Just Sing Already
link Black Eyed Peas a glittering bore at Super Bowl – Soundcheck – The Orange County Register.
It’s a revelation to see that others are just noticing for the first time what has been in front of them from the outset. The Black Eyed Peas are vastly overrated. Sure they had a hit or two a while ago, but as entertainment, the sell by date happened shortly thereafter. However, the point here is not to diss the group. I’ll candidly admit that I”m not the demographic that they play to.
The issue is the tiresome way in which ‘artistes’ feel compelled to make political commentary to a captive audience without their consent. It’s as if there’s a clause in their contract somewhere that they have to slide in some message as a means of legitimizing their position as cultural spokesmen rather than simply being the hired entertainment. What if you hired a clown for your children’s birthday party and he slipped in a message mid-juggle about global warming or comment on the middle east? The most famous recent crooner to incorporate politics into his act is of course, Bono. No one can escape his ‘events’ without being lectured about world hunger or world peace. This annoyance is practiced by many acts from Cher at one end to the likes of Elton John and the Eagles at the other end. The most famous recent example of this was the formerly popular group, The Dixie Chicks when one of them very publicly insulted a sitting president. They feel compelled to use their platform as entertainers to push whatever political or social message they happen to champion. There are venues for this: write an editorial to the New York Times; go on Letterman. It does not say on the handbills advertising their concert, “Performing their greatest hits and views on child poverty!”. People pay to see their prodigious singing talent, not a musical version of Hardball with Chris Matthews.
At the Superbowl halftime, while melifluously belting out her catchy tunes, Fergie skillfully slipped in a message to President Obama,
‘…Obama, let’s get these kids educated / Create jobs so the country stays stimulated…’
Like most messages from liberal entertainers, this one, while sounding positive is actually negative. The notion that it is up to political leaders to educate children falls into the same overflowing bin as all of the other delusional liberal ideas. It is not the government’s job to look after every aspect of our lives. In this case, the responsibility for children’s education lies squarely with parents, not with the state and not with the President. Adults generally would know this, but the impressionable minds of the audience that The Peas may cater to will absorb the idea that “it’s the government’s job”, serving to indoctrinate another generation of entitlement sheep. Thankfully, it’s likely nobody picked up this little social message because of the general cacophony of noise in the stadium.
How about they just stick to the advice offered by the title of the last Dixie Chicks’ album; Shut Up and Sing.