Friday, April 4, 2014

Is this metal band awful?

DISCLAIMER:

FOLKS, PLEASE DON´T BE IDIOTS AND THREATEN OTHER FOLKS WITH VIOLENCE JUST BECAUSE YOU DISAGREE WITH THEM. IF YOU NEED TO EXPRESS YOUR FEELINGS TOWARDS THEM, PLEASE ACT CIVILIZED. YOU´RE NOT HELPING ANYONE TO PROVE A POINT WHEN RUNNING AMOK.

 

Recently I stumbled across a very interesting blog- entity run by a group of American “folk metal heads”, who have an uncontrollable urge to spread people the gospel of Righteousness. And the more I read it, the more I started to think that when the purpose of the blog was "listing all the dangerously stupid people in the metal scene" they, sadly, forgot the mention themselves. While I´m not an expert on labeling and judging things on their outlooks, I´m pretty sure these peeps are. At least the clear- sighted knowledge on the matters shine through their articles like a beam of light into a dark, wartime bunker. And today, ladies, gentlemen and all-those-who-wish-not-be-labeled-into-anything-because-it-might-offend-their-freedom-to-choose, we are in that bunker: bathing in the light of Truth, admitting our sins and repenting for all those who died. Amen, sister!


  ...Well, if you have to ask, it probably is.



The foreword of this epitome of an American Inquisition starts with -how I would see it- as an almost sorry- sounding excuse. Itエs almost like you could actually listen to our band despite of ME. However, Mitja is completely fine, because he once said that he hates the nazis. (I guess the Illinois Nazis are not qualified, as everyone hates them.) I mean, with these compliments I almost feel like I should dedicate all our musical works to the author solely:

"I LOVE MOONSORROW A LOT. When they say epic metal they mean EPIC and IT´S SUPER GREAT and hey looks like they´re majority not dicks, that´s good."

While not being completely sure what "they´re majority not dicks" is, I suppose it refers to the presume that most of the people in the band are not resemblant to penises. I could be wrong, though, as I´m not a native English speaker. But if I´m correct, it must be your lucky day, because one member of Lakupaavi - a band which is a clear "no- no" to the author- actually looks like a dick. Good thing he is not a Moonsorrow- member, or the author´s day would had probably been ruined. You see, she clearly doesn´t appreciate the fine offensive art of Lakupaavi- 
"which, yes, we understand is supposed to be an offensive joke and sort of parody of Anal Cunt or something, but dudes?? please don´t wear Hitler masks." So, I take it as Anal Cunt singing about rape, uncle Adolf or whatever semenburgers and sexual minorities is completely fine because they don´t wear those dreaded hitler- masks? Next time we´ll write a song about "ha ha you´re an american internet blogger" while steering away completely from such sensitive subjects as rubber masks of some dead dictator.
After all, it´s completely ok and funny to piss off everyone else but you, so we completely understand the issue here.

Another fun fact is also, that apparently at some point of my life, I´ve become a "public figure". And you see, public figures aren´t sadly allowed to wear shirts that may offend someone. Completely understandable though, as it wasn´t allowed in 1940´s Germany either. Verboten!
About 70 years, a zillion dead and one particular living Norwegian nazi later, a picture taken from the recording sessions of Varjoina- album showed me sporting a Burzum- shirt, which was wished to be censored in the future from our public imagery. Cencored, by someone who has absolutely no idea of what else Burzum  represents as an artist to people like me, people who actually were actively involved in the “scene” when this second- to- hitler -madman made his famous albums. And even is she had, why on earth should I follow the subtle and polite hint of “FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, HENRI SORVALI, PLEASE STOP WEARING BURZUM SHIRTS IN PUBLICLY POSTED PHOTOS”? Would the next thing be maybe removing all the Burzum- influenced parts from our music as well? Heck, let´s actually ban whole Moonsorrow from the surface of the Earth because I´ve heard that someone in the band heard Burzum at a party in 1996! No- one expects the American Inquisition!!

