I and a group of friends, many African American, and ranging in age from early twenties to sixties, watched the AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS last night.
My prime curiosity was Lady Gaga, who I expected to be over the top. She was on the edge of performance art and owns a voice with a range and power that surpasses Madonna, who has no doubt been an inspiration and, I hear, is a follower.
I also pride myself, whatever my musical tastes at the moment, to have a good idea of what's happening in pop culture music now, and fully expected the Micheal Jackson legacy to be continually enhanced, which it was.
I find it interesting that so many women singers are solo acts these days. My generation of women had a hard time infiltrating the music business, coming after the girl groups of the 1950's and the soulful strummers of the 1960's, and pretty much regulated to being the groupie- sidekicks of punk rockers and hair bands of the 70's and 80's. But exactly how it is that rauch got to be mainstream, I'm not sure.
Let's not forget that Micheal Jackson, now forgotten as highly inappropriate with children, and Madonna, now raising her children as Kaballists, started the crouch rub as a dance move craze years ago. As a matter of fact, at a dinner some of my friends attended recently there were kids running around dancing and doing the crouch rub. Five year olds. Which is where the dance probably originated.
Last nights show disappointed us all. The main reason was that the special effects and displays, the smoke, the fire, the costuming, the chronic sadio-masochistic posturing, imagery, and props, made us feel like we had taken a trip into something far further south than Dr. Suess' 9th floor dungeon. We are uncomfortable with the sickness, both spiritual and psychological, that came with it. No doubt some of the entertainers had amazing voices, but overall it was dark, very dark, and we wondered exactly why the competition had been about special effects and outrageousness. Adam Lambert, the American Idol star who is openly gay, featured a bare-chested-but-for-the-straps dancer who he pushed around. Pee Yew Adam!
Even Carrie Underwood, a country star, went prancing around with a bevy of demonic ladies in waiting! And this is a five time winner? Is this how desperate you are Carrie?
What the hell happened to country ?
Does anyone really want to listen to lyrics that are poison to the mind and heart over and over again? A lot of the words - sometimes entire sentences - to the lyrics were bleeped.
As a woman who has long been a feminist, and who is not shy about erotica in the right place, or lyrics that challenge us, I never the less almost felt a shame that what top women singers do now is disguise their voices with all this calamity around them. I'd rather they leave the stripping to strippers in clubs one chooses as a destination and the pornography to the porn stars and the private bedrooms.
I didn't feel entertained. I felt humiliated for womankind.
C Christine Trzyna 2009 All rights reserved including International and Internet Rights. Contact author for permissions.
