More Wal-Mart
Here's another example of a really dumb case: Wal-Mart is sued over rude lyrics (BBC News).
I guess at some point Wal-Mart took the initiative in making itself the nation's conscience. That was dumb in the first place. And now emerges the second reason it was dumb: people are going to expect them to go all the way on this. This guy wants to sue Wal-Mart for selling him an Evanescence album with a few "swear" words on it. Apart from the extravagant moralistic and financial demands of this suit, here are some reasons why the plaintiff should be run over with an 18-wheeler and then with a steamroller (just to be sure!):
(1) I skimmed over the lyrics for this album. It contains one song (out of 14) with "foul language" in it. The song contains a few "fuck"s and a few "ass"es. That's probably less than you'd hear in a PG-13 movie, and it's not even enough to earn one of those nannying "Parental Advisory" labels. You'd get about the same on many classic rock albums—see The Who's Quadrophenia, Pink Floyd's Animals, The Clash's London Calling.... Also, consider the incidences of "swearing" in respected works of 20th-century literature. First line of Philip Larkin's "This be the Verse": "They fuck you up, your mum and dad."
Appropriately enough, the Evanescene song in question is called "Thoughtless." Someone fails to see the irony of the situation.
(2) The use of "vulgarity" in itself is no basis for evaluating the merit of song lyrics—especially when they're used this scarcely. Let's just ask, are these lyrics good or not? A subjective decision, and one that requires more thought than simply reacting like an ape to a couple of words. I've never gotten around to checking Evanescence out, so I don't really have an opinion on this front, and I'm not going to start with the scant knowledge I have now. You know why? Because I don't believe Christianity and the tightass morality it fosters can really teach you everything about life, art, music, literature, etc.
(3) What most people call "dirty words" are just a part of our vernacular language. They serve many communicative purposes. In my view, refusing to swear is just another mindless excuse for limiting one's vocabulary. People who think "swearing" is bad probably also shy away from poetry, complex sentences and abstract thought. Simplistic morality breeds simplistic thinking, which breeds general stupidity. If you still get offended by this, you should be left behind by the forces of evolution. This man said he was shocked to hear swearing! WHAT THE FUCK KIND OF WORLD DOES HE THINK HE LIVES IN?
Unfortunately, this dipshit hick has already passed on his defective seed.
I guess at some point Wal-Mart took the initiative in making itself the nation's conscience. That was dumb in the first place. And now emerges the second reason it was dumb: people are going to expect them to go all the way on this. This guy wants to sue Wal-Mart for selling him an Evanescence album with a few "swear" words on it. Apart from the extravagant moralistic and financial demands of this suit, here are some reasons why the plaintiff should be run over with an 18-wheeler and then with a steamroller (just to be sure!):
(1) I skimmed over the lyrics for this album. It contains one song (out of 14) with "foul language" in it. The song contains a few "fuck"s and a few "ass"es. That's probably less than you'd hear in a PG-13 movie, and it's not even enough to earn one of those nannying "Parental Advisory" labels. You'd get about the same on many classic rock albums—see The Who's Quadrophenia, Pink Floyd's Animals, The Clash's London Calling.... Also, consider the incidences of "swearing" in respected works of 20th-century literature. First line of Philip Larkin's "This be the Verse": "They fuck you up, your mum and dad."
Appropriately enough, the Evanescene song in question is called "Thoughtless." Someone fails to see the irony of the situation.
(2) The use of "vulgarity" in itself is no basis for evaluating the merit of song lyrics—especially when they're used this scarcely. Let's just ask, are these lyrics good or not? A subjective decision, and one that requires more thought than simply reacting like an ape to a couple of words. I've never gotten around to checking Evanescence out, so I don't really have an opinion on this front, and I'm not going to start with the scant knowledge I have now. You know why? Because I don't believe Christianity and the tightass morality it fosters can really teach you everything about life, art, music, literature, etc.
(3) What most people call "dirty words" are just a part of our vernacular language. They serve many communicative purposes. In my view, refusing to swear is just another mindless excuse for limiting one's vocabulary. People who think "swearing" is bad probably also shy away from poetry, complex sentences and abstract thought. Simplistic morality breeds simplistic thinking, which breeds general stupidity. If you still get offended by this, you should be left behind by the forces of evolution. This man said he was shocked to hear swearing! WHAT THE FUCK KIND OF WORLD DOES HE THINK HE LIVES IN?
Unfortunately, this dipshit hick has already passed on his defective seed.
posted by Scott at 1:30 PM
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