Then again, as long as the children feel safe, I´m later being allowed to wear my garderobe. Ironically, just like some tiny souls telling the gay peeps to stay in the closet, the gay people now tell me to wear my shirts somewhere privately, “OR AT LEAST NO BURZUM SHIRTS WHERE THE KIDS CAN SEE.” Children? Seriously? Is my antichristian and aggressive, screechy and noisy Pagan music with the vengeful and bloody lyrics completely fine...just as long as the children don´t surf into a Moonsorrow website and see some fat bloke wearing a black t- shirt with some random letters printed on it? Are the children in America perhaps told about the "dangers of Burzum" before they go to school?
I love children- in fact, I have two of my own who unfortunately have already been exposed to this foul and smelly shirt- but this reminds me of something else....yes, that was it.


“It’s not about imposing some sort of sanctions on [subject] …It’s about protecting children from such information,” Mr [spokesperson] said.

Yes, it was the Russian President Vladimir Putin, explaining about the new laws against homosexuality in Russia just a couple of months ago. How could I forget that, silly me? And he did it also for the children´s protection, to care about our precious little new generations, just like you folks out there! How adorable! Just like in the 80´s when the PMRC had taken kids´ and teenagers´ needs into a special attention while attacking musicians like Dee Snider and Frank Zappa, we must always think of the children today as well! Even now, 29 years later, the Moral is still strong in the U.S. and no children shall be exposed to something denegerate, immoral and offensive as a t- shirt.
On the matter of censorship on Artists The Blogger Doesn´t Personally Agree With, I´d like to dwell a bit deeper into the PMRC- court case and quote my absolute hero, mr. Frank Zappa from  the Statement for Congress, Sept.19, 1985:


“The establishment of a rating system, voluntary or otherwise, opens the door to an endless parade of Moral Quality Control Programs based on “Things Certain Christians Don’t Like”. What if the next bunch of Washington Wives demands a large yellow “J” on all material written or performed by Jews, in order to save helpless children from exposure to concealed Zionist doctrine? 

Record ratings are frequently compared to film ratings. Apart from the quantitative difference, there is another that is more important: People who act in films are hired to pretend. No matter how the film is rated, it won’t hurt them personally.
Since many musicians write and perform their own material and stand by it as their art (whether you like it or not), an imposed rating will stigmatize them as individuals. How long before composers and performers are told to wear a festive little PMRC arm band with their scarlet letter on it?



Just like Frank Zappa, we´re indeed on the mentioned "grey area" with Moonsorrow, which is the only thing on your claims I can sign away this instance for what it comes to politics. The only political (or, rather, religious, if you prefer) agenda you can find from our music is to be against forced opinions, beliefs and defending freedom of speech and choice.
As we have absolutely nothing to do with national socialism, we have never stated to be "strongly, loudly antifascist" either. I wasn´t particularly aware to be playing a game where we have to choose sides like in some mediocre RPG, so unfortunately you must confuse our lyrical and visual themes with those role- playing bands out there.
In this age of sobbing sensitivity and political correctness, it´s not easy to express yourself all the time, as there are always some people getting butthurt on something you said, wore or ate for dinner. Opinions- even the ones which are supposed to promote equality - are twisted into "hatespeech" and saying something on behalf of one group makes you automatically despise another in some deranged logic. Would my job as an artist to be only for your entertainment, without never expressing myself on any other matter? Am I supposed to be locked into a closet, only to come out once a while to entertain you? Is my art and passion only appreciated when it suits your political agenda, even though there wasn´t any from my side in the first place? You enjoy my music and visit our concerts, yet when you are finished you tell me to get back into the closet and "think of the children". Just how horribly hypocrite, self- centered and pompous is that?
To cut it straight (pun intended)- I have absolutely nothing against gay people. But I despise any pissy, whiny, butthurt bunch of individuals who start a fucking crusade against something because they claim to be "offended" on something. This has nothing to do with you representing a minority- you are only being a self- righteous prick here and that´s all that matters to me, and should matter to you as well. In fact, the more I think of it, the more I´m starting to develop a gut feeling that your pissy and whiny butthurtness offends me.

