Small Rant On Hollywood

In reply to my friend Pete's post, I went off on a rant about Hollywood and popstars.

Well, let me ask one question: did anyone here expect anything different? Pop stars are universally, critically decried for sucking because it's the point of pop stars. They pander to the lowest common denominator, the most easily impressionable type crowds. No one actually thinks Nickelback is a decent band and they're the biggest band in the world right now. But no one actually thinks they're good, they just enjoy the music.

How many times have you asked someone "What music do you listen to?" and they say "Everything."? What they're really saying is "I don't care enough about the music I'm listening to, so long as I can enjoy it." They'll listen to rap, dance, rock, country even, so long as it sounds nice to them. That's why the record companies go for them.

For every Brittany Spears there is a singer out there who actually can sing and that people enjoy. For instance, my favorite band ever is Thursday. They've released five full length CDs, have headlined international tours, have played Warped Tour and Taste of Chaos at least a couple times each, etc etc, and they've been on MTV maybe once? You'd have to buy some serious cable TV to find a music channel that will play them. Meanwhile, you can watch MTV and see three Akon videos in one hour, even though his songs are crap and his voice is disgustingly bad. I'm not complaining, though. Companies like MTV only play crap because the people watching don't actually care about the music. They're more interested in watching MTV than they're interested in what's actually on. It's the same reason you get shows like "My Super Sweet 16." No one actually thinks that's a good show, it's just cool cause it's on MTV, and watching MTV in and of itself is cool.

So who cares about Brittany Spears? Do what the crazy person on the video says and leave her alone. No, there's no authenticity to anything about her, but so what? We know where to find the good music and we all know that the record companies are going to keep promoting people like her, so why worry?

- Kid

There is nothing wrong with listening to something because you enjoy it. Where you draw the line is, is enjoying it all I care about? I like some of Britney Spears songs, they have good beats or whatever, but her whole fakeness overpowered my enjoyment of her music. So much that I don't really listen to her anymore and listening to anything by her makes me sick.

Like you said, its an identity thing. People want to identify with whats cool, with what's socially acceptable, so they go on board. Check this. Golf all of a sudden has become cool. Why? Because the Jonas Brothers and Selena Gomez love golf. Now all the other popstarts love golf. Oo fun. (I hate golf.) Twitter. OMGSH! It's all over the place it makes me sick. I happen to have one, but the only reason I got one was to follow Switchfoot and Invisible Children on twitter. But I ask myself, why do I have it? I just have one because everyone has one and I dont want to be left behind. I feel guilty when I go on twitter. I don't enjoy it, I just go because its acceptable and cool. And that is not something good for me. Another example: Kings Of Leon. No one seemed to be liking them three years ago. All of a sudden you see the popstarts mention them and everyone likes them. When I listened to them for the first time, the fact that they were not accepted by Hollywood is what attracted me to them. Europe embraced them . I loved they're honesty, I loved how they're lyrics didn't work for the general audience, I loved how they were so raw. They manage to stay raw, thank God. Hopefully they wont be driven by this sudden success. I could name off other things that people go on board with, including me, because its cool. We all do. And it makes me sad because we lose authenticity. I found myself wishing Hollywood would end. That it would be history. But its been going on for so long, why would it end? Can it end? I hope it does. It sends off the wrong message, it rubs off the wrong way. I watched E!True Hollywood Story on Marilyn Monroe and it just made me so sad for Hollywood and the world we live in. That woman was messed up and the fact that she was famous did not help.

It truly breaks my heart to see so much fakeness and lack of individuality in the pop culture. By individuality I don't mean the "I'm gonna be myself because I know who I am and all you haterz back off! I'm doing my own thing" uhhh, no you're not, you're doing what everyone else is doing.

It's just wrong. I hope I can do something about it. I hope I can bring true stories to the headlines. Stories of children being abducted by sadistic killers in Uganda. If that had as much coverage as Brangelina's babies then maybe the problem would be solved by now. What about AIDs, what about poverty, what about the average man and woman? a�ldfjaklsfdj!!! So angry at this injustice!