Chris Trottier on Nostr: Recently, there's been some panic about right-wing's attempts to influence culture ...
Recently, there's been some panic about right-wing's attempts to influence culture through "alternative" media platforms like Bentkey.
But this is what conservatives have always done. I should know because I'm very much a product of these conservative media alternatives.
My mother didn't allow me to watch Saturday morning cartoons. She said they were a bad influence. And she also didn't allow me to listen to what she called "secular" music either.
Instead of the regular kids' TV shows, I had to watch VHS tapes rented from the Christian book store. Instead of good old fashioned rock music everyone else was allowed to listen to, I had to hear Christian rock. And there was a Christian version of everything.
The Christian version of the Wonder Years was Magee And Me!
The Christian version of Green Day was MxPx.
The Christian version of Legend of Zelda was Spiritual Warfare.
At one time, I thought this "alternative" media was just an evangelical Christian thing. But then when I spent time with orthodox Jews, I found out that they have their own "alternative" media too. A fellow I was studying with was a Haredi rapper named Matisyahu.
I'm not going to lie and say that the quality of media was always garbage because it isn't. Lots of it has gone mainstream. I bet you that some of your favourite artists got their start in right-wing "alternative" media.
For example, Katy Perry. Do you know she started off in the Christian music industry?
Same deal with Evanescence. They were a right wing Christian act.
And VeggieTales too -- as evangelical as they come.
Here's what eventually happens, though. Once the big corporations smell money, they move in. For example, one of the biggest right wing Christian record labels is the Provident Label Group.
And who owns Essential Records? Sony. That's right, the same company that brought you Twisted Metal, Ratchet & Clank, and Killzone is hawking right wing Christian music.
Now if you're a progressive, you're probably quite concerned -- and you should be. But if you're a right wing Christian, you're probably even more concerned.
That's because the likes of Sony don't give a damn about evangelical Christianity. To them, this is just another revenue stream. And should one of their artists have runaway success, they almost always tone down the Christianity in order to reach a wider audience.
It's how the game is played.
Right wing pundits like to say that politics lives downstream from culture. That may be true. However, culture always lives downstream from money.
Amusingly, what lives downstream from money? Politics.
But this is what conservatives have always done. I should know because I'm very much a product of these conservative media alternatives.
My mother didn't allow me to watch Saturday morning cartoons. She said they were a bad influence. And she also didn't allow me to listen to what she called "secular" music either.
Instead of the regular kids' TV shows, I had to watch VHS tapes rented from the Christian book store. Instead of good old fashioned rock music everyone else was allowed to listen to, I had to hear Christian rock. And there was a Christian version of everything.
The Christian version of the Wonder Years was Magee And Me!
The Christian version of Green Day was MxPx.
The Christian version of Legend of Zelda was Spiritual Warfare.
At one time, I thought this "alternative" media was just an evangelical Christian thing. But then when I spent time with orthodox Jews, I found out that they have their own "alternative" media too. A fellow I was studying with was a Haredi rapper named Matisyahu.
I'm not going to lie and say that the quality of media was always garbage because it isn't. Lots of it has gone mainstream. I bet you that some of your favourite artists got their start in right-wing "alternative" media.
For example, Katy Perry. Do you know she started off in the Christian music industry?
Same deal with Evanescence. They were a right wing Christian act.
And VeggieTales too -- as evangelical as they come.
Here's what eventually happens, though. Once the big corporations smell money, they move in. For example, one of the biggest right wing Christian record labels is the Provident Label Group.
And who owns Essential Records? Sony. That's right, the same company that brought you Twisted Metal, Ratchet & Clank, and Killzone is hawking right wing Christian music.
Now if you're a progressive, you're probably quite concerned -- and you should be. But if you're a right wing Christian, you're probably even more concerned.
That's because the likes of Sony don't give a damn about evangelical Christianity. To them, this is just another revenue stream. And should one of their artists have runaway success, they almost always tone down the Christianity in order to reach a wider audience.
It's how the game is played.
Right wing pundits like to say that politics lives downstream from culture. That may be true. However, culture always lives downstream from money.
Amusingly, what lives downstream from money? Politics.