I´d like to end this inquisition- session by quoting one of my absolute favourite actors and persons ever- who, ironically enough happens to represent a sexual minority as well-  Stephen Fry, who has something to say to both of us butthurt whiners out here.

It's now very common to hear people say, 'I'm rather offended by that.' As if that gives them certain rights. It's actually nothing more... than a whine. 'I find that offensive.' It has no meaning; it has no purpose; it has no reason to be respected as a phrase. 'I am offended by that.' Well, so fucking what."




EDIT: An addition and about kazillion tweets and one Tumblr- post on the subject later, I´m clarifying a couple of points once before not editing this text anymore.

1. In case you "need a further opinion about Henri", I strongly suggest you ask it yourself instead of reading it from some other people´s microblogs. My contact information is clearly visible here, and you can also comment things below if you want to do it publicly.

2. I had no idea who wrote that text, but assumed it was a "her" judging from the list. And to be honest, I ´m not actually quite sure is "trans guy" either a former or latter female. How insensitive of me!


3. It´s not a "clusterfuck" unless you are an illiterate.

18 comments:

  1. Well it seems you completely misunderstood the blog we were running in favor of being butthurt at us calling some things not okay. You are a public figure. You, like most people, say stupid and hurtful shit. Nobody wants you to be in a closet, but you know...learn from your mistakes if somebody calls you on it, instead of acting like you're under Inquisition.

    The purpose of the blog was never to censor anything, and if you'd bothered to read the faq a bit you'd know. It was about compiling questionable and downright CRIMINAL things certain musicians have done, so that people who would not give monetary support to nazis, or homophobes, or murderers, would know right away without needing to scour the whole internet for clues. The point was, the metal scene can be very toxic and straight up dangerous if you aren't a white straight dude, and we wanted to help people who aren't (surprise surprise, there are some who aren't).

    Guess what? We got death threats for that entry. A lot of them, graphical and detailed, and more hate from your butthurt fans than I (little innocent Italo-finnish me who runs around with the progpower scene) could think possible. In the end a few months ago we dropped the blog because the stress of running it was wearing us thin. But that's okay, we are just whiny offended babies, not human beings. Not human beings that buy your stuff.

    For starters, how about we drop the "offensive" and "politically correct" bullshit and call things for what they are: hurtful. I'm queer, a gamer, and a metal fan. Your opinion that I don't need representation in video games and that wanting it is "whiny" doesn't make me go "oh how lucky, this person I am fan of is so progressive and thoughtful". No, it fucking hurts, because just as everybody else you're saying "it's not a problem that concerns me directly so it's not important and if you think it is, you're wrong". I'm sure you are a very progressive dude and one of the people that signed the petition so that we can have equal marriage here in finland (right?) But reading that tweet, I get hurt and disappointed. It feels, once more, that the metal scene isn't for me. It's tiring, you know?

    I'm sorry if you felt attacked, but your reaction is exactly what other people feel every day when musicians say hurtful shit about us. You may feel we are too overly sensitive and whiny, but before you act like WE are hurting you, please remember that behind most overly sensitive whiny baby, there's a marginalized person who has been hurt over and over.

    We wanted to make something so that people could be safe. They could have a metal show without being groped, derided, harassed or assaulted. But apparently that was way to offensive to the status quo.

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  2. Oh, and by the way, we are currently bracing for a new wave of hatred and death and rape threats to flood our inbox now that you've given the link and pretty much said "if you're a hateful bigoted fanboy, go tell them to die". You may be a wonderful person, but a lot of your fans AREN'T, and you just validated all the abuse they shovel on marginalized people in the name of "being metal". If we get some particularly gruesome ones, would you like to see them? I think they'd be quite an eye-opener.

