Just a few ruminations on the discussions about Joni's arrogance, or truth-speaking, or whatever you want to call it. I'm so glad Roberto started this whole thing -for one thing, if this list were just a "Joni-rules! Everything else sucks!" type of thing, it would get verrrry boring after a while. There are lots of things Joni says and does that annoy me. But I take it along with the things I admire most about her. She has guts. She's not afraid to speak her mind if something pisses her off. She steals quotes from other writers - who doesn't? Maybe she's just showing off so people can see how well-read she is! ;) I'm not sure I'd want to get into an argument with her - she might be one of those people who dominates a conversation too much. It would end up in a yelling match - Yeah? So's yer mama!
Joni makes a lot of points about the entertainment business that have also been made by others here on this list. We all know it's corrupt. You get the suits with their MBAs in there and all they care about is the bottom line. Not just making profits, but making more better profits. How best to do that than pandering to the tastes of the majority, or better yet, setting those tastes, and then pandering to them? And then changing the rules/tastes just enough so people have to go out and spend even more money. How about creating a monopolies in radio and TV so that we're all forced to listen to the same mindless crappola day after day until we kind of get to like it, because it's all so familiar. It's kind of like the fact that you can drive through any town or suburb in the USA or Canada and find the same familiar (boring) restaurants (so-called) and stores. Drive through Anytown USA or Canada and you'd never know you had left your own hometown. There's Macdonald's and KFC. Over there, there's Pizza Hut. Boring yes, but familiar. Today's pop music is Pizza Hut for the ears and eyes. Add a little sex to get their attention - get Britney to wear as little as possible (while still swearing she's a "good" girl) so people will be sucked in. Joni bites the hand that feeds her. Thank God. Sometimes she says things that are irritating as hell. Sometimes she makes the same points over and over, in case we weren't listening the first time - that can get irritating. I don't know how bitter she is - she really doesn't come across to me as all that bitter (except at times). I think the girl just can't help herself. She said it a while ago: "I talk too loose/ I talk too open and free/ I pay a high price for my open talking/ Like you do for your silent mystery." Anyone who has ever been to a Joni concert or seen the videos or heard the live concerts can bear witness to that - she loves to talk! She can talk about anything! It doesn't make her an expert on the subject she's talking about (Is anyone really an expert on any subject unless you're talking about pure science?) She's always there with an opinion. You might not agree with what she has to say and it can be annoying as hell, but one thing you can always say about Joni - she's not afraid to speak up. She's like a Cassandra or an old-testament prophet - no one wanted to hear what those people had to say. No, I don't always agree with what Joni has to say, but I still want to hear it - along with other people's opinions as well, especially the contentious ones. ______________________________________________________________________ Movies, Music, Sports, Games! http://entertainment.yahoo.ca
