At 02:07 PM 3/26/2004 -0600, Michael Bennett wrote:
>Or one could take the remarkable point of view that you could do both.  But 
>then, it's so much easier being self-righteous, isn't it?

Isn't it, though?  Fun, too!
>
>Look -- a lot of folks may think that Jocelyn is going overboard about this, 
>but even though I recognized that the video was a parody/homage, I did think 
>that some might find it sexist.  It's a valid (but arguable beef).

It's an entirely valid point, and I never argued that it wasn't, but I also
thought that Jocelyn's rant was about as over the top as the endlessly
repeated claims that three-quarters of a second of a bejeweled nipple on
live TV were going to lead to the downfall of western society as we know
it.  The sins of this video can't take the weight of the argument presented
against it, which made the argument sound rather spectacularly silly.
>
>Fuck, we've had lengthy discussions on the meaning of 'twee' and 'power 
>pop', so this attempt to diminish Jocelyn's meritorious point about a video 
>by casting in a perspective that is outside the parameters of a music 
>discussion list is fairly specious.

The political aspect was introduced by Jocelyn herself -- if that rant
doesn't fall under the rubric of "sexual politics," then that term is
meaningless -- and the idea that music, video (hell, culture in general,
"popular" or otherwise) and politics are always entirely separate flies in
the face of logic.  I ratcheted up the polemic by bringing in the Avignon
President, true, but that element was already there.

S