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  3. btw, "trans guy" means a guy. You didn't have to add a hurtful jab at my friend with that "how insensitive of me!" comment. It's the internet. a 0.1 second google search would have answered your question. But you clearly wanted to hurt him just a little bit more. How progressive and pro-equality of you.

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  4. I´m really sorry, but if you write complete, utter bullshit and accusations like that (I´m sure you already guessed that the Moonsorrow- entry wasn´t certainly the only thing I found repulsively hypocrite), you have absolutely no right to come here waving the "b-b-b-but I´m hurt and scared"- card. That, if something, is even worse than this "classification and labeling of people behind bands" you´re practising.

    Naturally- as you can now see- I´ve made a clear disclaimer where I state that I support no violence, be it verbal or physical, against anyone on this matter. However, I strongly feel that just like me reading this little Inquisition Symphony and going totally puzzled, maybe you know understand how it feels to have to defend your ideas and thoughts as well. And please, don´t draw the sexual minority as getting-out-of-jail card again, thank you. No matter your height, weight and tendencies, you can´t hide behind some imaginary shield, just like I can´t either...and no- one should.
    If things are discussed as "what they are", as you wished, I suppose those tactics are out of question then. And you know what? I´m pretty sure whatever I say here, there is always someone who finds something anti- gay from my writing here now, even though it was catered with fucking pink unicorns.

    Do you think we actually enjoyed that some German fuck made us cancel gigs because of imaginary nazi- lyrics in our songs? Do you think we enjoy to see our friends around the world having to cope with the same shit everywhere when someone can just wave a nazi- card and BOOM- there goes that gig?

    Do you think you can write this complete vomit in the internet and just expect us, THE ALMIGHTY PUBLIC FIGURES not to give a toss about the lies, bullshit and hypocrisy? I´m sorry, but this ain´t the fucking pop scene.

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  5. There weren't any accusations nor bullshit, nor lies anywhere. Everything we posted in the blog was sourced to interviews, blog posts, news articles. Nothing in the blog was false as far as I know. You as a part of the scene might know things differently because you know the people involved. We, the fans, do not. All we have to gauge a public person are...well, the things they say and do in public. Which is what we compiled, and which is why nobody got "consulted". Like seriously, can you imagine "consulting" Burzum over this? We'd literally get lynched by his fans. Perhaps the tone was too strong at times, or focused on things you don't consider important (but might be for other people), but we aren't professionals. We were trying to do something good that ended up biting us in the ass. We dropped it for a reason, it was creating so much tension it was unsustainable. We don't have the fervent drive of those who can't accept a good musician can also be a terrible human being and that somebody may have a problem with that. So in the end, you've already won. Congratulations.

    The "I'm so hurt and scared" is not a "card" - it's the reason we created the blog. I wanted you to understand that we were doing this for a reason. It wasn't meant to be an attack to you, your work or your precious ego, it was meant to be a resource for people who are marginalized and might actually end up in trouble at the wrong gig, or with the wrong people. Just like all of us manning the blog have. We wanted people to be safe, we wanted this metal scene we love so much to be a safe place for those who can't defend themselves.

    As far as I'm concerned you can wear whatever the fuck you like. But SOME OTHER PEOPLE might have trouble with you being a stalwart fan of somebody so utterly hateful and horrible as Varg. Somebody that, by the way, was a convicted murderer, is in favor of ethnic cleansing, and believes women are just cattle to impregnate. None of that is a lie, it's all in his lovely blog, it's all in his fans who bombarded us with hate when we posted the Burzum article. I like a couple of Burzum albums too, but I can still feel extremely threatened by the fact this dude is a public figure, can I? All we wanted was to give those people that might have problems with it a forewarning.

