This Christmas has seen two seasonal classics threatened with being taken off the radio. In the wake of the "Me Too" movement, political correctness has taken a somewhat extreme turn and a bizarre form of fascism appears to be policing the music and film industries, restraining the zeitgeist.
The first to fall victim was The Pogues and Kirsty Macoll's Fairytale of New York, widely regarded as the best Christmas song in existence. The word 'faggot' is not a term of which I condone the use, nor the connotations, don't misunderstand, but it has to be looked at in the correct context. The song features a couple having a vicious domestic dispute, exchanging assorted colourful insults in a bright and happy major key to underpin the lack of seriousness in the situation. Obviously the use of the word (and other rather potent words used in the song) is to illustrate the nature of the characters in the story. These characters are bad people; generally unethical, offensive and ignorant. Hearing an offensive word in a context such as this doesn't necessarily make the song offensive in of itself.
The second song being attacked by political correctness fanatics is Frank Loesser's 1944 classic Baby It's Cold Outside. Again, the original intended context is vital to the process of deciding whether or not this song could be deemed offensive. It can appear that the male character in the story is being particularly pushy and possibly predatory. He is giving his female guest excuses to stay the night. The strings that attach this piece of music to any kind of offence appear extremely tenuous once one understands the context of the story.
Firstly, consider that the female character does not want to leave, she wants to stay the night, but because of the societal pressure she faces with regards to potential promiscuity, the year being 1944, she doesn't feel that she can. The male character doesn't face the same societal pressure and therefore, is free to ask his lady visitor to stay. Although he appears to be pushy, the intention of the song was not to give the impression that there is any lack of consent. Secondly, the line concerning people the most is "say, what's in this drink", a joke commonly used in films at the time when a character blames an indiscretion on the effects of alcohol. It has nothing to do with her drink being spiked.
The mistake most often seen in the wake of the "Me Too" movement is that people tend to jump to pre-emptive conclusions assuming something is offensive without making the effort to think about the context, particularly in a day and age where somehow songs with severely offensive messages are slipping through the net and making millions. Remember that this same generation praised Fifty Shades of Gray claiming it "empowers" women to see a fairly pathetic girl involved in a dangerously controlling relationship with a sociopathic sexual predator. When it comes to taking offence, maybe we as a generation should reorder our priorities.
The first to fall victim was The Pogues and Kirsty Macoll's Fairytale of New York, widely regarded as the best Christmas song in existence. The word 'faggot' is not a term of which I condone the use, nor the connotations, don't misunderstand, but it has to be looked at in the correct context. The song features a couple having a vicious domestic dispute, exchanging assorted colourful insults in a bright and happy major key to underpin the lack of seriousness in the situation. Obviously the use of the word (and other rather potent words used in the song) is to illustrate the nature of the characters in the story. These characters are bad people; generally unethical, offensive and ignorant. Hearing an offensive word in a context such as this doesn't necessarily make the song offensive in of itself.
The second song being attacked by political correctness fanatics is Frank Loesser's 1944 classic Baby It's Cold Outside. Again, the original intended context is vital to the process of deciding whether or not this song could be deemed offensive. It can appear that the male character in the story is being particularly pushy and possibly predatory. He is giving his female guest excuses to stay the night. The strings that attach this piece of music to any kind of offence appear extremely tenuous once one understands the context of the story.
Firstly, consider that the female character does not want to leave, she wants to stay the night, but because of the societal pressure she faces with regards to potential promiscuity, the year being 1944, she doesn't feel that she can. The male character doesn't face the same societal pressure and therefore, is free to ask his lady visitor to stay. Although he appears to be pushy, the intention of the song was not to give the impression that there is any lack of consent. Secondly, the line concerning people the most is "say, what's in this drink", a joke commonly used in films at the time when a character blames an indiscretion on the effects of alcohol. It has nothing to do with her drink being spiked.
The mistake most often seen in the wake of the "Me Too" movement is that people tend to jump to pre-emptive conclusions assuming something is offensive without making the effort to think about the context, particularly in a day and age where somehow songs with severely offensive messages are slipping through the net and making millions. Remember that this same generation praised Fifty Shades of Gray claiming it "empowers" women to see a fairly pathetic girl involved in a dangerously controlling relationship with a sociopathic sexual predator. When it comes to taking offence, maybe we as a generation should reorder our priorities.
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