Spring Break
Disney shows true colors
by Daniel Ortner
Music | 10/2/07
Posted online at 9:56 PM EST on 10/1/07
/ Last updated at 5:05 AM EST on 10/1/07
Just when you think Disney is beginning to embrace the counter-culture (it recently decided to allow gay marriages to be held at its theme parks), I heard about a decision so asinine and utterly hypocritical that it made me cringe.
At their theme parks in California and Florida, Disney controls two concert venues of the popular House of Blues chain. Two weeks ago, Disney suddenly decided that it no longer wanted Metal shows in its concert venues and pressured its House of Blues venues to cancel all of its extreme rock-related shows. They cited the bands' subversive and violent lyrics and their "questionable fans" as reason for the cancellations.
A quick look at Disney's actions past and present will reveal the hypocrisy in this decision. First, in the immediate vicinity of each of these venues, Disney hosts Pleasure Island, an adult dance hall, which clearly belies the fact that it has no qualms about offering adult content and features. Alcohol is copiously consumed and the club's very name emphasizes the joy of momentary hedonism. The traditional top-40 music usually played at these clubs is often far more offensive and degrading to women than most Metal. For instance, the currently number two-ranked song, "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" by the artist Soulja Boy, contains the lyrics "Soulja boy off in this hoe. Watch me lean and watch me rock. Super man dat hoe. Then watch me crank dat Robocop." Clearly, this is not the type of song that family-oriented venues should be playing.
Additionally, while some of the cancelled bands, such as Cannibal Corpse, do rely on shocking and violent lyrics as one of their main forms of appeal, others, such as Machine Head, are socially active and intense bands that ask critical questions about the political climate and world reality. Machine Head, for instance, sings in its song "Clenching the Fists of Dissent": "They say that freedom isn't free. It's paid with the lives. Of sons and families. Cause blood is their new currency. And oil pumps the heart of money."
At their theme parks in California and Florida, Disney controls two concert venues of the popular House of Blues chain. Two weeks ago, Disney suddenly decided that it no longer wanted Metal shows in its concert venues and pressured its House of Blues venues to cancel all of its extreme rock-related shows. They cited the bands' subversive and violent lyrics and their "questionable fans" as reason for the cancellations.
A quick look at Disney's actions past and present will reveal the hypocrisy in this decision. First, in the immediate vicinity of each of these venues, Disney hosts Pleasure Island, an adult dance hall, which clearly belies the fact that it has no qualms about offering adult content and features. Alcohol is copiously consumed and the club's very name emphasizes the joy of momentary hedonism. The traditional top-40 music usually played at these clubs is often far more offensive and degrading to women than most Metal. For instance, the currently number two-ranked song, "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" by the artist Soulja Boy, contains the lyrics "Soulja boy off in this hoe. Watch me lean and watch me rock. Super man dat hoe. Then watch me crank dat Robocop." Clearly, this is not the type of song that family-oriented venues should be playing.
Additionally, while some of the cancelled bands, such as Cannibal Corpse, do rely on shocking and violent lyrics as one of their main forms of appeal, others, such as Machine Head, are socially active and intense bands that ask critical questions about the political climate and world reality. Machine Head, for instance, sings in its song "Clenching the Fists of Dissent": "They say that freedom isn't free. It's paid with the lives. Of sons and families. Cause blood is their new currency. And oil pumps the heart of money."
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