    Who I am is not an imaginary shield, it's not a tactic, it's my everyday life. YOU may say it's not important, because you don't get discriminated every day for being straight. But if I go to a metal show with my girlfriend, some people will feel this makes me less of a human and will probably harass me, or even assault me. Those people might even be on the stage, might be singing songs about what lovely dudes the Nazis were. Don't you think people should know if they're going to be safe when they go have fun? Don't you think people shouldn't feel attacked when they listen to a nice song and then realize it's being written by somebody who considers them subhuman and wants them to die?

    As I said, I'm sorry you took this as a personal insult and an attempt at censoring. It was not, in fact literally all of us are your fans and admire your work a lot. We were trying to do something different than all the circular hatred and wanking that goes on in the metal scene. The metal scene is clearly not ready for it yet.

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  6. Wait wait wait!! What?
    I went to check what is this homophopic attitude you are claiming Trollhorn to be responsible for. I saw this tweet where he told how good it is that people are not calling others faggots all the time you were referring part of the following tweet. Do you Metalqueen and your friends have severe problems in comprehending text and context? His tweets on the subject were "pro gay" in a way. And you didn´t make any effort in understanding what he meant. He didn´t condemn gay gamers, but more of meant that we are all the same, we should be regarded as human beings equally without labeling. And you missed THAT???? So it´s not a surprise to me that your over sensitive hypocritically managed blog got so much fire. It´s easy to condemn, accuse rally against anything id you want. Easier than understanding or to be critical in a more sophisticated way. I strongly dislike nazis and NSBM, but i like music of BURZUM from the times before he came out as a nazi. It was strong beautiful music. I hate his stupidity and opinions but i can listen to his music still and wear a shirt. If you want to change the opinion towards gay metal heads inside metal culture, do it through positive channels, be brave to be you, your sexual identity is sacred and no-one have right to mess around with you. You will get looks and some bad words at shows, but the more you are out in the open, the better. It easy for me to say this in Helsinki but i´m not from here originally so i know how the american metalheads are. There are lots of idiots in the metal scene. Condemn them, dislike the bands that carry the torch of racial/sexual/political hatred as much as you please, but be sensible. And don´t be sensitive. It won´t help you. What your blog did, was, although not claiming Moonsorrow to be nazis, still put them under false and made up categories YOU invented. I hope everything good to you and i hope to see you have a more open mind blog. Just grow up a little and you´ll be fine. I can read between the lines that you only want good, but world is not black and white. It´s a rainbow of colors. Even in metal. Micke

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  7. I just have to add... I'm a gay female who enjoys going to shows with my girlfriend and we've NEVER gotten any shit for showing affection. Although it should be remembered that other people are there to see a goddamn show, not to watch some couple eat each other's faces (figuratively, of course, otherwise it could be a zombie apocalypse and I'd advice to leave the venue). Too much PDA is too much PDA from any couple, gay or straight.

    I've pretty much said everything I want to say about that Moonsorrow post (and that blog in general) already and I don't feel like repeating myself, but if anyone's interested in what I said, I'm happy to give them a link. Although I find that Trollhorn said everything better than I could.

    And Micke (I guess it's okay to call you that?), I completely agree with you on that gay gamers thing and that's pretty much how I saw it as well. There should be no reason for gays to exclude themselves from the gaming community when the community is open for anyone. By excluding themselves, the gay gamers are creating a barrier between themselves and the rest of the gaming community and are certainly not helping equality.

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  8. "By excluding themselves, the gay gamers are creating a barrier between themselves and the rest of the gaming community and are certainly not helping equality."
    Maybe they want to exclude themselves and point themselves out with neon lights so they feel special and they can be butthurt when idiots come to tell them nasty things? Because yeah, that's totally the way to make this world a better place. By poking the beehive.

    And while we are talking about the blog. I don't get it. Do these people think the people they are warning (who are just like them) are so stupid they can't do research on their own?
    Besides, Jussi Wickström has a Burzum-shirt (or at least a patch) as well, but Turisas is in a "good list". So, Jussi isn't a big deal but Trollhorn is? Oh, please.

