Shut Up and Sing
So last night I watched Shut Up & Sing, the documentary-type film about the Dixie Chicks. It was fricken awesome, and it inspired icons and a new layout.
I've already watched it twice, and I'm not ready to bring it back to Blockbuster just in case. I already loved these girls because they're frakking incredible musicians, they're real and outspoken even if I don't agree with them. But the movie honestly made me cry a couple of times.
Natalie got a death threat, saying she was going to be shot the day that they had a concert in Dallas, and this is covered in the movie, and is the part that made me cry the most. Just thinking about how someone really cared SO MUCH about an opinion of Natalie's and thought it was worth killing her. Sure that's the extreme, but what about the people that protested outside of their concerts? The people who threw away their CDs, who brought them in to have them run over with a steamroller, who called the radio stations and said they'd never listen again if Dixie Chicks songs were played.
Is an entertainer's opinion really worth that much effort?
This has nothing to do with agreeing or disagreeing with what she said, with what she did. You all know me and you know that I'm opinionated and I don't always think through what I say completely. I could easily see myself in Natalie's shoes, since I know not everyone agrees with me on everything. But is my opinion about something really worth that much of a reaction on your part? Especially from STRANGERS? It's one thing for me to disagree with a friend. If they 'feel that strongly about something, [they] have a responsibility to try and change my mind,' and I'd welcome that. But if someone I don't know decided that they need to attack me, as a person, threaten my life, say that I should be strapped to a bomb and dropped over Iraq, I'd have SERIOUS issues with that. (Yes, I know that I'm not a celebrity and therefore things I say won't ever reach that many people, but you know what I'm getting at.)
And all through the movie, I couldn't help but wonder what the reaction would've been if a man had said those words. Would people have cared so much? Toby Keith played a video of Natalie blowing up during his concerts, and as Natalie said in the movie, he 'wasn't boycotted for that.' Why is it okay for him to mockingly talk about another person's death when all Natalie did was voice an opinion? (I shouldn't get myself started on Toby Keith, since he's a close minded violent jackass.)
I don't know if I have a point here, but I just wanted to talk about them. I've put a small amount of thought into what I'm writing here and I don't have all the energy to say everything that I want to say. Really the only thing that I don't agree with through all of this is how Natalie can't forgive; that's something I'd wish that she could do since I hold forgiveness to a pretty high place in my life. But when I really think about it, and put myself in her place, think about how people threatened her life over this small thing, I don't know if I could forgive either. So it's not like I hold it against her.
And my computer just made a howling noise. I'm officially afraid.
I've already watched it twice, and I'm not ready to bring it back to Blockbuster just in case. I already loved these girls because they're frakking incredible musicians, they're real and outspoken even if I don't agree with them. But the movie honestly made me cry a couple of times.
Natalie got a death threat, saying she was going to be shot the day that they had a concert in Dallas, and this is covered in the movie, and is the part that made me cry the most. Just thinking about how someone really cared SO MUCH about an opinion of Natalie's and thought it was worth killing her. Sure that's the extreme, but what about the people that protested outside of their concerts? The people who threw away their CDs, who brought them in to have them run over with a steamroller, who called the radio stations and said they'd never listen again if Dixie Chicks songs were played.
Is an entertainer's opinion really worth that much effort?
This has nothing to do with agreeing or disagreeing with what she said, with what she did. You all know me and you know that I'm opinionated and I don't always think through what I say completely. I could easily see myself in Natalie's shoes, since I know not everyone agrees with me on everything. But is my opinion about something really worth that much of a reaction on your part? Especially from STRANGERS? It's one thing for me to disagree with a friend. If they 'feel that strongly about something, [they] have a responsibility to try and change my mind,' and I'd welcome that. But if someone I don't know decided that they need to attack me, as a person, threaten my life, say that I should be strapped to a bomb and dropped over Iraq, I'd have SERIOUS issues with that. (Yes, I know that I'm not a celebrity and therefore things I say won't ever reach that many people, but you know what I'm getting at.)
And all through the movie, I couldn't help but wonder what the reaction would've been if a man had said those words. Would people have cared so much? Toby Keith played a video of Natalie blowing up during his concerts, and as Natalie said in the movie, he 'wasn't boycotted for that.' Why is it okay for him to mockingly talk about another person's death when all Natalie did was voice an opinion? (I shouldn't get myself started on Toby Keith, since he's a close minded violent jackass.)
I don't know if I have a point here, but I just wanted to talk about them. I've put a small amount of thought into what I'm writing here and I don't have all the energy to say everything that I want to say. Really the only thing that I don't agree with through all of this is how Natalie can't forgive; that's something I'd wish that she could do since I hold forgiveness to a pretty high place in my life. But when I really think about it, and put myself in her place, think about how people threatened her life over this small thing, I don't know if I could forgive either. So it's not like I hold it against her.
And my computer just made a howling noise. I'm officially afraid.