"Weird Al" Yankovic - Word Crimes

[jducoeur]

h/t to osewalrus for mentioning that LJ shows up in the new video for Weird Al's "Word Crimes", which got me to watch the video, which is just plain delightful.  Check it out: one of the better examples of a video that really enhances the song.

(And when did YouTube add a "Share to LiveJournal" icon?  Props to them for that...)

Comments

Another great video

[ruth waks bennett (from livejournal.com)]

Loved that one! Jeremy's current favorite is this one: http://youtu.be/GyV_UG60dD4

Also pretty awesome, with a great video.

Re: Another great video

[jducoeur]

Heh -- also pretty excellent, but blessedly doesn't speak to me quite as much right now. Mostly it reminds me why I am happy to *not* be working for a giant multinational...

Re: Another great video

[ruth waks bennett (from livejournal.com)]

Yes, it was unfortunately a bit too close to home for Jeremy, as he now works for MacAfee, which is part of Intel. Thankfully, he still found the humor in it.

[anastasiav.livejournal.com]

I have to confess, I normally like Al a lot but was horrified by his use of the word "spastic" (and also the "drooling" reference) in the lyrics to this.

Come on, dude. You know better.

[jducoeur]

He actually apologized for that on Twitter, a few days ago...

[anastasiav.livejournal.com]

Yes, but did he change it? It's all digital now, he could easily change it and re-release. When he does that, I'll feel like he really gets it.

Sorry. He's a smart guy. "I had no idea" doesn't really hold much water for me.

ETA: I am very happy for him that he opened at #1 however. It's like a lifetime achievement award that he richly deserves. This particular song, though, will still make me cringe.

[jducoeur]

It's all digital now, he could easily change it and re-release.

While I understand what you're saying, "easily" is about as far from the truth as can be. At *least* tens of thousands of CDs have been printed and distributed (probably more), and a media release like this is a hell of a freight train with a lot of moving parts. (Frankly, I would be a bit surprised if he even has enough control to make such a change at this point -- even an established artist works within a fairly constrained corporate environment. This isn't somebody making a video in his basement.)

Could it be done? Maybe, but even just changing the new copies going forward would probably cost at least tens of thousands of dollars, and scrapping what's already in the pipeline probably over a million. That's not "easily" by anyone's standards.

And I *completely* disagree with

"I had no idea" doesn't really hold much water for me.

When we were growing up, this usage was totally common, and carried no intentional malice. Yes, under the surface there was some Bad Culture there, and folks have begun to recognize that over the past couple of decades. But nobody loses their childhood patterning easily, and even someone who tries to keep up with rapidly-changing culture is going to miss some of those changes. (Heaven knows he does better than most 55-year-olds I know.)

I can understand the cringe, but mistakes happen. In a hate-filled world where political and media leaders *deliberately* throw worse insults than this regularly (and then rationalize their decisions to do so), it seems a bit unreasonable to refuse to accept a prompt apology for a dumb choice...

[anastasiav.livejournal.com]

They Might Be Giants released one of their kids albums (Here Comes Science!) with a small but significant error in the lyrics about how the science of the sun works. When they learned of this, they released an additional digital track (and video) as part of the standard download of the album, as well as adding it to all subsequent pressings of the album.

I don't think he needs to attempt to erase it from history, just re-record it, change the digital and future pressings of the physical media, and basically make the statement through action that the original version is not the version he would like to have as a permanent representation of his work.

While here in the US that word is bad and hurtful, in the UK it's a truly terrible slur -- a word akin to "retard" or "kike". Even if Al didn't know that the word was problematic, I'm a little surprised that none of the probably dozens of people who heard the album prior to release -- from tech engineers to other musicians to A&R and marketing folks -- noticed or spoke up and said "Ah, Al ... I just want to make sure you're aware...". This isn't some rap or hard rock artist whose stock in trade is challenging language or shock value. This is an artist that people regularly take their kids to see. Time has marched on, and even if things were acceptable when we were kids, it's not acceptable now, any more than using a racial or gendered slur would be. I think that if he really didn't know, it says a lot about our society that not only the artist himself but all those other people thought it could get a pass. Really -- did not a single person who touched this before release have a friend or family member with a disability? (I guess the other option is that he's really a diva and and everyone was afraid to tell him, but that doesn't seem to quite fit, either.)

We allow the world to be more hate filled when we casually accept the idea that the word "spastic" can mean "stupid". Because when that language exists in a parody pop song, we say, as a society, "eh, those people don't matter to me" ... which is what leads political and media leaders to think they can get away with it too.

Think of it like defending copyright: you have to defend against unfair use vigorously, every time, because if you let even one time go you make the next 'infringement' a little more ok.

[jducoeur]

My suspicion is that there's a bit of classic snafu principle here: Al is likely big enough at this point that nobody working with him thinks they have the right to question his words. That's unfortunately typical in creative fields, far as I can tell -- the bigger you are, the less you get edited, often to your detriment. I would guess that at least one or two people noticed the problem, but didn't think they were allowed to speak up.

This happens almost inevitably, and doesn't require being a diva: the problem is that most people, most of the time, self-censor around power. It requires a good deal of effort for the person at the top to *avoid* this happening: you have to go out of your way to make clear to everyone that you value their opinions. Basically, you have to be a fairly talented manager to avoid it.

And I agree that the problem needs to be pointed out reliably. I just think that he's handled the matter about as best he can so far...

[crschmidt.livejournal.com]

"And when did YouTube add a "Share to LiveJournal" icon? Props to them for that..."

I'm finding it a bit hard to tell, but it's been there since at least early 2010.