Art vs. Wal*Mart

[filkertom]

Wal*Mart says it won't carry Green Day's new album 21st Century Breakdown unless they want it edited for language and content. Green Day says Fuck YouWhat offends you in art? Any medium -- graphic art, music, films, television, theater, other performance, whatever. I have incredible problems with things like misogyny, pointless vulgarity and

Comments

[eleri]

I just can't wrap my head around bathroom/locker room humor. Most of the South Park crew's stuff just makes me ill, and I can't get past the junior high boy mentality to see any of the depth contained. That and I have a very shallow gag reflex, even to mentions about food grossness, so trying to not barf really cuts into my enjoyment of someone's humor.

Jokes that talk about harming animals or children are just gut level offensive to me. Don' like them at all.

[filkertom]

The Adam Sandler "humor", where somebody gets repeatedly bashed in the head or kicked in the nuts or whatever, is inexplicable to me. Mind you, if it's done exactly right, I can laugh my head off. In Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Mark Hamill (HEY, KIDS! MARK HAMILL! [applause]) plays the villainous Cock-Knocker (who has one hand the size of a watermelon). Jay asks, "Why do they call you Cock-Knocker?" and Hamill says, "Y'know, it's a funny story --" and whomps him in the crotch. But half of that is the characters, and the absurdity of the set-up.

[redneckgaijin]

Adam Sandler's humor is a subset of post-1986 SNL humor; that is, take a five-second joke and pad it out for ten minutes.

I have no problem with coarse humor; what I have a problem with is humor that's nothing else BUT "ooh, I says notty wordz, is so funny!"

[peachtales]

I miss Molly.

Added to what you mention as things you have issues with I see as the amazing amount of crap thrown at fat people, or anyone who is not a size -2 (and for women, not having huge, perky boobs).

Other than that, I am in pain and will go lay back down. Doc is thinking that I strained the cartilage/connective tissue around the bottom rib. Not really sure quite how I would have done that, unless I managed to do so while mowing the grass yesterday. I have drugs to try and deal with the inflammation, and he wants me to get an x-ray in a day or 2.
Won't be online much, likely, even though it's a holiday weekend. It hurts most if I breathe in more than a shallow breath. Ugh.
Oh well. Hopefully it gets better soon.

[filkertom]

So very sorry about the pain -- hope it gets better soon, and I hope you don't need the X-ray. And I just added "fat jokes" to my list above, thanks for reminding me.

[alicebentley]

I did that very same injury to myself several years ago. A cold pack three times a day was a surprising comfort. Frozen peas or corn work well if you don't have a regular ice pack.

[peachtales]

Thanks for the suggestion! I will try that.

[mclain143]

Walmart's policy is not to carry albums which require a "parental guidance" sticker.
Green Day's policy, apparently, is not to give a crap about parents, or guidance.
This is a democracy, and everybody wins. For that obnoxious creep in the band to say that
Walmart should be "obligated" to sell their profane album is not only obnoxious, but fascist.
IT'S A BUSINESS DECISION, and Green Day can sell their CRAP everywhere else, so what's their beef?
MONEY. (and if "it's not about the money", then why don't they just give the recording away?).
GO WALMART!!!!!

[filkertom]

:) I was wondering if anyone would take Wal*Mart's side. I don't mind that you did, by the way, for exactly the reasons you give. I don't happen to think Green Day is profane, and I despise Wal*Mart's business practices, and I think their policy regarding "parental guidance" stickers is right in line with many other ludicrous policies intended to bubble-wrap the world from impressionable youth who otherwise would be innocent as little lambs... but there's nothing at all saying W*M has to carry GD. Green Day wants in because they'd likely double their sales.

That said, I wouldn't be in Wal*Mart either under those circumstances. I try pretty hard to be family friendly... but every once in awhile, something like "Who the fuck is that?" (or "Who The Fuck Is Matt?") comes along. And if Wal*Mart didn't like it, that would be their problem. Manure doth occur.

[ldyerzsie]

Yeah, well, I would still play your stuff for a kid, if I had one. Your albums are more "family friendly" than my Dad doing home improvement projects. A little cussing and a few bad words never hurt anyone.

I really don't like the trend toward "protecting" children from everything. They grow up and are completely unprepared for life.

[bayushisan]

Actually Wal-Mart is somewhat hypocritical in their stance in that they also sell some of the most vulgar, gore fest movies ever made. They seem to be ok with that but not with the parental advisory music. Double standard much?

[kilbia]

I don't like the sort of humor in "Meet the Parents", where the gags are all about bad stuff happening to someone hapless.

[shockwave77598]

I refuse to set foot in WalMart anyways. I don't like how they treat their employees or their suppliers. I also don't like how they demand 10 year tax abatements in small towns, move in, drive all the other businesses in town under, then close their stores when the 10 year tax-free clause is over. They did this in Angleton TX, very close to home base.

If there is an antichrist, he'll be running Walmart.

[redneckgaijin]

Tax abatements ought to be illegal in the first place; they mean higher property taxes for everyone else.

[shockwave77598]

No arguments from me about that. The other businesses complained about where theirs were and that walmart certainly didn't need one. But I suspect some money went under a table somewhere.

[redneckgaijin]

By the way, let me plug a friend of mine's shirt:

http://www.instantattitudes.com/shirts/t055.html

He also does it as a shopping bag, when he can get the blanks.