Comments | sweetestdrain: Sexism, homophobia, and Flight of the Conchords?

sweetestdrain

Sexism, homophobia, and Flight of the Conchords?

Sep 20, 2011 20:52

I've been kind of bothered by a trend I've noticed lately related to vids/political remixes using the Flight of the Conchords song "Too Many Dicks on the Dance Floor." The vids themselves are critical of gender imbalances found in their source media -- this Daily Show version is the most recent, and it's great -- but in the discussion and ( Read more... )

music, vids_vidding

Comments 7

svilleficrecs September 21 2011, 01:05:15 UTC

Didn't you get the memo? Apparently depiction equals endorsement. *eyeroll*

nicole_anell September 21 2011, 01:28:56 UTC

*blink* I'm actually missing where the original song is homophobic. I mean, it's the POV of three hetero guys who are annoyed about being surrounded by other men at a club, not because EWWWW THEY MIGHT BE GAY, but because they're there to meet "chicks" and are disappointed. Sexist and heterocentric yeah, but - apologies for ignorance - I never thought anti-gay was the point of it.

But anyway, yeah - obviously the feminist vids of the song are switching around the original dudes-want-to-get-laid meaning of the lyrics. But that's the joke and it's supposed to be OTT and ridiculous. I can't think of a single FOTC song that's a serious *endorsement* of its own message, especially the ones related to love and sex. They're ironic and silly. (When will the governments realize it's got to be funky sexy ladies?)

And LOL at your Tom Lehrer link - exactly.

morgandawn September 21 2011, 02:58:44 UTC

do I go to hell because I immediately went to the Light Bulb joke?

Cause I kinda hope I do.

mresundance September 21 2011, 02:59:34 UTC

Silly me, I thought the original song mocked sexist and homophobic stereotypes!

No, no, you're not the only one. I keep thinking the same thing when people throw the label "homophobic" on the song. It's like you guys know this is meant to be a satire right?

braver_creature September 21 2011, 11:05:44 UTC

The song is difficult to evaluate by itself, because you almost can't know just from listening what, if anything, it is satirizing without knowing the FotC and the episode the song appears in ( ... )

laurashapiro September 21 2011, 14:32:04 UTC

IAWTC.

sweetestdrain September 21 2011, 15:30:10 UTC

You make some really good points about how the song might sound out of context -- and so, yes, "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park" isn't a perfect example (although apparently it's also routinely misinterpreted as advocating the poisoning of pigeons -- oh, internet). I think, though, that it's that difference which is at the root of what bothers me. If this song doesn't stand on its own, and it's obviously taken from another context with which some audiences might not be familiar (IIRC the vidders often link to the Youtube clip in question), then why not investigate the context further before making statements about the satirical/non-satirical nature of the song? Or why even call out the song for being sexist at all? I don't think knowing the songwriters' intent is necessary for understanding the arguments the vids are making; and besides, we take songs out of context all the time ( ... )