Festival of Dangerous Ideas - Public Speaking competition
Had I known about this, I would have stepped up to the plate and participated in this. And yes, I will bring music into the debate, especially heavy metal. For instance, is heavy metal really 'dangerous'? Or is the 'phobia' of the music, the bands and its fans justified because of the 'misdeeds' of a few (like the Night Stalker or the Columbine Massacres)? Or is it because of the 'rude' words and concepts which 'offend the sensibilities' of other people who are not fans?
For most fans and people who understand heavy metal, the music, themes, visual effects and lyrics rarely shy away from the 'dark side' of society and 'humankind'. But for those who don't understand, the themes portrayed via the lyrics and imagery in this genre, it can represent ideas and themes which can be considered 'dangerous' to the the listeners themselves and to the broader community.
Hence, like any other art form, it can be 'dangerous'. is full of 'dangerous' ideas. All art forms also have their own physical hazards as well. For instance, nowadays, we don't 'ban' oil paintings, drawing and other 'visual' art forms because some famous artists do pictures of naked people. The oil painting, for instance, is just another vehicle for self expression (even though it may have it's own health and safety hazards, like breathing in paint fumes etc). And we don't ban movies, videos or TV in general just because some of them have naughty bits in them, or violence, or gore etc (and watching too much TV is not always good for our eyes). And we don't ban the ballet either, even though the dancers wear revealing clothes and face the possibility of sustaining an injury on the job.
Music in general, and 'modern' music in particular, has it's own immediate and physical dangers - people who perform and attend live concerts face the possibilty of experiencing hearing loss. But that can also happen if one plays the music loudly through their earphones. It can keep people awake when played loudly through the speakers (and deprive them of their sleep if and when they are trying to sleep), affect the concentration of those who don't want to listen to it, and when this problem continues, it can become a source of conflict when there are complaints of 'noise pollution'. And this can happen, regardless of the music genre played.
Heavy metal and hard rock, in particular, have their own dangers also: People who attend and perform live gigs, where the music is at least 90-100 decibels (or even louder), run the risk of sustaining hearing loss more than those who don't perform or attend live gigs (especially if they are too close to a speaker stack).
Take the band, Manowar. I heard, in an ad for some European alcoholic beverage, that Manowar (one of my favourite heavy metal bands, and a power metal band at that) were the *loudest* band on record. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember the ad stating that they made it into the Guinness Book of Records as being the Loudest Band Ever at 130 decibels (in the past, it was The Who, then Deep Purple, then AC/DC, and many other bands over the last few decades since the 1960s). Manowar has supassed them all.
And, like many of their cohorts (like Kiss or Judas Priest for instance, or many of the numerous Power and Thrash metal bands that exist right now), they also utilize many visual effects in their stage acts - pyrotechnics, large speakers, sophisticated lighting and modern instruments. Their image is powerful - the band consists of four very muscular and physically fit males, who eptomize male 'metalheads' everywhere with their long hair and tight, leather clothing (or items of clothing which reveal large amounts of hairy male flesh!!!). This image is intimidating to anyone who is scared of it and is very primal and 'viking like' in it's nature.
The tempo of the music can either be very fast and thrashy (eg Sign of the Hammer), slow and dirge like ('Hatred' from Into Glory Ride), or melodic, as in a power ballad (a number of tracks from a more recent release, Warriors of the World, especially the sixth track called An American Trilogy). And, very specifically, their lyrics are very macho - they sing about war and bravery, violence, and sometimes about women (and not always in a very 'nice' or gentlemanly way either). But it doesn't mean they can't ever be sentimental about anything (like that 'American Trilogy track I mentioned before). And there are many Metal and Rock anthems present in all their albums.
And through the various tempos and types of thems and references in the lyrics, the band is capable of portraying a variety of emotions (and tapping into the emotions of their listeners). They take one's mind on a journey to a time and place with Vikings, dragons, fire, mountains etc. Everytime I listen to them, I picture a movie like Conan the Barbarian in my mind - hence, it is a bit like watching a 'viking' or 'gladiator' movie without actually watching it.
But their 'power' doesn't exempt them from the 'tall poppy' syndrome either, and they have had their fair share of 'scorn' or contempt from naysayers. Some of their albums have been 'stickered' (ie had 'Parental Advisory' or 'Warning Labels' placed on the outside covers), and they have made it to the Apia/Amra list (Australia's 'censorship' authority). Obviously, someone brought it to the Authority's attention that there may be 'explicit lyrics' present. And their album, Fighting the World, attracted controversey when there was a poster depicting some scantily clad 'wenches' inside the album cover. Apparently, the poster was 'banned' and not only depicted women which were not only showing lots of flesh, but were also heavily 'subordinated', in chains and grovelling about in the dirt.