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  9. I've never actually commented on a blog post before, but this has really captured my interest. I feel that Henri is justifiably upset that his character has been brought in to question in such a way, particularly given Moonsorrow's history of being accused of things they don't represent.

    Regarding the 'gay' issue, I can't comment, as I'm not part of that community (the gamer community that is…), but in terms of being openly homosexual at metal gigs…I feel that it may have as much to do with where you go to gigs as it does with metal in general. I'm from Australia and I've never encountered any outright homophobic behaviour in the metal community here, aside from the occasional 'casual homophobic' slang term (i.e. faggot being thrown around between friends, not intended as a homophobic slur, but that is a debate for another forum).

    As for the Burzum shirt issue…that's a really interesting topic. I think humans have an amazing capacity for plurality/duality. Just look at the number of Jewish musicians who continue to play Wagner, or how successful and accepted Chris Brown has been despite being a very public woman basher. Sporting heroes with sordid personal lives are worshipped and no one has stopped watching Seinfeld because Kramer is a racist. I found myself in a similar conflict a few months ago when I attended a concert by Irish folk band, the Wolfetones. My parents being from (protestant) Northern Ireland, I was raised on a musical diet of bands that sung songs of praise for (and even raised funds for at one point) the IRA, who I obviously find despicable. I found myself (and my dad) dancing and singing along to songs that would have my grandmother rolling in her grave, and I would say that the same was true for the majority of the audience.

    There are examples of this in pretty much every aspect of life (against slave labour, doesn't boycott every clothing store that uses said methods)…so at the end of the day, if a band has gone to considerable effort to make their political stance known, they should not be publicly shamed for something so trivial. We're all constantly learning and changing our views on what is right and what is wrong, so perhaps getting angry and venting online isn't the best option. I dunno. I'm tired, it's night time here, can't we all just get along?


    And for the record, I'm not a Burzum fan.

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  10. "Look at me, I'm a little snowflake! Look at me being ~*~ special ~*~!"
    Demanding special treatment will always annoy someone. Demanding special treatment when you're gaming just because you're gay will annoy a lot of people and is completely in vain in the end of the day, because your skills as a gamer and your sexuality are two things that have nothing in common. And when playing videogames with other people, one of those things is much more relevant than the other. Yes, you might run into people who'll give you shit because of your sexuality. Actually, it's very likely you meet those people. But being gay is not the only thing people might give you shit for. It might feel more personal, because sexuality is usually something that hits close to home, but it's certainly not the only thing. You might also get shit for being too tall or too short, having glasses, having big feet, being over- or underweight, your nationality, your taste in music, your occupation... Just anything possible. But which is the better option? To tear the gaming community into pieces based on those little things or just trying to get along with other people? It might mean you need to keep quiet about some things, but is there really a reason for anyone to declare their sexuality while gaming when you could just have fun instead? Or do you people walk around in shirts screaming "I'M GAY" all the time? Or is it written on your foreheads or something? Why allow that part of your personality refine who you are, when you could be so much more?

    And yeah, that blog is pretty hypocritical and nitpicky. I don't see its purpose, because - like you said - anyone can google those things.

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  11. I have enormous sympathy with your position here but at the same time, I'm kind of surprised by the strength of your reaction.
    The blog seems to be written by some rather condescending young people who have been brought up in the era of hysterical internet overreaction to every perceived slight or deviation from what they consider is acceptable.

    I personally hate the way the phrase 'political correctness' has been hijacked by many who actively wish to cause offence.
    There's absolutely nothing wrong with trying to address vulnerable people, those with disabilities or those in minorities in terms which are respectful and non threatening, but I despair of those who pounce on some ridiculously minor infringements as being a sign of an individual's latent hatefulness.

