Been watching a bit of telly, got pissed off and decided to whine to you guys about it. Apoligies for any errors that have been made, I’m writing in a bit of a rush…
I was just watching 3 News - maybe you saw this – they had an interview/special thing on Joy Enriquez where they basically sucked up to her the whole time. The thing that got me was her comment something like “I’m doing it to help people, not to make more money or fame. When it all boils down, those don’t amount to anything”. I know the amount of cliches in that quote are inexcusable, but that isn’t the issue. What is the issue is that if she doesn’t care about the money or fame, WHY IS SHE AT BMG?! Perhaps if she practised what she preached and signed to an indie label that doesn't care about money, people wouldn’t be able to hassle her about being a corporate whore.
The thing that really pisses me off, however, is they showed a bunch of high school students going mental at her and “almost causing a riot” (media hysteria – they were bopping along to her songs). Why do they go crazy at some stupid hypocritical American quasi-Britney who no one will remember in a couple of years anyway coming over here to sing some words to SOMEONE ELSES song while spouting crap about being in it “for the love of it” to try and gain some credibility, while next door genuine New Zealand artists are working their arses off (most of them on the dole, the rest with multiple jobs) to try and keep themselves going, and not getting any thanks for it. I would guess-timate that Dave Dobbyn and the Finn brothers are the only musicians in New Zealand at the moment that can make a living wage out of their music. New Zealand artists are the ones who are in music for the love of it, because if they were out to make money (ie True Bliss) they would quickly realise you ain’t gonna. These are the credible artists, and yet no one seems to care… It makes me sad. I am longing for a time when our musicians are fairly supported in New Zealand by the likes of YOU (maybe then Shihad etc will contemplate coming back…). Until that date, as far as I’m concerned, Ms Enriquez can fuck off out of my country and go spiel that hypocritical bull-shit to someone who cares. Ho.
Also on 3 News, was an item on a new kind of advertising, called “Advertainment” or something similar. Basically what happens, is a big company like BMW signs up directors like Ang Lee, or Guy Ritchie, to direct a mini-movie that plugs their product, and they then broadcast it on the Internet. Apparently, this is some sort of ‘radical’ ‘innovative’ behavior. I’m sorry, what exactly has Hollywood been doing for, I dunno, at least the last 20 years? Witness the Matrix. There were so many instances of product placement in that movie even an anal-retentive like myself lost count. “Oh no the baddies are chasing me! Let me get away from my Apple ™ Macintosh ® and into my BMW ™ where I can talk on my Nokia ™ ‘fone’ and sip my ‘cool, refreshing’ can of Coke ™”. If anyone has seen ‘Dracula 2000’, you will be aware that there are more placements of the word Virgin ™ in the movie than any porn site you have ever seen…
Another thing on 3 News (see, I do watch current affairs. I’m hip to the jive) that didn’t especially piss me off, but did get on my nerves because I’m a cynical bastard, was something about Coke in Africa helping the AIDS cause by donating some money. Thanks, multi-national fascist corporation, you are now suddenly Mother Teresa! But they didn’t do it JUST because of the free advertising, oh no. (approximate) Quote from one of the people: “Employees of Coke (inc, corp, ™, ®, ©, co) in Africa suffer from AIDS just as much as all of the others”. Wow, so they do have ulterior motives then. The main reason they are doing it is because not having all its workers dying all the time is better for business. Apparently saving the world isn’t ‘economically viable’… Coke aren’t the only corporation to do this either. Another American company (I forget the name now), is now giving drugs to its workers that have AIDS. Cool! “Well Mr. Boardroom, we realise that you will continue to exploit us under slave-labour conditions, but now that you have decided to supply us with FREE MEDICATION once we become terminally ill, we’ll call it even”. Woohoo…
Out.
