Why was the artist told she could not perform this song on David Letterman?
Are there conditions that justify the ban or censorship of works of art?
If so, what are they? If not, why not?
Freshman Seminar 100KK
Why was the artist told she could not perform this song on David Letterman?
Are there conditions that justify the ban or censorship of works of art?
If so, what are they? If not, why not?
I think that this artist was not allowed to perform on Letterman simply because she addressed issues that are not “politically correct” to address in pulbic. Talking about things thought but not said frightens people and i believe that is exactly why she could not perform
i think she was not allowed to perform because she sang of truths that people are too frightened to mention in public. she was singing about what others were thinking and that scares people. she essentially refused to be politically correct which is a very brave/revolutionary thing to do.
I’d say she was banned from performing this on David Letterman because humans in general, especially Americans today, dislike being reminded of the injustices in the world. I believe educating people on the injustices of American culture is overlooked, so when reality does strike, it comes as a surprise and because it is unfamiliar, people tend to be scared of it. People, for the most part, dislike being reminded of what they are afraid of…and few people will stand up and say “hey, i know this is scary, but this is real..so listen”…that is exactly what this singer (Ani DiFranco, i believe) is doing in this song…because people don’t want to be faced with very real fears, they probably wouldn’t watch it, which makes ratings go down…so that was probably the base reason for banning her performance on Letterman
Like Brodie and Laura said, this song was banned from letterman because she sings about issues that are very real but are ignored by most people in the U.S. Especially in todays society, which is completely obsessed with celebrities, what’s in fashion, and even just the latest trends, people tend to overlook what actually matters in the world like poverty, racial issues, etc (basically all the topics covered in this song) because either 1) people are scared of the reality of what is going on in the world and/or 2) they don’t know how to change it or make it better. Obviously the media has a strong opinion on what they want to allow people to see and most likely some big wig at CBS didn’t want to deal with the reaction of the people this song could possibly offend.
I think we are all pretty much in agreeance that americans especially hate to have the truth thrown in their faces. When I watched the song the first time I was like “Woah she has got some pretty heavy stuff, but she makes some pretty good points.” The second time I watched it I thought about why the artist was banned, and I think that she was banned because of the unpredictability of what she might say, you always hear about television shows being scuitenized for allowing artists like this to preform, and they say something like f*** Bush! The producers of letterman must not have been willing to take that chance. Is it right? I’d say no, but you gotta do watcha gotta do.
I feel like you hear this kind of music all over the place, just not as blunt as this artist makes it. I guess the reason it was banned from Letterman is like what everyone else said about the ideas and concepts throughout the song are right there in your face, and you do not have to read between the lines to understand the content. I suppose that the production people for Letterman, or whoever decided, just did not want what everyone knows is true, to become an actual freely spoken reality, like many Americans. The artist does not really seem like a violent anti-government, anti-american views or opinions, but she seems like a chill person who just sings calmly and wants people to hear the blunt truths about the issues that everyone knows but won’t say.
I agree with what everyone has said about how the uncomfortable truths and opinions in her song are not well accepted by the general population, and how that may be the reason she was not allowed to preform this on on Letterman. My immediate impression of this song was suprise, because the opening words are “White people are afriad of black people.” That is a very strong statement and along could have been reason enough to block this from Letterman. Those words, along with the rest of the song, would cause a great amount of controversy and Letterman would probably recieve alot of mail, both for and against the guest preformer.
i agree with everyone as well. This artist was very straightforward. Just like Ali said “white people are afraid of black people” is an extremely strong line and could be found offensive. However, she does have the right to freedon of speech so who is to say she isn’t allowed to sing this on Letterman?
I agree with everyone and I thought Laura made a good point when she said that the people behind Letterman probably didn’t allow the song to be played because they knew it contains uncomfortable truths that not many people want to hear, therefore the ratings would be low. I think that they banned it more for those entertainment purposes rather than because it was necessarily offensive material. I think that media such as television stations are justified in banning material that could be considered offensive, since it could be viewed by anyone.
I agree with what the others have said so far. In today’s society, talking about race or any other controversial issue is not ‘politically correct’. There are a lot of people in the country who would stop watching a television show if they ever saw something that offended them on the show, so Letterman was not willing to risk his ratings. The song itself is not particularly offensive, but it is instead thought-provoking and blunt.
The song is far too blunt to be showcased on such a widely watched show as David Letterman because it has the potential to make his viewers think - perhaps unhappy or realistic thoughts - and prime time entertainment is not about that although maybe it should be. Personally I do not find the song offensive and I think that it brings up a lot of valid points.
With all of these uncomfortable and inconvienient truths: didn’t Plato basically say that they are the only things worth studying? Everything other than absolute truth is a waste of time and brainspace. (”But when is this fault committed?
Whenever an erroneous representation is made of the nature of gods and heroes, –as when a painter paints a portrait not having the shadow of a likeness to the original.”)
So, in Plato’s eyes, might this be considered an ultimate piece of art?
hahah. plato was a beast. i wonder what he would have said about hitler?
anyway…
i think this song kind of shows the hipocrisy of our societal beliefs today. i mean, it’s okay to have some random guy singing with a bunch of girls all over him… all oiled up in bikinis. but it’s not okay to talk about race relations bluntly.
DiFranco was banned from Letterman because her music just isn’t politically correct. and i think by banning her, it just increased her popularity. people have a fascination for things that just aren’t the norm.