    I equally despair of a culture that has encouraged 'The Offended' to consider themselves as victims.
    In every walk of life, it's been those in minorities who ignored the put downs, ignored the hurt and carried on regardless who have made the most progress and changed the views of the majority. Institutional offence more often then not has the reverse effect of irritating the majority and causing even more division.

    This discussion has been focused on the issue of gender and sexuality, but I remember the first time I went to a Finntroll gig 12 years ago I noticed there wasn't one black or brown face in the audience. That had changed considerably by last year when I saw them in London. It was a gradual change, but some black dude must have been the first to say "What the hell? I can go to a metal gig if I want...."


    I'm pleased to see that you're a Stephen Fry fan, and hope that 'heavymetalqueen' is too, because the discussion reminded me greatly of a programme he did on how he could reconcile his own views as a gay man from a Hungarian Jewish background with his deep love of Wagner's music.

    Keep on doing what you're doing, and don't let other people's offence change it.
    Society, politics and the arts are being strangled by so many people treading on eggshells and playing it safe.
    We just need to be ourselves, live and let live and not be diminished by unfounded accusations and slurs.



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  12. The blog you link to, Henri, is an example of a mindset that's been pervading the US lately. I hope you'll keep in mind, as I'm sure you're well aware of, that it's not representative of all Americans. With that said, here's what I think the problem is.

    I think things are as extreme now with this whole sensitivity thing (and trust me, this over-sensitivity has become absurdly extreme) because of the way American media treats its own history. America doesn't have a lot of history, compared to most European nations, and its political alignment has been fairly stable throughout that time (No Nazi past to have to swallow and accept). Because of that, people have an extremely simplistic view of how other people's political views affect their overall being as a person. Communinsts? Horrible people in every way. Nazis? Nothing good happened in or came out of Nazi Germany in any way, people just sat a frowned the whole time. Before the American Revolution? Paul Revere was literally tortured every day under British rule.

    American movies are the best example of this. Look at ANY American movie was made in the last 20 years that takes place before 1965 and stars a white actor. There's almost always a scene in the first act of the movie that only exists to tell the audience that the main character isn't racist so they're allowed to like the character. In Gladiator, Maximus makes a black friend to tell the audience not to worry, THIS ancient Roman wasn't racist like all of the others. The movie Lawless with Shia LaBeouf and Tom Hardy takes place in a rural county in Virginia in 1931 (AKA lynch-city), and even though the movie has nothing to do with race relations at all, there's a scene where the main characters go to a black party to show that they get along with them and aren't racist because the audience would feel like they're not allowed to like them otherwise.

    The situation in America is that it's basically impossible for most people to realize that you're allowed to respect or praise someone who you disagree with politically. This leads to two things. The first is that we deify our historical icons beyond what's reasonable (People like to pretend that Thomas Jefferson wasn't probably very racist and homophobic because they don't know how else to respect his political ideas), the second is that we completely dismiss all of a historic figure's importance when we can't pretend he wasn't racist.

    More and more young Americans are finding it impossible (because of this whole bullshit over-sensitivity thing) to just accept that someone can make good music AND be racist, or Nazi, or homophobic, or sexually attracted to birds. Liking someone's music has NOTHING to do with agreeing with every single political agenda they have.

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  13. I agree with many comments here and am extremely pleased that the people participating are not taking any "black/ white"- stances on things but keeping the conversation rather constructive. And naturally, I´m glad that many people actually got my point about the "gay gamer"- thing like it was meant to be, rather than twisting my words deliberately into something they clearly weren´t intended to be.
    I have to give a special prize to Jack´s Big Trip, though, as the response actually managed to be one of the most neutral ones I´ve ever seen anywhere on a subject like this, while still having a ton to say.
    I got contacted by the original author of the text yesterday privately, and while I´m naturally not publishing here anything she wrote to me, I will quote myself on the issue of the difference being polite and being politically incorrect.

