Thursday, June 27, 2019

March of the SJWs



This crude meme kinda sums up where a subset of underground metal fans have arrived in 2019. Where I once found myself as a fan concerned by the presence of racists and other xenophobic elements within metal, I now find myself flustered and annoyed by a burgeoning crowd of "scene police" that are seeking to dictate to the underground-at-large what's acceptable. As recent episodes with Uada, MGLA, and past shitshows with bands such as Destroyer 666 have shown, the folks at Metalsucks and the Kim Kelly's of the internet are seeking to shine light on what they feel is the cancer of intolerance within the scene.

Here's the problem. These are the same motherfuckers who all will be eager to hype up the latest Darkthrone album. You know, the band that used to play "True Norweigan Aryan Black Metal". And tell people who complained that they were being "jewish."
It's not like this is a recent revelation or hidden secret.


We'd call this racistt too, but Fenriz has cat pictures online so it's exempt.


I'm not defending Naziism or alt-right rhetoric. Pepe the Frog can eat a fat dick. (I can also watch Nazis get punched all damn day.) I'm also not defending the dumb shit that KK Warslut of D666 says from the stage. I mean fuck, the guy calls himself "KK Warslut", why are we taking anything this guy says seriously? But funny how there's a double standard when Fenriz's quirky cat photos mean clicks to websites.

This photo is worth at least 3 extra clicks in 2019 for this shitty blog.

This effort to drudge up dubious or past connections to unsavory rhetoric or connections by musicians to reprehensible ideologies isn't about making the world a better place, or "cleansing the scene" even. It's Social Justice Warriors trying to score fucking points to impress fellow SJW's within the metal community. You know how I know? How many of these fuckers, who tolerate anti-Christian messages in metal music, throw a fit a the first sign of anti-Islamic themes in metal music as xenophobic? How many of them are eager to promote Castrator's advocacy of violence against men but pushed Willowtip Records to not release latest Prostitute Disfigurement? I assure you, SJW's will tie themselves up in knots to try to explain a difference in gendered violence, power dynamics, etc. (I think both bands rip, btw.)

Try explaining that this band was founded by a bunch of jews from New York...
What I'm saying is this; metal music, and popular culture at large, is FULL of problematic messages.  Am I supposed to not watch Lethal Weapon because Mel Gibson is a known anti-Semite with a weird Jesus fetish? What about Pulp Fiction and Quentin Tarantino's weird obsession with the N-bomb?

This name and shame game doesn't even de-platform the offending bands; they find other places to perform. You think those blackmetal bands don't find a basement to play in if that's what it comes to? You've just forced people who don't give a fuck about politics to choose a side, and counter-productively, they're going to be lazy and side with the band you're trying to prevent them from seeing.

They will definitely find a way just as easily as I can steal images from Google.

I think that doing this type of shit is an enormous disservice and counter productive to the actual cause of promoting social justice. One, call out culture doesn't work. In fact, ... "call-out culture pretends to be activism while actually just assuaging the insecurities — especially white guilt — of someone looking to convince others of their rightness." I find myself routinely in disagreement with people who express political views, particularly pro-Trump or pro-Republican Party views, but I have found that calling them "dumb dumbs" (even though they're often regurgitating absurd talking points) just makes them double down on stupid. It's the Sunk Cost Fallacy. Instead of insulting them for being misguided, I just objectively explain the problems I find with their views, while occasionally acknowledging when perhaps their views aren't as wrong as people who treat political opinions as sport would perceive. In diplomacy you give people rope to pull themselves out of the abyss.

The rules of language and cultural norms are ever shifting goal posts. In this age of information, it changes faster than at any previous time in human history. I think we can agree that in 2019, certain symbols and certain types of jokes aren't cool or funny anymore. I mean, even fucking Phil Anselmo, who puts his foot in his mouth at least once a year saying something stupid and potentially racist, understands that using Confederate Flag imagery isn't acceptable anymore. Varg, everyone's favorite LARPing racist buffoon and convicted murderer, really isn't entitled to a public platform to ramble on incoherently about his worldview. (Meaning, he can have whatever views he wants and express it, but you're not obligated to facilitate it or provide audience to it.) But are we going to shit on all of the art that was created in a prior time because by 2019 standards it's problematic without any sort of critical analysis of what the intent of that art even was? Do we really think Cannibal Corpse, a band that is now comprised of dudes in their 50's, are pro-rape because they wrote "Stripped, Raped, and Strangled" back in 1994 when they were in their 20's? Do they have to spend a least some portion of every interview until the end of the band defending the art they created in the 1990's? Was writing a song with that type of content even a message about women or, much more likely, just part of the ultra-violent horror themed lyrics that the band has always written?

This guy is still a dirtbag. He'll never change. But trying to silence him just makes his voice louder.

My conclusion is this; no we should not just throw away all of those old records and pretend that old art doesn't exist. And you shouldn't feel guilty for listening to it and enjoying it, because it ultimately influenced so much of what's out there today in this golden age for metal fans to discover music. At the same time, musicians are people, and people are imperfect. Some of them have shitty philosophies on life. You don't change their minds by just doing the "call out" thing; if anything you're giving them a bigger platform because of the extra attention they're now getting. Ask Destroyer 666 how their feud with Metalsucks went, and I imagine they'd tell you it was one of the best things to ever happen to the band. But you know what happens with age, travel, education, and experience? People evolve. As Phil Anselmo demonstrates, it can be messy and uneven, but they do evolve and grow. You think the guys from MGLA, as their band gets bigger, they travel, and meet people from around the world, are really gonna want to remain associated with any NSBM bullshit? I doubt it. I think that the sooner people with skeletons in their own closets stop with the "virtue signalling" and SJW call out bullshit, the better.


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