An Obsidian Potency P.S.A.: Making Distinctions

DATE: 04/09/2003 01:57:42 PM
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"This is another public service announcement, brought to you in part...by Obsidian Potency."

Apparently, I touched a few nerves through several of my more recent posts, in which I debated the merits and flaws of different musical forms and songs.  And I think I've finally figured out why.

In the last few posts, I mentioned (among many other things) that I didn't like one song by The Verve, that I hated a song by Creed, and even that I (gasp!) liked a song by Creed. Inexplicably, those statements turned into a debate about The Verve as a band, and Creed's value as a band.  

I know this, because one person responded to me by saying that they 'owned Verve albums,' and a couple of people implied (or outright stated) that Creed 'sucks' -- even though these points had nothing to do with anything I said.  If the comments had been made in a vacuum, it would have been one thing - but they were obviously made in response to certain subjects I brought up, and even targeted me in particular.  And even after I (re-)explained my true point, and asked a refined question, the erroneous assumptions continued to be harped upon.

This is akin to someone claiming that you can't 'support the troops' if you don't support the war in Iraq.  Again, I am not saying how I feel about the war!  I'm just making a point.  It's also akin to saying you feel threatened by someone, even though they haven't said or done anything explicit to make you feel that way.

Let's all remember that it is usually (but not always!) possible to distinguish between an art form and its followers, between a viewpoint and a political philosophy.  There is a difference between being angry at a situation, and being angry at a person.  Finally, there is a difference between a single song, a performer's entire catalog, and everything in that musician's genre.  If someone says they don't like Ja Rule, that is very different from saying they don't like rap music.  If someone says they don't like "Yellow", that is different from saying they hate Coldplay, rock n' roll and all things British.  

In short, let's all remember to make distinctions.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: jide
URL:
DATE: 04/09/2003 04:12:41 PM
Oh, and Ashley - contrary to "Negro Assassin"'s belief, this is still *my* site. So if I sometimes want to talk about inventing Street Fighter moves for rappers in a video game, then I guess that's the stupid shit we'll talk about sometimes.  
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: jide
URL:
DATE: 04/09/2003 03:28:10 PM
Yo...who the fuck are you?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: negro assassin
URL:
DATE: 04/09/2003 03:19:06 PM
are you some blind-ass bitch?!  read the latest shit!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Ashley
URL:
DATE: 04/09/2003 03:09:44 PM
Thank you for the lesson. Now can we pleeeease talk about something else?! =)
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