Forget Marylin Manson, it's all the Dixie Chicks' fault.

January 19, 2001 12:06 PM

Forget Marylin Manson, it's all the Dixie Chicks' fault. Yay, they've finally found a new punching bag skapegoat!
posted by afx114 (13 comments total)

And if they were a group of boys, there would be a more masculine band name in that headline.
posted by tomorama at 12:11 PM on January 19, 2001

Feh. Gimme "Cocaine Blues" anyday.
posted by sonofsamiam at 12:25 PM on January 19, 2001

Great, now this movie will never come out.
posted by mathowie at 12:42 PM on January 19, 2001

I'm just glad that guy didn't mention any rap groups. 'Cause you know, that's what I pull out when I want to get really, really rowdy: country music. Johnny Cash was the Man in Black long before NWA were out of their nappies.
posted by allaboutgeorge at 2:14 PM on January 19, 2001

This just goes to show that people are looking for SOMEONE to blame. If it wasn't Dixie Chicks, Marilyn Manson, or Eminem, it would be something or someone else. And think about how many kids listen to these songs versus how many kids do things like that. These bands and artists are not dangerous. What is dangerous is how people interpret their music. Although somehow I doubt the Dixie Chicks are planting subliminal messages that tell girls to rob stores and kill their husbands.
Speaking of Johnny Cash, ever heard that song "Delia's Gone"? I don't seem to remember anyone saying HE was a bad influence on kids... of course that song came out before my time, so I might be wrong. Anyone know if there was any hoopla over that song?
posted by elf_baby at 3:28 PM on January 19, 2001

JohnnyBoy Cashola was the original American Badass, not this Kid Cock character... you know, the Oompa Loompas had it right a few decades ago... who's to blame? "THE MOTHER AND THE FAAAAAATHER."
posted by afx114 at 4:05 PM on January 19, 2001

I don't know how we got on the subject, but will happily take this opportunity to spew a gratuitous Cash quote:

"When I was just a young boy,
My momma told me "Son,
Always be a good boy,
Don't ever play with guns".
But I shot a man in Reno,
Just to watch him die.
When I hear that train a comin'
I hang my head and cry"

Johnny Cash, "Folsom Prison Blues"

I think that about says it all, kids.
posted by Optamystic at 5:08 PM on January 19, 2001

elf baby:
"Delia's Gone" came out in 1994, when the aged Johnny Cash was hardly capable of starting a youth movement.

True, though, that some amazingly violent music has been out there for a long time. If anyone can find a recording of "I'm Gonna Tell You In Front So You Won't Feel Hurt Behind" by Cow Cow Davenport, circa 1929, they'll know what I mean. He starts with talking about kicking his woman's nose "clean out of place" and gets a whole lot worse from there.
posted by argybarg at 6:06 PM on January 19, 2001

i think the moral of this whole thing is this... with the mass media market at their disposal, people have convinced themselves that "things used to be better." no, things DIDN'T used to be better, things were just as fucked up (if not worse), only you didn't HEAR about it. the guy interviewed in the article makes it sound like this is the first time some girls have held up a store. does he actually believe that's true? what about all those crazy prohibition bitches that busted into bars and hacked them to pieces back in the old days? did the media blame that on back to the future part 3? no. uhhh... that's all.
posted by afx114 at 9:36 PM on January 19, 2001

I'd like to take the time to say that this proves, once and for all, that country music is EVIL!... and should be banished from this planet once and for all
posted by tj at 12:18 AM on January 20, 2001

So many parents are so willing to blame media for the actions of their children, as opposed to taking a look at themselves and the way they've raised those children. Kids learn how to behave, first and foremost, from their parents - NOT from the words of a musician.
posted by elf_baby at 9:53 AM on January 20, 2001

Kids also do learn a lot from their peers. Parents are early role models, but as children become socialized they pay less attention to their parents and more to other kids. (How much did you listen to your parents when you were thirteen? I rest my case.)

Of course, who children socialize with is also largely under the control of parents, so it does still come back to them.
posted by kindall at 10:16 AM on January 20, 2001

I know that all blame shouldn't rest on the parents, obviously, just as it shouldn't rest on media. But still. Parents can also control (to some extent) their children's exposure to certain things. This doesn't mean kids won't find some way to listen to whatever music their parents banned, or watch whatever tv shows aren't allowed in their home, but their exposure will be more limited. This, of course, is not to say parents should also shield their kids from everything, either.
I'm of the opinion that if a kid listens to, say, Marilyn Manson's "Disposable Teens" and then goes out and murders thirteen people, there was probably something going on with the kid to begin with and not something to blame the song or the artist for.
posted by elf_baby at 6:20 PM on January 20, 2001