when two musicians sing into the same microphone and lean in very close to each other… like omg are you guys gonna kiss now to relieve the homoerotic tension?😳
THIS IS NOT ABOUT ONE DIRECTION I DON’T KNOW WHO THIS “HARRY” PERSON IS GO WATCH BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND CLARENCE CLEMONS KISS ON STAGE RIGHT NOW
op is the only valid person i’ve ever met. everyone else needs to come to the light
Okay, but this is really important: Bruce Springsteen occupied this really weird place in music history. His songs were all from this pessimistic, nihilistic view of an America that had let him down:
Just like the anti-Vietnam War protest songs that we associate with the 1960s, or the early nihilism that spawned punk music in the 1970s. But he didn’t *sound* like a punk anarchist; he sounded like a country rock singer. When he released Born in the U.S.A. people completely misinterpreted (or possibly ignored) the lyrics in favor of the tone of the music.
Politicians used his music to promote their ‘Murica Yes! brand, and he had to literally explain that that was not what he was about. He’s over here asking when we’re going to have jobs and heathcare, not stanning the politicians who weren’t helping the people.
It was also kind of a big deal that he had an integrated band, because even as late as the 1980s music was still kind of segregated and MTV was straight up racist. They refused to play and promote black artists and then claimed that were no black artists in the first place. Michael Jackson’s record company had to threaten a boycott of their white artists to get MTV to play his Thriller video.
Plus, the first black/white interracial kiss on TV was in 1968 (OG Star Trek). Also it took us until the 70s to get sympathetic gay characters on screen, and the 90s to get gay characters to kiss onscreen. And all of those firsts were met with outrage.
So keep that in mind when you see Bruce Springsteen not just playing with an interracial band, but engaging in an interracial, gay kiss on stage repeatedly.
Passages from American Popular Music by Larry Starr and Christopher Waterman
I used to think that Bruce and Clarence kissing onstage was exuberance, showmanship, and telling racist homophobes to fuck off. Like, they picked up a certain kind of audience and went “Racist homophobes? Not in our house!” And started the kissing then but then I actually looked it up and
It was a story where… we remade the city. We remade the city, shaping it into the kind of place where our friendship and our love for one another wouldn’t have been such an exceptional thing. - Bruce Springsteen
It wasn’t about showmanship or rejecting bigots or anything it was just. Damn right that was one of the loves of his life and damn right he was going to kiss him onstage
It gets me a little that Bruce has had a divorce, that he’s been married twice, but he loved Clarence for the rest of Clarence’s life and will presumably love him the rest of his own
Clemons said in one interview. “Bruce and I looked at each other and didn’t say anything, we just knew. We knew we were the missing links in each other’s lives. He was what I’d been searching for.” In another version of the story, Clemons says “He looked at me, and I looked at him, and we fell in love.”
I’m having some emotions about it!
“He was elemental in my life,“ Springsteen adds, “and losing him was like losing the rain.”
Not just! I love you pure and deep and true but! I am going to love you like that in front of the whole damn world!
We have fewer narratives about taking risks and making statements for platonic love rather than romantic and supposedly it would be easier to downplay this onstage than romance and! They refused! They fucking refused! In front of hundreds of thousands of people, over the course of years! In the spotlight, in word and deed, I love you!
hey netizens! i’m not sure how many people are aware, but youtube’s been slowly rolling out a new anti-adblock policy that can’t be bypassed with the usual software like uBlock Origin and Pi-Hole out of the gate
BUT, if you’re a uBlock Origin user (or use an adblocker with a similar cosmetics modifier), you can add these commands in the uBlock dashboard (under My Filters) to get rid of it!
I don’t think saying “why would any adult want to be friends with a kid? What could they possibly have in common?” Is helpful when talking about concerns about grooming
Not only because cross generational relationships are not inherently bad or predatory
(the one bad example I gave on my other post doesn’t cancel out all the really wonderful adults who made me feel safe as a teenager)
But because it’s disingenuous
What could an adult possibly have in common with a teenager?
Well:
They like the same shows
The same music
The same books
The same YouTubers
They do the same crafts
Art styles
Other hobbies
They do the same sport (archery, martial arts, etc)
It’s not bad to be friendly and have friendships with people who share your interests and hobbies even if they are in another generation
Thats how skills get passed on to new generations. This is a positive thing!
But that’s also the reason this:
“why would any adult want to be friends with a kid? What could they possibly have in common?”
Isn’t helpful
Because kids know what they have in common with the adult they are friends with so it must be a combination of common interest + they ARE as mature as their new friend says and it all feeds into the grooming talk the adult is using on them
Most of the adults who have friendships with teens are very aware that they are adults and have a firm line that they will not cross and will in fact tell the kids how to protect themselves better. These are adults to choose to engage with teens to teach and be friends in the very careful distant way that you are with somebody else’s child. They are there to have fun, impart some wisdom, and feel like a proud mentor and make sure everyone is safe.
Not to say the teens are lesser as the learning goes both ways. Teens are young but there is a saying about fresh eyes being helpful. Kids are not stupid and I have learned a lot from just my teenager. Teens are worth listening to
In those friendships the adult has a responsibility but they can be a vital resource and help for teens who aren’t getting any support from home
(there are also adults who are not choosing to engage with you and you can’t be angry at people swearing and telling raunchy jokes at their table that you weren’t invited to when you’re the one who walked over and they already told you to go away. And sometimes the Mentor/Friend person will be at that table and tell you to go away as well and you need to listen.)
But the ones who are shady can easily counteract that message because they are in private messages talking about things they absolutely shouldn’t and then saying how mature you are to prevent you from expressing how uncomfortable you are
They will keep pressing your boundaries to make you give me and they will encourage you to keep it a secret
Teenagers
It’s not bad to have friends who are adults and it is perfectly ok to have people older than you in your life. You add value to these relationships and it’s good for both generations to communicate and learn from each other
But: if someone is telling you deeply personal intimate stuff that makes you uncomfortable or asks you questions about your body or sex life but you don’t feel able to tell them that, or suggest you keep the friendship or chats a secret and go on to praise your maturity - that’s not okay
That’s shady as hell
A real friend whose an adult will keep things in the open and would never suggest you keep your chats secret and if they did say something to make you uncomfortable (we’re all fallible) they will apologise and make sure to not do that in the future. But they have to actually not do it in the future
its midnight here so ill reiterate for myself that you can literally think whatever you want and it will have no tangible effect anywhere outside of your own head. you can hold your baby, think about throwing her against the wall, and your baby will still be alive. you can think about heinous sex crimes around your friends and it literally won’t ever matter. many thoughts head at capacity