives a shit about what they’re fighting for and the other doesn’t.
Those who believe that things like potentially racialized comics are a threat to equity actually care about what they’re fighting for.
But basically no one actively cares if a song’s performance is vulgar. Some people pretend to, to score cheap political points.
But basically no one actively cares if a song’s performance is vulgar. Some people pretend to, to score cheap political points.
It’s Janet-Jackson-Justin-Timberlake-Super-Bowl all over again forever. People hem and haw and appeal to some general sense that Something Is Bad but no one is compelled to attempt change anything.
That’s why you don’t have like a Mothers Against Sexualized Singjng or something.
Surely people have some general sense that a thing is bad. But that’s waaaay different from the sort of belief that motivates someone to take action, which these things never do.
It’s also why conservatives lose so many culture war skirmishes. The people who want to see stuff gone actually care about it being gone. Those who don’t want to see it gone are concerned about the general principle of the thing, but usually not in a way that drives change.
I’ve seen a lot of people frame it as an issue of being on the offensive vs the defensive, but I don’t think that’s quite right. Defending the status quo shouldn’t take a ton of energy. The wheat is growing but the hands are wanting (or something I forget the reference).
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