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Show FEATURE October 25, 1994 not as worthless as responsible adults claim MTV: Stephanie Mommsen Forum Staff Writer by Since its beginning in 1981, MTV has hardly received a kind or dispassionate word, at least from and responsible" respectable adults. The 24 hour all music cable network, set up to capture the hard to get, year old consumer market, seems to have offended and alarmed almost everyone in one way or another. In the July issue of Progressive magazine MTV is described as commercial to its money grubbing core, filled with images of sexy women and incipiently violent men, set in a mesmerizing time-spazone of its own into which no hint of social reality or cultural history dare intrude. It is the most menacing of cultural beasts yet to . come slouching towards our battered Bethlehem. In spite of all this discontent, the thing keeps growing. No one denies that. MTV has transformed and rejuvenated the music industry. It has even gone so far as to involve itself in electoral politics. President Bill Clinton, Vice President A1 Gore, and ABC Anchor Peter Jennings made a point of showing up and being televised at the MTV inaugural ball in order to reach out their hands to the young video jockeys and fans who had been so instrumental in getting out the Democratic vote. But wait a minute. If MTV is so apolitical, why was it at the center of national politics? If its so hopelessly racist, sexist, and commercial, why has it increasingly become the platform for politically p anthems explosive rap and from such groups as Public Enemy and Arrested Development? If its so definitely sexist, how has it produced the texts of some of the recent and most heated discussions of feminism and sexual representation? (Whatever one thinks of Madonna and her academic or the many new and rap punk groups yelling about sex and sexism in graphic terms, there is no doubt that MTV has been the site of an intense struggle over feminism and representation.) And finally, in the greedy 1980s, when insider trading was the national sport on prime time and Wall Street, why was it MTV that preserved what little there was of MTV the culture of protest? sponsored benefit concerts such as Farm-AiLive-Aiand the Sun City event, and raised millions of dollars and at least some consciousness about the plight of those outside the glittery world of the Rich and Famous? Communications professor Kenneth Bernstein commented that when he asked students to name one thing that they didnt know about before television brought it to their attention, most answered the plight of the farmers, which they learned about This is no surthrough Farm-Aiprise, really, when you consider how rarely poor working people and their problems appear on TV news or drama. MTV does not get a wholly undeserved rap. MTV is certainly commercial, often sexist, and a lot of other bad things. Its endless women and parade of half-cla- d fragmented female body parts, its scary glamorization of macho males bragging about planned or past sexual exploits, and its glorification of consumerism as the path to ecstasy are all very true and quite disheartening. But MTV, is also committed to promoting a lot of values and attitudes that are politically and culturally radical, yet still in direct fourteen-to-thirty-fo- ur ce hip-ho- sup--porte- all-fem- d, d, anti-aparthe- id d. 3 the forum ? rs, conflict with the things just described. These are the things that most adults quite inaccurately think of as the whole story. In fact this is why MTV is intriguing and important it is the most contradictory of all successful commercial media today. According to Rolling Stone magazine, MTV, rooted in the culture of rebellion out of ll which was born, yet committed to packaging and selling consumerism and the status-qudoes a fascinating and sometimes dangerous dance along the fault lines of corporate capitalism. It reveals just what our post modern, d world is up against when we talk about cultural revorock-n-ro- o, media-saturate- lution. We need to look at MTVs history in the context of rock music as a whole. According to Progressive magazine journalist Elayne Rap- ping, MTV is set up to deny the very concept of history. Its famous logo boldly suggests that history begins as a media on event and then goes off in a chronology- - defying spiral of endless, disconnected images. But it has evolved and changed quite dra- matically and progressively in its brief thirteen years. In a July 1993 article published in Progressive magazine, Rapping claims that most MTV critics, members of the baby-boogeneration for whom rock means the innocent 1950s and the counterculture 1960s, couch their arguments ' in terms of a compelling narrative of cultural and political purity followed by a fall from grace under the influence of the serpent of commerce." One persuasive version of this m narrative comes, not surprisingly, from Bob Dylan. His sense of whats happening culturally, and what it means, has very often been accurate. Rapping quotes Dylan: The corporate world, when they figured out what (rock) was and how to use it, they snuffed the breath out of it and killed it. Used to be they were afraid, you know, like hide your