Changing the Past – Truly we are in Dire Straits

Dire Straits: http://www.lemec.net/direstraits.html

The recent announcement by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) to censor the word faggot (slang – used to describe a homosexu-al) from the 26 year old song performed by Dire Straights called “Money for Nothing” has caused quite a stir among the special interest groups.  Did you know the word faggot also refers to food (a kind of a meat-ball)?  I  remember my Welsh grandmother making faggots and peas for dinner.  Not one of my favourite dishes because the patties or meatballs are made of liver.  I am not a fan of liver.  Should we ban faggots and peas too?  The word faggot is being banned from being played in the Dire Straits song and will be deleted out when played over the radio according to the CBSC.  By doing this, they are: insulting the artist, misunderstanding the context of the song and are opening up a whole gamut of songs, books and quotes to discussion and to possible censorship in this country. Censorship and history changed.  This to me is such a slippery slope.

The lyrics of “Money for Nothing”, if really studied, are nothing more than satiric words depicting the jealous types who basically did nothing with their lives. “I want my MTV” is the first line of the song.  If you really want to go down this path, while they can ban the word faggot, they can condone the derogatory images and remarks of the women in the video.  See where I am on this?  Where does it end?  

I actually do get the context of the video and would never judge it to be intended to be racist. Satire is a way to make fun of many touchy subjects. The video characters remind me of the Archie Bunker type with the cigar hanging out of this mouth. Realistically, the video is well done and definitely delivers on the parody of the song’s meaning.

I can’t help but think about why we are changing this and changing that? The notion of changing words in books (specific to the word nigger) such as Huck Fin, another example we could examine. Do you think that history should be changed? I don’t. This is how we learn and grow. History teaches us where we have come from. Is it okay for the Afro-American people to still use the word amongst each other and it can’t be kept in a book written countless years ago (circa 1876)? I think not. It is a double standard. You can’t have it both ways. The written word is in fact art. Art is what it is - a story that is being told, heard or shown depending on what kind of art we are talking about. We are going too far and pretty soon, we will not be able to look at another person without worrying about whether or not they may claim that you looked at them the wrong way.


I’m opposed to the fact that we can just change something that has been around for a long period of time that is meant to entertain. Anyone with half a brain can figure out that satire is the now, just as much as it has always been intertwined in life. There is a difference in deliberate bigot-ism. Entertainment is always blown to proportion


I think we need stop complaining and being so sensitive to many things and just instead choose to be confident. A majority of people can look at things and rise above them. Most people are accepted on every level and diversity is a common practice. Everyone can be an equal and treat others the same.


Censorship seems to be growing more and more. The last time I looked at the constitution, freedom of speech was a part of it. This seems to be losing its momentum.


I believe both this particular incident and the Huck Fin censorship are laughable. Get real people, we have far bigger things to worry about in this world like: Family Guy, All in the Family, and The Simpsons.  The preceding statement was me using satire.