Let's be Honest with Ourselves

by Mick Lenzser

When the idea of titling this blog “iVoryTowerz” was first introduced, I thought of it as a cute and whimsical statement about me and my fellow university students. It even had a tad of irony, since we clearly were not of the sort that would look down from our pedestals on the people of the real world; we were not guilty of the academic elitism that the term alleged. I was wrong.

Now, the title is much funnier than it was when first suggested. It is a poignant, and still ironic, statement about us peddling the same bread-and-circus media that we supposedly despise. And yet we seem to have no problem criticizing artists for their attempts to be subversive within the mainstream and questioning the integrity of their works.

I may be alone in this view, but I find it humorous that we seem to be guilty of the same offenses we scoff at others for committing. We use our voices and this blog to criticize and analyze the media, trying to be subversive in our own right. But we do so from our comfortable seats in an expensive, high-brow university and in an online journal where we worry about our ratings and how much money we’ve earned from advertising.* The thing is, I see no problem with this – if only we could just admit to ourselves that it’s not so bad. Maybe bands commonly labeled as “sell-outs” have just realized that there are benefits to operating within the mainstream. By embracing the system, artists can spread their messages to larger audiences with corporate-sponsored appeal. So long as they stay true to themselves, artists can still send their points and emotions out to the people.

Too top it off, we sit in class and miss out on key pieces of the music samples we have been critiquing. Tending to overlook the purely musical and artistic qualities of the songs, we instead focus on assigning our own opinions to the music. The same critique has been brought up time and time again. Bands are speaking out against the establishment and the media. Really? Always? It seems as though we “discover” the meaning of songs through the lens of what we think we are supposed to find. And our minds always wander back to the media trying to subdue their audiences or something of that sort. (For example, see "Where has the Passionate Music Gone?") It is a theme we can’t look past. So who are the pawns now, us or the corporate sell-outs we chuckle at from our iVory Tower?

(Photo courtesy of taliesin at morgueFile.)

*In the cause of transperency, as of this writing, this blog has earned 21 cents in advertising revenue. Your semi-friendly blog editor is unworried about what that amount may say about the worth of this blog, although others may be concerned we should do more in the race to make profits and add market share.

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