Hence, they would not only attract contempt from the religious, the PMRC and the political 'right' but also left wing groups like feminists (who claim that if women are depicted at all, they are subordinated) or animal lovers (because they wear lots of 'animal skins' and leather).
Anyone who has listened to alot of power metal bands will know that - love them or hate them - Manowar are a force to be reaconed with and many people have good reason to be 'afraid' or 'in awe' of them. And even though they are an extremely powerful band, they are just one of *many* bands that have existed under the 'umbrella' of Heavy Metal and Hard Rock.
But how 'dangerous' are the band or their ideas really? What is the proportion of heavy metal fans who listen to Manowar to that of those who listen to other bands or sub-genres exactly? And, if you to add up all the 'crimes' (especially the violent and sex crimes) people have committed (and police have recorded) since the beginning of time, or police or criminal statistics, exactly what percentage (or how many) people who have committed (or were accused of committing) these crimes, that actually listen to heavy metal on a regular basis? Or, more specifically, how many murderers and/or rapists have actually heard at least one or two heavy metal songs?
And even if, and when, heavy metal fans do commit violent or sex offences, we have to ask what other factors should be taken into account: the lifestyles of these people (eg drinking and drug habits for instance), their pre-existing attitudes towards other people (including women), their upbringing (were they taught to respect, or disrespect, women) and so forth. Please bear in mind that many countries where there is war, terrorism and (more specifically) rape, there aren't too many heavy metal bands. And most women who are victims of male violence don't necessarily listen to Metal or rock bands either.
Or even they don't specifically committ these offences, but behave objectionably in some way or another, we have to ask whether this behaviour is related to heavy metal music in particular and how it can be a cause (or an effect) of this behaviour. For instance, if someone expresses 'negative' thoughts or writes 'negative' lyrics, has anyone asked where it came from, instead of saying that headbangers are naturally 'negative' people. Are they not capable of looking after themselves, or caring for others? Or of 'doing the right thing' morally? Whatever happened to 'seeing good in everyone'?
Of course, heavy metal is a 'tough' music genre, but it does have it's 'tender' side; and it may express the 'dark side' but also the 'positive side' of life as well. As long as the music and lyrics are percieved as dangerous, then they will be considered as 'dangerous' for some time. To me, heavy metal, as a genre, is just another 'vehicle' for self expression, and can convey any type of idea, as can any other art form. But we don't ban every other art form just because it expresses ideas that any 'naysayers' consider as 'dangerous', So why should Heavy Metal be banned?
For most fans and people who understand heavy metal, the music, themes, visual effects and lyrics rarely shy away from the 'dark side' of society and 'humankind'. But for those who don't understand, the themes portrayed via the lyrics and imagery in this genre, it can represent ideas and themes which can be considered 'dangerous' to the the listeners themselves and to the broader community.
Hence, like any other art form, it can be 'dangerous'. is full of 'dangerous' ideas. All art forms also have their own physical hazards as well. For instance, nowadays, we don't 'ban' oil paintings, drawing and other 'visual' art forms because some famous artists do pictures of naked people. The oil painting, for instance, is just another vehicle for self expression (even though it may have it's own health and safety hazards, like breathing in paint fumes etc). And we don't ban movies, videos or TV in general just because some of them have naughty bits in them, or violence, or gore etc (and watching too much TV is not always good for our eyes). And we don't ban the ballet either, even though the dancers wear revealing clothes and face the possibility of sustaining an injury on the job.
Music in general, and 'modern' music in particular, has it's own immediate and physical dangers - people who perform and attend live concerts face the possibilty of experiencing hearing loss. But that can also happen if one plays the music loudly through their earphones. It can keep people awake when played loudly through the speakers (and deprive them of their sleep if and when they are trying to sleep), affect the concentration of those who don't want to listen to it, and when this problem continues, it can become a source of conflict when there are complaints of 'noise pollution'. And this can happen, regardless of the music genre played.
Heavy metal and hard rock, in particular, have their own dangers also: People who attend and perform live gigs, where the music is at least 90-100 decibels (or even louder), run the risk of sustaining hearing loss more than those who don't perform or attend live gigs (especially if they are too close to a speaker stack).
Take the band, Manowar. I heard, in an ad for some European alcoholic beverage, that Manowar (one of my favourite heavy metal bands, and a power metal band at that) were the *loudest* band on record. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember the ad stating that they made it into the Guinness Book of Records as being the Loudest Band Ever at 130 decibels (in the past, it was The Who, then Deep Purple, then AC/DC, and many other bands over the last few decades since the 1960s). Manowar has supassed them all.
