Establishig Priorities (Get Over Yourself)

Some recent events have provoked a bit of thought, and vitriol, and so have become the subject of this latest one-sided dialogue.

I will start with an objection to posturing. You all know the situation to which I am referring. You engage some group of people in a conversation, and one bombastic grunt immediately grabs the imaginary megaphone and overstates his case, solely for the chance to be in the limelight for a few seconds. In a recent instance, an acquaintance adopted his most stentorian tone and pontificated on the outrage of Adam Lambert's performance on the American Music Awards.

Now, while I object to the tastelessness of the performance, and its obvious success in generating buzz, I am equally offended by the feigned outrage and maybe even moreso by the response generated by Adam Lambert. For years, the public has gradually accepted the pantomiming of sexual acts under the pretense of artictic performance. Be honest, how far removed is Janet Jackson's misguided decision to flash her breast [No, I don't believe it was a wardrobe malfunction] and what millions of viewers watch on "Dancing With the Stars" every week? Don't think so? Watch the dance show with a dirty mind. The only reason for the absence of backlash is that we have become inured to the tasteless mimickry. The dancers, as attractive and fit as most of them are, are wearing little clothing and preforming dances that hace been deliberately choreographed to simulate sexual movements.

This acquaintance pointed his intellectual finger and bemoaned the sad state of affairs that made it even a consideration that pretending to perform a homosexual act might make it past the censors. What a load of crap! Just as ridiculous was Lambert's contention that he was exercising artistic freedom in carrying out the maneuver. Artistic freedom? Are you kidding me? The calculated move was designed to offend and to garner attention. That he succeeded says only that our culture hasn't quite gotten to the point where anything goes without comment. I object to the performance too, but I won't go so far as to channel outrage. I find it sad and distrubing, but since we have few standards anymore, I can't summon up even surprise, let alone anger. How can anyone pretend genuine disgust when the airwaves are littered with similar displays of filth?

Get over yourself, EVERYBODY. One may object as I do, and one may find a performance or the public display of any questionable material offensive, and he may announce his evaluation to all the world. But please don't take that tone with me?

The adoption of the flamboyant posture, whatever it is, is an exact replica of the performance or act to which you are objecting. Think about it. Lambert does something over the top, on purpose, so that everyone will look at him. The posturer's answer is to overreact in hopes of making an impression that will draw the attention to himself. Want to make a genuine statement? Turn off those programs that traffic in pushing the decency envelope. If those efforts didn't win an audience, the ubiquity of tastelessness would diminish. Tasteful would rule the day because tasteless has been rejected.

One very funny thing happened as a result of Lambert's maneuvers though. After being upstaged by Kanye West on an earlier music awards show whose name I can't remember at the moment, Taylor Swift - a very pretty girl who cannot sing a lick - was upstaged again on an awards show. Seriously, Taylor Seift's success is further proof of the deterioration of taste. From what I can tell, she is a sweet kid whose success I do not begrudge a whit. Good for her. But for crying out loud, shouldn't our decorated singers have good voices, not just a pretty face and a good marketing strategy? I would go on, but I realize that the popularity of Taylor Swift is no different than the 70's popularity of the Monkees, a musical group comprised of four charismatic guys who hadn't the capacity to craft a musical composition until some marketing group invented them.

Which brings me to the conclusion and what seems to be a unavoidable point: people are remarkably stupid. The collective consciousness can be created, led, and retained in whatever direction the marketing people decide. Only a small percentage of people have a solid sense of taste, decency, and propriety, and they haven't the voice to make much of an impact. I know this makes me something of a self-righteous bastard, but I won't succumb to the stance to which this entire piece is objecting.