Were the Clash full of s---?

Actually you've touched on something that bugs me too....the media telling us who we're supposed to worship.   Overall I think this topic is superficial (sorry....!)   but again, it's a good point.   The media uses repetitive reinforcement coupled with strong, emotive, dramatic language to hammer a belief / perspective / idea into our heads.    They tell the public something over and over and over again using dramatic intense verbiage and key words designed to dredge up an emotional response and BOOM, they've programmed us to believe whatever they want us to believe.  (well.........some of us, not all!    )

I'm so over it.   And it ties back into what I was describing about CNN over in my "Pope" thread, in current events.   Same s***, different medium.    So yes, "gimme a break" is about what it is.   Not only about The Clash, but just about EVERYTHING.    You see this every month on the cover of every entertainment / music / movie magazine that lines the shelves of your local newstand.   Which celebrities we're supposed to admire....even though they're not nice people and totally suck and have no talent.   Which music we're supposed to love........even though it could hardly be classified as music.    Who's in, who's out, what's hot, what's not, who's the "Best", who's the "Worst."    They accost us at every turn with who / what we're supposed to be worshipping. 

I honestly wonder...........when people really supposedly "like" some band or music or movie or celebrity / actress / actor.......do they really?   Or are they just programmed to believe that they like it?   Could they even explain why they like something when pressed?    I have my doubts, that's all I can say.

On MTV and on Clear Channel radio stations they repeat a handful of songs over and over all day. This music is drilled into the heads of the people through repetition. I think it's really only familiarity that causes people to think they enjoy these pop songs. Most people don't take a very active role in finding music, except for maybe downloading mp3s of bands MTV/Clear Channel has already introduced them to. So they're perpetually soaking in a tepid pool of mediocre, overproduced, soulless, commercialized pop music. But it's nice and safe. It's reassuring. You can talk about the latest MTV darlings with just about anybody, and unless they've been living under a rock they'll recognize who you're talking about.

The same thing probably goes for celebrities. I remember reading an article about a study where people were shown pictures of other people's faces and asked to assign each face a "trustworthiness" factor based only on the picture. The test subject would go through many faces, and when the scientists would slip in a duplicate, it would always get a higher score the second time around. This is because people are more comfortable with that which is familiar. The constant repetition of celebrity faces on magazines, TV shows, newspapers, and movies causes us to identify with the celebrities and have affection for them. I think it's a subversion of the natural instinct that causes  a person to bond with family members whose faces he or she has seen repeatedly since birth. I mean, the words "family" and "familiar" aren't that far apart.

I never resonated with the Beatles, and I don't trust music that traces its lineage back to them. All my life that Beatles stuff seemed like music for other people, not me. Their talk of love and togetherness seemed so shallow. On a purely intuitional level, the sense I get from their music is one of ignorance and immaturity masquerading as wisdom and experience. Actors in a play, knowing they're lost, but also knowing the audience is watching and waiting. Trying to say or do something meaningful and good, but only out of fear of saying or doing something destructive. Completely out of their element. Above all, never biting the hand that feeds them. Just some impressions I get from looking at pictures of them and hearing some of their music.

I don't know much about the Clash. Looking at the Wikipedia entry shows that their first gig was supporting the Sex Pistols. The Sex Pistols were a boy band assembled by a businessman. Both bands were very political and anti-aristocracy, apparently. Maybe they were used to control the political outlook of the young and rebellious, to make sure they all rebelled in a safe and prescribed way?