Amanda Palmer has a new musical/theatrical project involving conjoined twins: [link]
Eeeyah. Not involving conjoined twins, it's her and her collaborator impersonating conjoined twins who used to be in a circus. Which feels... icky... to me.
eta: Or, as one person on my flist called it, "revolting ablist bullshit". Which, I haven't articulated why my gut-response to the project is one of WTFSRSLY?, but given the long history of circuses and other attractions using conjoined twins/little people/whomever else that doesn't fit a body "norm" as sideshow freaks (and hell, the WWE uses a little person now as sort of a sideshow freak), I have a hard time liking the idea of this project. Maybe it'll be sensitive and awareness-raising and all of that fuzzy liberal shit that I like, but I fear it's more a case of "here's a cool idea, let's put it on stage". Which is maybe not giving AP and her all-star collaborators credit where credit's due, but that's what it feels like to me.
Random thought - could a song like "Don't Fear the Reaper" become a big hit today without controversy?
Random thought - could a song like "Don't Fear the Reaper" become a big hit today without controversy?
Probably. There have always been variations on the suicide song that hit the top 40.
"Walk on the Wild Side" probably couldn't though.
"But she never lost her head/ even when she was giving head."
"Shaved her legs then he was a she..."
I don't know. Maybe those kind of lyrics are pretty tame compared to the average rap hit.
See, I think those lyrics would have been more shocking when the song was released ('71-ish?) than now.
Another random question: Is the Stones'
Their Satanic Majesties Request
a parody of
Sgt. Pepper
and/or the zeitgeist of the time?
But what about "And the colored girls go"? (re: Walk On The Wild Side)
But what about "And the colored girls go"? (re: Walk On The Wild Side)
That's OK, because it was really white girls singing that.
OK, I have no idea how that would play now.
But what about "And the colored girls go"? (re: Walk On The Wild Side)
FWIW, that line was used ironically at the time as "colored" had been largely supplanted by "black" in the early seventies. It was a purposefully fuddy duddy way to phrase it.
Is the Stones' Their Satanic Majesties Request a parody of Sgt. Pepper and/or the zeitgeist of the time?
It's not a parody; it's an interesting failure. One which was roundly blasted at the time but has gotten renewed appreciation over the years.
My friend Matthew used to describe it as "speed freaks on acid" - but he considered that to be its chief virtue.