daughters, Elvis, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, they struck fear in the heart. Now they got a purpose, to sell soap, blue jeans, Kentucky Fried Chicken, whatever its all been neutral ized, nothing threatening, nothing magical, nothing challenging.... I hate to see it because you know it set me free, set the whole world on fire....Theres a lot of us who still remember. Anyone who came of age politically during the heady days of Woodstock, Vietnam protests, SDS, Civil Rights, and womens liberation knows what Dylan is talking about and probably shares his nostalgia. But this romanticized version of rock history is flawed.' It ignores the importance of the social and political context in which rock thrived. It idealizes the purity of the early days as though the industry and fits values were not already central forces in the development of rock, with out which there would have been no rock culture. Rock was never all that pure and virtuous. Nor is it now a hopeless evil. Now, as in the early days, it is a cultural and political bag. The current rise to mass popularity of the alternative music movement called grunge is a perfect example of how the contradictions have always worked from Elvis and Dylans times to ours. The kids who have been listening to Pearl Jam and Nirvana and the Red Hot Chili Peppers in garages and dinky clubs for years are now outraged that their music has been commercialized by MTV and Rolling Stone. As outraged as Dylan is over his generations earlier commercial ization by Kentucky Fried Chicken. , If one wants to be seen and one heard in American culture must deal with agents, promoters, sponsors and record and television companies. This has always been true of rock music. Looked at from this perspective MTV takes on a different tinge. In fact, its hard to sustain the argument that MTV caused the decline of rock as a culture. Or that it caused the total commercialization and degradation. Its not as though in 1981, the test of the media were doing much better where commercialization, sexism, and violence were concerned. These were after all 'the days of Dallas, Dynasty, women-in-dang- er slasher films, and the rise of blockbuster movies about super heroes and special effects. Whatever alter native music there was, was almost invisible to anyone over twenty and outside Manhattan. Being born in these cynical days, MTV reflected the most apolitical, commercial forces in society. In a 1987 interview with Rolling Stone, MTV founder, Robert Pittman arrogantly and openly bragged of targeting a young white male suburban audience and refused to air many videos by women or minority artists for commercial reasons. He hired VJs who were not allowed to say anything about anything, even the video The clips they were showing. quick turn over of popular songs fit the need of the industry, which gave the network clips for nothing. It was, as critics quickly noticed, an embarrassment to anyone who took rock seriously. As the years have gone by, much has happened to change MTV for the better. As author Lisa Lewis argues in her book Gender Politics and MTV, women were watching whether they were invited or not, and they began demanding more videos by and about them. Since their money was as good in the stores as mens, the network had to respond. Lewis charts the careers of Tina Turner, Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, and Pat Benetar. She shows how each of these women were able to insert feminist messages into a context of sexism and conservatism because of the contradictions built into the structure of mass media; audiences matter and, in spite of much opinion to the contrary, they will not sit and watch any old thing. Moreover Lewis writes how, Just as radical youth politics made it possible for such groups as Crosby, Stills and Nash, and Country Joe and the Fish, to sing about protest and revolution on major labels in the 1960s, feminism as a force in the mind of almost every young girl today made indeit possible for tough-talkiscreen on women to pendent get and rise to the top of the charts. It is amazing that there are even as many politically conscious women on MTV as there are today, given the built-i- n sexism of rock culture. What is more understandable is the transformation of MTV where race is concerned. Almost blatantly racist at the start, MTV today devotes whole programs to rap music and constantly runs videos by black groups, including many feminist groups like Salt n Pepa. Here is where the contradictoof the network is perhaps nature ry most obvious. Pittman overlooked the fact that American popular music would not exist as we know it without the influence of black culture. To be a rock network and ignore black music would be suicidal. So the network Pittman built to sell acne cream and jeans has been dragged into the world of which society Yo, MTV Raps! has deemed vulgar and sexually offensive." It tells of the many tirades about life in the ghetto, complete with street scenes and graffiti that strike fear in the heart of the white suburbanite that Pittman originally targeted. For all the pressure to keep politics out, the fact remains that rock n roll, as Bob Dylan noted, was born out of rebellion and a utopian desire for freedom, and for