As the great Jeff Spicoli once said..........

[Richard Cranium]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTTqsu5HK-A


The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council has banned radio stations from playing uncensored versions of Money for Nothing, the classic 1980s rock song from the band Dire Straits. The council has judged the word 'faggot' - used three times in the song - as offensive and unacceptable for broadcast.

The decision, made on Wednesday, has been met with a barrage of dismissive and derisive reactions. Christie Blatchford, one of Canada's best known columnists, described it as the 'triumph of small minds and over-parsed language'. And several radio stations have protested the decision by playing an unedited version of the song.

It should be noted that this is not another example of what some might call Canada's 'nanny state'. The broadcast council is not a government body. It's made up of about 760 radio and TV stations across Canada. It's an example of a private industry regulating itself.

The song, written by Mark Knopfler and Sting, is from the perspective of two working-class grunts doing back-breaking work delivering and installing kitchens. They're watching music videos on MTV, a relatively new phenomenon in 1984, and one of them describes 'the little faggot with the earring and the makeup' who's making a fortune as a musician. They then conclude: 'That ain't working / That's the way you do it / Money for nothing and your chicks for free.'

'I should have learned to play the guitar,' one of them laments.

The complaint in Canada came from a single person in the Atlantic province of Newfoundland, a woman identifying herself as 'a member of the LGBT community' (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender).

In her complaint about 'faggot' to the broadcast council, the unidentified listener wrote: 'This word carries an unavoidable connotation of hate. By airing it unapologetically on the radio, this station is indirectly propagating hate. Although I can see the value in a timeless classic rock song in its original form, I cannot help but feel that it does not overshadow the importance of ending discrimination.'

The council agreed. 'Like other racially driven words in the English language, 'faggot' is one that, even if entirely or marginally acceptable in earlier days, is no longer so,' it ruled. 'The Panel finds that it has fallen into the category of unacceptable designations on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status or physical or mental disability.'

In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Knopfler once described the character he created as 'a real ignoramus ... somebody who sees everything in financial terms'. Noting objections he received from a gay listener, Knopfler made clear he had doubts about whether taking on the voice of an invented character was a good idea.

There's no doubt that 'faggot' is a derogatory term, one that is sure to offend. What the council glossed over, however, is the context of the word in the song. Like a novelist or poet, Knopfler was talking in the voice of a character he created.

The debate over the song in Canada comes as the power of words is being hotly argued south of the border.

There's the example in early January of an Alabama publisher, NewSouth Books, announcing it would publish new editions of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer that replace the word 'nigger' with 'slave'. The often-repeated defence of these novels is that they are products of their time, and should be read in that context.

More recently, the attempted assassination of Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords unleashed a national argument about whether harsh rhetoric from right-wing politicians and media commentators incites violence.

In the context of an all-out political war against US President Barack Obama, accused of being everything from a closet Muslim to a raving socialist, Sarah Palin responded to the health care reform vote with this tweet: 'Don't Retreat, Instead - RELOAD!' The tweet came a day after vandals smashed Giffords' office front door. In that context, was the use of the word the same as shouting 'RELOAD!' on a firing range?

No one will persuade Palin that her words might have helped incite a killer, and few Dire Straits fans will agree that Money for Nothing should be censored. But many in these debates will be reminded of the power of words and the importance of context. In these politically charged, internet-fuelled times, that can only be good.

[Old Moparz]

Good thing nobody complained about love songs from the 1950's where people sing about falling in love with high school sweethearts, following the person they love all over the planet, thinking about that person 24/7, eating, sleeping, & breathing everything about that person, & then dreaming of marrying them.

They might be mistaken as a stalker now.

[bull]

It's funny how "the complaint in Canada came from a single person in the Atlantic province of Newfoundland" and the entire nation has to bow to her will and yet various private and government entities can receive thousands of complaints about thousands of other real problems and it falls on deaf ears.

[Ponch ®]

It's funny how "the complaint in Canada came from a single person in the Atlantic province of Newfoundland" and the entire nation has to bow to bow to her will and yet various private and government entities can receive thousands of complaints about thousands of other real problems and it falls on deaf ears.

but they have "free" health care! 

[bull]

  Yes, free, for the low-low cost of sky-high taxes.

[Old Moparz]

It's the same here in the USA. Do something about an issue that will have little or no impact on anything of substance, but the important things are ignored.

[68X426]

reminded of the power of words and the importance of context

Censor the word and it becomes more powerful.

Take the word out of context and it adds all the more power.

