Mail & Guardian
News24
There are 2 things I want to protest in this:
"The boy had painted his face black and wore a black balaclava, resembling the drummer of the band Slipknot, said Krugersdorp councillor Alex Raubenheimer"
Here's a picture of Joey Jordison wearing his signature mask. Now I don't want to be funny, but how does this resemble a black balaclava?
"He came here camouflaged as the guys from Slipknot. We know the wrong kind of music, and drugs have bad effects. Young people need to be informed of the effects of bad Satanic music," said Eksteen.
How can people assume that because a guy listens to metal he's going to go around killing people? Slipknot isn't in any way connected to satanic material. There are bands that are, such as Black Symphony, but as far as I know Slipknot never made a point of being satanic.
Here's me, a 23-year-old guy. I've been listening to metal much heavier and scarier than Slipknot for essentially as long as I can remember. And I had trouble hitting people when I started doing kickboxing.
Dear Mr Eksteen, whoever you are, I can say that your school encourages satanism or somehow indoctrinates children to do drugs and kill other people. Why? Because I have no idea what's going on at your school, the same way you have no idea what goes on in metal because you simply don't care enough to get rid of your stupid idealistic prejudices and listen to a few songs. If you don't know what you're talking about please shut the fuck up.
I'm sick of people judging us for the music we enjoy. Metal makes you kill people exactly as much as RnB makes you fuck every living thing and Rap makes you pop a cap in a gangsta's ass. Get over yourself.
My question to you is: Isn't this simply another form of racial profiling?
PS, the only reason I'm posting this if because I couldn't find the talk-back feature on either of these stupid websites.
Posts
I agree with you 99.9%. Metal is not evil. Tho it is true that many of the artists are involved in satanism, or other alternative religions which may be construed by less open-minded people as satanism, it does not make ALL rock musicians and all rock music evil.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, this poor boy was quoted as saying that satan made him do it. That is, in my mind, greater cause to hang the satanist banner around his neck.
But then, Mr Reporter, please have the intelligence to say that this is the reason for the label, and leave all irrelevant references to music out of your report.
all very well richie, except that Hansie Cronje - a high profile born again christian said that "the devil made him do it" at his trial for his sports "crimes"
ReplyDelete... therefore if a preson says that the devil/ satan made them do it it does NOT make them a satanist.
what makes someone a satanist if the fact that they follow the religion of satanism.
listening to metal etc etc does not make you a satanist, or an occultist or a pagan, or a witch: it makes you a metal music fan!!!!!
dont forget that rock and roll, jazz even some clssical music in its day was seen as anti-church/ anti-god.....
and my last point is this: if you ever had the opportunity to engage with mentally ill (psychotic: out of touch with reality) people you would find that hearing voices is one of the most common symptoms. Valkenberg on any given day has a number of patients who might say that satan is telling them lots of things... or their mother....or prince charles... or fred astaire.... or elvis.... or or or or.... the permutations that mental illness takes are many (including religiosity)......
Thanks for this posting!! I agree and I am quite irritated with the South African media and their uninformed claims that Satanic Music is the root of all evil.
ReplyDeleteWhat about those kids in Durban who killed their folks? That murder was apparently inspired by God. They were very involved in the Christian movement and the one kid claimed he was the 3rd son of God. I never saw anyone confronting Christianity and the possible damaging effects religion can have on a youngster!
Kids do strange things these days and are influenced by various factors other than music and religion.
I am worried that this will cause a wave of Satanic Panic in South Africa and I will surely protest this by writing letters to all the papers that try and sensationalise this incident by blaming Metal and Rock music!
Unfortunately people will always go for what they don't understand or for soft targets. Think how inviting a target Slipknot is - think how terrified your average parent must be of them, purely because of their masks (not to mention stage antics).
ReplyDeleteIt sucks when people point the finger at bands/movies/games when there is clearly a bigger problem with the dude, but I think those of us into alternative subcultures like metal shouldn't be surprised when the blame comes knocking on our door.
Anyway, Slipknot have built their 'scary' image. Their masks and suits are a marketing ploy that have helped increase their fame and they must have done it knowing they'll be misunderstood and blamed for all sorts of things, just as those of us who support bands like them shouldn't be naively surprised when people accuse them of being evil.
It's the price you pay for being different. it doesn't excuse people looking for a scapegoat, but we just shouldn't be caught unawares when it happens.
i agree 100%, my dad freaks out when i listen to slipknot or any other screaming metal bands, he tries pulling some bullshit about how its going to" plant seeds in my brain" and ruin my life, how the fuck does my taste in music end in someone thinking im going to (as an example) as said in spit it out, " smear someone with piss and viniger"
ReplyDeletemy conclusion, you are a real dedicated metalhead and i agree with every word you said in the previous paragraphs.
I actually used to be a metal hater till recently, and I agreed with a lot of the evil things people say about it... Until I started listening to the Murderdolls. I heard "I Love to Say Fuck" one time, and I was hooked. They aren't telling you to like, go kill people, or anything like that. All heavy metal music is is a way to get out your anger, aggression, and pent up feelings. Like Joey Jordison said in some interview I watched on youtube, they're just all about being themselves. I'm currently a college student at a Catholic school (aka HELL) and I've been accused of being a satanist for listening to the Murderdolls, DevilDriver, Amon Amarth, etc. People need to get used to the fact that we're not leaving, metal music is here just as much as pop, rock, jazz, or anything else. Maybe we have more piercings, or stranger hair, but so what? Get the fuck over it. Just because I have blue hair, piercings, and listen to loud music doesn't mean I'm worshiping Satan.
ReplyDelete(PS, if anyone has any good metal bands to introduce me to, please do! I can't get enough!!!)