the fulfillment of desires which this Ultimately, society represses. MTV could do nothing to hide that fact that wouldnt defeat its own money making purpose. Indeed it is the logic of cable TV to offer specialty programming for parts of the population not fully satisfied with the popular images and ideas shown on regular TV. Thats why we have the Christian Broadcasting Network, and thats why we have MTV. Rolling Stone claims that, MTV got boring after awhile. Its endless stream of mindless, unanalyzed videos could only sustain attention for a certain amount of time. This contradicts the mind- ng, numbing" and addictive theories about television that insists that viewers get hooked on the sameness of the format and cant break away. Today, on the contrary, MTV offers news, documentaries on issues such as race and homosexuality, a variety of programs, and special features such as the charity and protest concerts, and a visit from candidates Clinton and Gore during which they were questioned by college students. Seen in this way, the model that presents rock as first pure and then changed, is simplistic. MTV like all pop culture, is contradictory and shifty. It is pushed and pulled by the forces of reaction and progress. Despite the will of those people with the chips and veto power", they cannot ignore the demands of social movements and their audience. If this seems crazy, take it as a challenge to watch the network for a good long time, and note the presence of many things seen nowhere else on TV. Working class and minority faces, voices, and scenes appear on MTV in ways that are positive and often rebellious. In Progressive magazine, Rapping says, When news is read on MTV, especially about prejudice and censorship, Kurt Loder reads it with a positive sneer of derision, while Dan Rather and Peter Jennings are telling the same sad stories with an authority-boostin- g tone of acceptance and inevitability. She adds further that the top band- s- Arrested Development, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers, to name a few worth listening to and thinking abou- t- are as angry, as talented, and as culturally oppositional as the best new rock has always been. Or if you cant bring yourself to actually watch MTV, stop in at the library and check out the January issue of Washington Monthly, thirty-minu- te which has done it for you. In a lengthy, well documented story on MTVs hot new political coverage, writer Christopher Georges describes in detail several examples of MTVs clearly progressive, coverage of the 1992 summer conventions. Rapper M.C. Lyte, one of the correspondents quoted for example, is heard to exclaim excitedly that the Democrats had passed a platform, All right! Were starting an pro-choi- ce Continued on page 7 miserable experience with a twist A by Angie Fran cone Forum Staff Writer Last Saturday night, my fiance and I attended the Utah State Poetry Societys (USPS) award celebration. The USPS honored Muriel Heal Bywater, Utah Poet of the Year and winner of the Pearl M. Olsen Book Publication Award. Needless to say, ' neither of us attended willingly. As a Communications major, with a strong interest in journalism, I do not have the ear for poetry, nor the patience. My jock fiance, quite frankly, would rather not be present, or even aware, of such a function. But some things you simply must do. needed a subject for this newspaper article, and lets face it, with only a month before our wedding I think he simply felt obligated. We went with no intention In of enjoyment fact, we even began calling night, the miserable I what-so-eve- r. evening. So as you can see, this was not something we were looking ardent fans. Just knowing her is an adventure. forward to. Tonight is a night of fulfilBYU When we arrived we were lment, Bywater began, greeted by Chairwoman Elaine . beat Notre Dame today. Christensen. She spoke with us, The theme of Bywaters book, Stretching Toward Wild asking what brought us to the event. She told us, Her poetry can Swans, was that life is a symbe difficult for young people, phony. She emphasized this by because our generation does not making the prologue the overface the same issues hers did. We ture, and tne chapters were movements. simply nodded in agreement with the new found knowledge that Bywater told the audience We an was woman. older that not only are swans full of Bywater also began to realize that we were grace and beauty, but they are also pillars of strength and among the few young adults in the room. To us this was not promising. encouragement. When a flock flies in formation the swans have However when the program it a 71 we us not . awake, only kept began greater flying range than if alone. actually quite enjoyed it. Christensen told the audience The book was read by Max that the first state-wid- e manuscript Golightly and Karen Gibson. Kim Brubaker accompanied competition began in 1965. In 1970 the Olsen family donated a large them on the harp. An hour and a half later my sum of money to keep the program fiance and I walked out of there running. The poet was introduced by completely enchanted by Bywaher sister, Betty Tidwell. She told ter. We bought the book. the audience, I have always been, and always will be one of her most ' |