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Even if you strongly agree with her criticism of the pope, the way that she expressed that criticism -- by deceiving everyone on SNL to pull off her stunt -- ce
by jawns 3y ago
Even if you strongly agree with her criticism of the pope, the way that she expressed that criticism -- by deceiving everyone on SNL to pull off her stunt -- certainly branded her as a loose cannon in the industry. Unpredictability might entertain audiences, but it's a huge liability from an entertainment industry perspective.
And arguably, her antics greatly overshadowed the message she was trying to get across. How many people even realized what she was criticizing? So it ended up pissing off a lot of people without actually being effective in drawing attention to the issue she wanted to raise awareness toward.
- TehCorwiz 3y agoA protest that doesn’t make anyone uncomfortable has no teeth.
- lotsoweiners 3y agoPlenty of protests that make people uncomfortable also have no teeth.
- redwall_hp 3y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denying_the_antecedent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denying_the_antecedent
- acheron 3y ago[flagged]
- mburns 3y agoShe spoke truth to power. With the benefit of hindsight, how is there any doubt she was on the right side of history for bringing attention to the issue?
- notfromhere 3y agoA whole institution spent decades covering up child sexual abuse and you’re complaining about decorum? People upset with her over that completely missed what they should be mad about.
- bigbillheck 3y agoBet it's a whole lot more than 'decades'.
- Gabriel_Martin 3y agoYour HN account is probably older than many of those kids the church covered up the abuse of. But sure, she's the asshole for making you think about it.
- CWuestefeld 3y agoI don't think that's fair. Nobody claimed the converse, and that's what would be a more apt target of your comment. And I think that there's a lot of space between "making someone uncomfortable" versus being an asshole.
- DonHopkins 3y agoThere are words much more devastating than "asshole" to aptly and fairly describe people like you who carry the water for child abusers.
- CPLX 3y agoWhat “industry” are you talking about exactly?
- IvyMike 3y agoNot sure if this was an edit, but the post says "entertainment industry"
- subpixel 3y agoElvis Costello lied to SNL as well, and then produced one of the best musical performances on that show, _ever_. Elvis was protesting corporate control and homogeneity. Sinead was protesting institutions that enabled evil. Who cares if some suits were made uncomfortable.
- dredmorbius 3y agoIn 1977: "The ultimate act of punk defiance that got Elvis Costello banned from 'Saturday Night Live'" Costello, his label and the show’s producers, had agreed prior to the show that they would perform their catchy single ‘Less Than Zero’, a track which was written about disgraced British politician Oswald Mosley who, at the time, was the former leader of the British Union of Fascists. However, as the lights of the famous studio glared down upon him, Costello wouldn’t miss his opportunity. While it certainly was considered the band’s biggest opportunity commercial to date, Costello put a stop to the performance mid-intro, yelling: “Stop! Stop!” in the direction of his band. “I’m sorry, ladies and gentlemen,” he said before adding: “But there’s no reason to do this song here”. Instead, Costello and his band rolled into a performance of the song ‘Radio Radio’ which, controversially, includes lyrics that criticised the commercialisation of the airwaves in both television and radio as well as pointed the finger at corporate-controlled broadcasting. Costello had certainly made his statement clear and in the middle of one of the most hostile environments.... <https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/elvis-costello-banned-snl-video/ https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/elvis-costello-banned-snl-video...>
- bryanrasmussen 3y agoI remember reading an article in which Costello was evidently offended by some of the comedians being jerks - Bill Murray figures in - but reading this https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/elvis-costello-recalls-snl-performance-stunt-apple-music-interview-9516023/ https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/elvis-costello-recalls-... it seems more like 'protesting corporate control' as you wrote.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- IvyMike 3y agoArguably her protest was the pebble that started the avalanche of investigations of the catholic church that resulted in abuses coming to light and the Pope apologizing in 2005.
- pmarreck 3y agoI'm not disputing this, but do you have any evidence for it? (Would be nice if it were verifiably true.)
- HeyLaughingBoy 3y agoAnd she made exactly that point by saying that doing that didn't hurt her career, it hurt the careers of the people who wanted to make money from her.