On Scoop today,
Gordon Campbell has an article up about the controversy surrounding the now withdrawn invitation for the Jamaican Dancehall musician Beenie Man to perform at the Big Day Out this year.
By in large I think the right result has been reached. While Beenie Man appears to have promised to not perform homophobic material in his shows, I really have no problem with the organisers of the Big Day Out deciding that he isn't really worth the trouble.
However, I do want to respond to the comparison Gordon Campbell makes between this controversey and the situations of Eminem and Ice T, who stirred up comparable controverseys.
Campbell suggests that the latter two have received a pass where Beenie Man hasn't. He implies that the reason may be that Eminem and Ice T are more successful, and that the likes of Elton John, a gay man who defended Eminem, don't want to appear uncool.
However, there is a simpler explanation. While the situations between these three artists appear similar, the reality is that Ice T and Eminem are complex artists that use characterisation and mask play to make wider political or satirical points, whereas Beenie Man's hate lyrics appear to be heartfelt, and use a religious basis as an appeal to authority.
Consider the Eminem quote that Campbell uses, and compare it to the Beenie man quotes given. The difference between them is that the Eminem quote is about language, whereas Beenie Man's is presented as his opinion, however exaggerated. Throughout the entire album the Eminem quote is taken from, everything said turns in on itself and disappears down a trap door of self referentiality. If you are asked to take that quote straight, you are also forced to accept that Slim Shady (Eminem's alter ego) intends to personally kill you, me, and every other member of his potential audience, as he says he will at the start.
I have plenty of sympathy for people who would prefer not to listen to these lyrics and others of Eminem's (or Ice T's "Cop Killer"). But to state that either Eminem or Ice T advocate what their songs portray is factually wrong.
So let's give Elton John a bit more credit. His stated reason for supporting Eminem at the time was that he was a fan of British comedy and knew satire when he heard it. Rare among critics at the time, he understood that Eminem is (or was at the time) a comic artist, black, complex, disturbing but exceptionall clever and more than he appeared to his critics.
Whereas, as far as I can tell, Beenie Man and his ilk justify their homophobia because they come from a religious culture that frowns upon homosexuality. It isn't satire but reactionary agitprop.