    "You asked me what´s wrong with political correctness. To be honest, quite a lot. You are unfortunately mixing it with politeness and discreetness, which are completely different things. Speech codes, as how I understand the term in a non- PC- environment are generally very orwellian way of perceiving the world, and the last thing I want to end up seeing is someone blaming me from "crimethinking" because of my opinions. As Orwell himself put it,

    "The purpose of Newspeak was not only to provide a medium of expression for the world-view and mental habits proper to the devotees...but to make all other modes of thought impossible."

    And in my opinion, I wish the have all the modes of thought possible, unlocked and without duckspeak.
    There is nothing wrong with being nice to people, but there is also something called "middle of the road", which you surely are aware of. As everything indeed is not only black or white, let´s have an example.
    "yeah, he´s that fat bastard over there" -> "it´s that large guy over there" -> "it´s the guy who looks a bit like this Italian opera singer Pava-something, that horizontally- gifted guy over there". (note the extra- positive association added on the last one to absolutely make sure that the guy is just AWESOME in our opinion). While most people, including me, would prefer the option in the middle, I personally find it extremely (pardon me) American way of saying things like the latter.
    To put it bluntly, we Europeans, especially Scandinavians aren´t used to sugar- coat everything and generally find it very awkward way of expressing ourselves. It´s not blunt, rude or unsophisticated- it´s a matter of cultural differencies. However, in the end, your society might be heading towards newspeak while mine still isn´t, and I´d like to consider myself as one of the torchbearers on the matter here. If you find that evil, please do. I find the opposite rather fascist, but maybe that´s just me.

    I´d like to quote Mike Myers (who I find fun and intelligent and have quite a respect for as well) on this matter between EU and US:
    "When you're writing these things, you're in a room making each other laugh, you really have very little sense of political correctness or incorrectness. This is a question that Europe tends to ask and America doesn't."


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  14. "Next time"

    I like the sound of that. So Lakupaavi has a future?

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  15. Also, there are lots of people in the US wearing Burzum shirts, and some of them aren't even metalheads. Maybe it's just because there's a good-sized ocean between us and Varg, but to see an American blogger complaining about Europeans (who are actual Burzum fans) wearing Burzum shirts just seems like Tumblr being Tumblr.

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  16. Thanks so much for the special prize!

    I wanted to keep it neutral because I think it's a discussion that goes way beyond the fangirl thing.

    I absolutely take your point about the grey areas of Newspeak. I'm old enough to remember the days when using derogatory terms for minorities was just the commonplace and accepted thing to do and by and large, I'm glad those days have gone. But I also believe danger exists in going too far down that line.
    Perhaps even the minorities themselves are beginning to see that. Words like queer, nigger and cripple are used amongst the the people within those communities, and that's fine, but I'd feel very uncomfortable if say, politicians started using them.

    Anyway, the real point of this post, and the one that has had me chuckling to myself since I noticed it, is that heavymetalqueen, self appointed judge of which garments are acceptable and which are hurtful or hateful appears on her twitter profile wearing a tshirt emblazoned with the word 'MAFIA'.

    Perhaps someone would be kind enough to direct her to a website for bereaved and orphaned Sicilians.
    ;-)

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  17. Come on, so much discussion over nothing. A band shirt is a band shirt, so what? It doesn't say: I agree with Vargsmål and everything Varg has thought, does think and will ever-ever think. It says: I like the tunes. End of story.

    It would be cool not to mix up the everyday complex & hard gay life in the issue of someone wearing a band shirt. Though it sometimes seems that people can't help with it.

    And let me surprise all the readers: being a gay metal fan you could come to Russia to visit the gigs. Yes, we have a redhead religious freak Milonov with all his laws (and no one punished yet with these laws), but he's not attending metal shows. Other metalheads may smile or frown, but it would be perfectly safe and sound in the crowd unless you're having sex at the dancefloor (which is probably not the reason you're coming to a metal gig) xD

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  18. P.S. It sounded as if I'm gay myself - I'm not, but I know the mood and the attitude of a metal community.

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