Saturday, January 15, 2011
Money for Nothing
Canada's broadcast standards council has ruled that Dire Straits' 1985 hit "Money for Nothing" should be censored because of a homosexual slur in its lyrics. The council said the British band's use of the word "faggot" referring to gay people three times in the song breaches the national broadcasters' code of ethics. Yet, an edited version of the song can be played.
Helen Kennedy, executive director of Egale Canada, said last week the decision is the right move given a number of teenage suicides that took place in the U.S. in 2010 after they were subjected to homophobic bullying. The council said it realized Dire Straits used the word sarcastically but said it was inappropriate.
"Money for Nothing" was a massive hit upon its release in 1985. It won a Grammy, reached No. 1 on the charts in Canada and the U.S. and spawned a famous music video that featured crude computer animation and became interwoven with the popularity of music network MTV.
For a critical examination of this decision, watch the clip below:
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It's worth noting that the headline superimposed on the first video ("Canadian Police State") is very misleading, since the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (the group that issued the ruling in question) isn't a government agency. It's a private, self-regulatory organization made up of Canadian broadcasters.
ReplyDeleteChris MacDonald,
BusinessEthicsBlog.com
Thank you for your comment, Chris. You are right: it is misleading. Although someone - such as, say, Herman and Chomsky, may argue that there is no such a big difference between state and "private censorship", this is an important clarification.
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