> I know that most of you forum regulars don't much
> care for rap as an art form or musical genre, but
> it is really quite prominent in America, for you
> non-US guys. Radio, being as public as it is, is
> censored for language content, as it should be.
> The f-word, the s-word, and other like obscenities
> are blanked or beeped out. But lately, like in
> the past few months, I've been noticing certain
> other words being blanked out:
> "Sawed off shotgun, hand on the pump..." THe
> shotgun part was blanked out.
>
> "....With a can full of gas and a hand full of
> matches...." The edited version was this "With a
> __________ and a ______________....."
>
> Okay. With Columbine and Arkansas and other such
> incidents still weighing heavily on our minds, I
> can understand the attempt to decrease violence in
> society. But my question is, is this butchering
> of songs on the radio really going to do it? I
> suppose a more broad question would be What should
> we as a society target as a main problem in terms
> of causing violence? Because I haven't gotten any
> messages about drugs or violence from the rap I
> listen to, even though some of it is really
> hardcore and talks only about drugs and killing.
> So basically I wonder if this radio editing is
> really the right way to go.


Today we heard a speaker, and he talked about teens, growing up, influences and such. Listening to him, I realize that of course the NRA, the media, the lyrics in songs, the 10 o'clock news have nothing to do with the Columbine incident. It should be obvious that a huge part of what drove the two boys to do what they did was just simple teasing, plain ridicule. What's the object of high school? It's not test scores. It's to fit in. To be poplular. And the killers weren't popular. It seems such a small thing, teasing. I do it to my brother all the time. But over a long time, it builds up. Like that torture that involves water dropping on one's head. It doesn't do much as one, but after a while, it really hurts.

Finchplucker