The do-gooders, nanny statists would stop all words and stop reality. Dealing constructively with reality is impossible to their way of (not) thinking.

[Ponch ®]

those canadian censors are a bunch of fags.

[Dans 68]

Interesting how the term "faggots" is now officially a pejorative. Whatever happened to that simple, clean definition of a bundle of sticks? As late as 1978 it was used to describe, as a titled book no less (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faggots_%28novel%29), the homosexual culture (especially in New York); Dire Straights simply used the term seven years later. But I'm never surprised by these actions...only disappointed.

Can the term "liberal" be far behind?     

Dan

[Ponch ®]

Can the term "liberal" be far behind?     

Dan

its more or less the same thing...

[learical1]

Can the term "liberal" be far behind?     

Dan

its more or less the same thing...

No, no, no!  Liberals are bi, but think too highly of their partners to have sex.  Conservatives are straight, but not gettin' any!  All the action is happening with the middle-of-the-roaders.

[John_Kunkel]

Anybody remember the big flap made over the Everly Brothers song Wake Up Little Susie? The song was written from the point of view of a high school boy to his girlfriend, Susie. In the song, the two go out on a date to a drive-in movie theater, only to fall asleep during the movie. They do not wake up until 4 o'clock in the morning, well after the 10 o'clock curfew. They then contemplate the reactions of her parents and their friends.

Although banned in such places as Boston, the song did not state that Susie and her boyfriend had sexual relations. Indeed, it strongly implies that they did not; the couple simply fell asleep because they were bored by the movie.

Then as now, much ado about nothing.

[chargermike]

so there gonna censor a 25 year old song. damm thats funny. what next the kinks LOLA.  music is music. it canot hurt you and if your  offended then dont listen. but never tell me what i can say on stage or in any song i write. people fear music for some reason. and i doubt mark wrote this to piss off the gays and lezbos.  i hate when people say a song is evil or preaches hate. music saved my life not religion. if it was not for a man named steve i would have ended up in prison cause thats where i was headed at full speed. fights-stealing cars-and a all out hate towards the police. this man taught me how to play guitar and i never got in trouble again. found new friends and started a band, that was 31 years ago. i still play in a hard rock band and run my own company all because this man took time to teach me guitar. so cencor that FAGGGGGGGG. grow up get over it. it is just a 25 year old song.  

[charge69]

Well, I remember the song by the Everly Brothers but do not remember their being too much of a flap about the song down here ( SE Texas). Then again I don't remember too much about ANY of that time in my life!   :cheers:HaHa.

I also remember the song by Dire Straits and how much my friend loved to listen to that song but, we never had any controversy or discussion about the "faggot" term and it's use on the song.  Just loved the song and thought it was about what Mark originally said it was about.  Just these guys and their jealousy of bandmembers and not knowing what it really took to produce, write, and sing a song those days.

Again,  much ado about nothing in my mind but ....... just leave the song alone like Mark wrote it!  Way too much PC in this world!

[Manfred318]

Again,  much ado about nothing in my mind but ....... just leave the song alone like Mark wrote it!  Way too much PC in this world!

That song has been censored here in my area for quite a few years now. About the only time you hear the un- censored version is at 3AM on a Tuesday.

[Brock Samson]

.

Sometimes the tale (one) wags the dog (everyone else) Calif. ain't got no monopoly on stupid.

remember the Dodge Demon?..

[Charger_Fan]

Wow...
So not only is someone once again pushing the political correctness crap by trying to censor an old song...but the author (Sandro Contenta) also manages to tie in Barry-O, Palin, the friggin' A-hole who shot Giffords & all right wing politicians plus media commentators into a nice package & throw them all under the bus in one fell swoop. Oh & add gun owners to that list, too. As if anything in the last three paragraphs has any relevance to the subject at hand?? Amazing.

Sorry for bumping a 3-day old thread that had gone quiet, but I had to vent a little.

[Ghoste]

You are right to vent.  It's stupidity in the first degree and the only way to appease everyone is to put up giant signs in space that can be read by anyone on the planet at any time that say "WARNING, A LOT OF THINGS IN LIFE ARE LIKELY TO EASILY OFFEND THE EASILY OFFENDED!"  We could have it broadcast night and day in every language too so the illiterate will also be prepared for the fact that some things will not agree with our delicate sensitivities.
(this is the part where liberals and progressives jump on me as a hypocrite for being offended about people being offended )

[68X426]

The whole article was offensive. The writer is offensive. Time to ban him/her.

[Charger_Fan]

Thanks you guys, I needed a chuckle...