There is very little to say about the following video that is not blatantly obvious to anyone with half an ounce of compassion. Once again, vicious Right has created an artifact that will remind people 30 years from now that even in 2009, some people still advocated withholding basic rights from individuals based on nothing more than sexual orientation. And they were not above exploiting children--ironically, the "safety" of children is one of the most used (and repugnant) arguments against granting gays' rights--to advance their message of intolerance and fear.
In regards to that last line--you know what else confuses kids? Airplanes. Microwaves. Representative democracy. Body parts that belong to someone of the opposite sex. Getting grounded.
So, now, after a moment of reflection, I think this video makes a good point. We should restructure the world so that everything makes immediate sense to a 4 year old, and never ask him or her to "learn" things. No more technology, whatever Mommy or Daddy (or the President or King) says is true, and no looking at anybody else's body under any circumstances or else you're grounded in Cuba for the rest of your child-like adult life.
(Additionally, the hateful philosophy that drives an Ad like this one offers no comfort to a kid who is confused about his or her sexual identity or orientation. If they're so concerned--they're not--about kids growing up confused about sexuality, oh, I don't know, how about implementing an intelligent sex ed policy for adolescents.)
As an antidote to the above video, I present a different one below. There is maybe some tangential point to be made here, that this song explores the inherent difficulties of adult relationships without having lunatic right-wingers involve themselves in your personal business, but, really, it's just a great song.
It's called Autoclave, and it's by The Mountain Goats. Just heard it for the first time recently, and it is fantastic. FYI, an autoclave is a device used to sterilize medical equipment in preparation for surgery. It kills bacteria by subjecting the instruments to extremely high pressure and temperatures, a process so poetic I can't believe this machine hasn't shown up as a metaphor in anything else I've ever heard. For a short explanation of the song by the songwriter, click here.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
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1 comment:
Nice post. The awful thing about this is that people on the proverbial fence with limited access and interest in getting to the facts will not be able to see past the cute kids to see what an exploitative and nonsensical video this is. This is something that NOM and other like-minded groups are fully aware of and use to their advantage to garner support.
ps. As a scientist, I really liked your image of the autoclave as poetic.
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