And, like many of their cohorts (like Kiss or Judas Priest for instance, or many of the numerous Power and Thrash metal bands that exist right now), they also utilize many visual effects in their stage acts - pyrotechnics, large speakers, sophisticated lighting and modern instruments. Their image is powerful - the band consists of four very muscular and physically fit males, who eptomize male 'metalheads' everywhere with their long hair and tight, leather clothing (or items of clothing which reveal large amounts of hairy male flesh!!!). This image is intimidating to anyone who is scared of it and is very primal and 'viking like' in it's nature.
The tempo of the music can either be very fast and thrashy (eg Sign of the Hammer), slow and dirge like ('Hatred' from Into Glory Ride), or melodic, as in a power ballad (a number of tracks from a more recent release, Warriors of the World, especially the sixth track called An American Trilogy). And, very specifically, their lyrics are very macho - they sing about war and bravery, violence, and sometimes about women (and not always in a very 'nice' or gentlemanly way either). But it doesn't mean they can't ever be sentimental about anything (like that 'American Trilogy track I mentioned before). And there are many Metal and Rock anthems present in all their albums.
And through the various tempos and types of thems and references in the lyrics, the band is capable of portraying a variety of emotions (and tapping into the emotions of their listeners). They take one's mind on a journey to a time and place with Vikings, dragons, fire, mountains etc. Everytime I listen to them, I picture a movie like Conan the Barbarian in my mind - hence, it is a bit like watching a 'viking' or 'gladiator' movie without actually watching it.
But their 'power' doesn't exempt them from the 'tall poppy' syndrome either, and they have had their fair share of 'scorn' or contempt from naysayers. Some of their albums have been 'stickered' (ie had 'Parental Advisory' or 'Warning Labels' placed on the outside covers), and they have made it to the Apia/Amra list (Australia's 'censorship' authority). Obviously, someone brought it to the Authority's attention that there may be 'explicit lyrics' present. And their album, Fighting the World, attracted controversey when there was a poster depicting some scantily clad 'wenches' inside the album cover. Apparently, the poster was 'banned' and not only depicted women which were not only showing lots of flesh, but were also heavily 'subordinated', in chains and grovelling about in the dirt.
Hence, they would not only attract contempt from the religious, the PMRC and the political 'right' but also left wing groups like feminists (who claim that if women are depicted at all, they are subordinated) or animal lovers (because they wear lots of 'animal skins' and leather).
Anyone who has listened to alot of power metal bands will know that - love them or hate them - Manowar are a force to be reaconed with and many people have good reason to be 'afraid' or 'in awe' of them. And even though they are an extremely powerful band, they are just one of *many* bands that have existed under the 'umbrella' of Heavy Metal and Hard Rock.
But how 'dangerous' are the band or their ideas really? What is the proportion of heavy metal fans who listen to Manowar to that of those who listen to other bands or sub-genres exactly? And, if you to add up all the 'crimes' (especially the violent and sex crimes) people have committed (and police have recorded) since the beginning of time, or police or criminal statistics, exactly what percentage (or how many) people who have committed (or were accused of committing) these crimes, that actually listen to heavy metal on a regular basis? Or, more specifically, how many murderers and/or rapists have actually heard at least one or two heavy metal songs?
And even if, and when, heavy metal fans do commit violent or sex offences, we have to ask what other factors should be taken into account: the lifestyles of these people (eg drinking and drug habits for instance), their pre-existing attitudes towards other people (including women), their upbringing (were they taught to respect, or disrespect, women) and so forth. Please bear in mind that many countries where there is war, terrorism and (more specifically) rape, there aren't too many heavy metal bands. And most women who are victims of male violence don't necessarily listen to Metal or rock bands either.
Or even they don't specifically committ these offences, but behave objectionably in some way or another, we have to ask whether this behaviour is related to heavy metal music in particular and how it can be a cause (or an effect) of this behaviour. For instance, if someone expresses 'negative' thoughts or writes 'negative' lyrics, has anyone asked where it came from, instead of saying that headbangers are naturally 'negative' people. Are they not capable of looking after themselves, or caring for others? Or of 'doing the right thing' morally? Whatever happened to 'seeing good in everyone'?
Of course, heavy metal is a 'tough' music genre, but it does have it's 'tender' side; and it may express the 'dark side' but also the 'positive side' of life as well. As long as the music and lyrics are percieved as dangerous, then they will be considered as 'dangerous' for some time. To me, heavy metal, as a genre, is just another 'vehicle' for self expression, and can convey any type of idea, as can any other art form. But we don't ban every other art form just because it expresses ideas that any 'naysayers' consider as 'dangerous', So why should Heavy Metal be banned?
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