Post by RS Davis on Apr 24, 2004 10:18:28 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]P. Gardner Goldsmith Wrote:[/glow] In February, Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake famously gave the world a new perspective on the term "pop music." During the Superbowl half-time show, Timberlake grabbed the right bra cup of Jackson's leather outfit, and exposed her breast to the world. In more ways than one, it was probably the most exposure Jackson had gotten for a performance in years.
Apart from the fact that it was a crude, transparent gimmick by an ageing pop singer—a ploy to attract attention to herself the day prior to the release of a single—it was also an attempt to appear relevant to a younger audience. Like Madonna's antics with Britney Spears on the MTV Music Awards, the display of such low, debased behavior did more to make her look desperate for attention than it did to reinforce her image as a rebel.
And it did something else. It got the public, particularly conservative commentators, very upset. Demanding that the Federal Communications Commission finally enforce its standards regarding "decency" on the airwaves, many radio hosts and writers exhorted their listeners and readers to call the FCC and lodge complaints. This has worked to reinforce the legitimacy of the FCC, a federal body the existence of which stretches the meaning of the interstate commerce clause of the Constitution, and contradicts the First Amendment dictum that "Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech."
Apart from the fact that it was a crude, transparent gimmick by an ageing pop singer—a ploy to attract attention to herself the day prior to the release of a single—it was also an attempt to appear relevant to a younger audience. Like Madonna's antics with Britney Spears on the MTV Music Awards, the display of such low, debased behavior did more to make her look desperate for attention than it did to reinforce her image as a rebel.
And it did something else. It got the public, particularly conservative commentators, very upset. Demanding that the Federal Communications Commission finally enforce its standards regarding "decency" on the airwaves, many radio hosts and writers exhorted their listeners and readers to call the FCC and lodge complaints. This has worked to reinforce the legitimacy of the FCC, a federal body the existence of which stretches the meaning of the interstate commerce clause of the Constitution, and contradicts the First Amendment dictum that "Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech."
