meta link: A lesson in good vs. bad irony thanks to Amanda Palmer by sparkymonster

From sparkymonster: A lesson in good vs. bad irony thanks to Amanda Palmer.

Quote:

Amanda Palmer of the "Dresden Dolls" and "Evelyn/Evelyn" fame decided to talk about her dislike of Lady Gaga last night on twitter. Among other things, Gaga is a sell out, is just like Justin Bieber, and Palmer really dislikes the product placement in "Telephone".

Then Amanda Palmer shared this:
ironic product placement is only ok if you take no money & beyond that give all the income to something ironic. like the Klan.

Let me just repeat. Something ironic. like the Klan.

*****This might be potentially triggering for violence, as sparkymonster illustrates her point with pictures of actual lynchings of African Americans in the US.*****

Amanda Parmer's bizarre feats of self-promotion have been questionable at best and plain offensive at worst before now, but this is--I keep erasing what I was going to say here. I don't know what to say that encompasses how revolting this is, how lightly she takes a horrific and destructive part of both our past and our present, the systematic murder of African Americans because they demanded equality, the deliberate attempt to use murder as both a method of silencing and a warning.

Okay, just--what the fuck was that? I can't even tell how the hell that train of thought starts.

Go read sparkymonster for more information, links, and commentary.

Comments

[bkwyrm.livejournal.com]

What? I...just...WHAT?
The more I learn about her, the more Amanda Palmer seems like a publicity whore who will do anything to get talked about.
And then she complains that people are talking about her all wrong.
GAH.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

This.

Not that this makes it worse or better, but another part of this that throws me is she deployed this because she doesnt' like another performer. I haven't yet got to digesting that as an actual "reason", but dear God.

[cirakaite.livejournal.com]

That's because she is.


Ugh. The whole thing makes me even more sick than the EvelynEvelyn debacle. Or the Golden Globes. Or . . . anything.

(frozen)

[indecisean.livejournal.com]

i don't see her complaining about people "talking about her all wrong" but i do see you talking about her and bitching that she seems like someone who "does anything" to get you to do so

[seperis.livejournal.com]

I froze all indecisean's replies and banned them.

[aivilo-18.livejournal.com]

Oh, for fuck's sake.

Dear Amanda Palmer,

IRONY: You're doing it wrong, douchebag.

No love,
Me

[seperis.livejournal.com]

I like the awesome of this statement.

[mecurtin.livejournal.com]

Note that AP is making this "ironic" "suggestion" about a video that co-stars a black singer. Because, I guess, that makes it so much more ... ironic (http://meloukhia.net/2009/07/hipster_racism.html)?

[seperis.livejournal.com]

*shudders* She layers her fails like some kind of weird cake.

[iteari.livejournal.com]

W-what? I thought she complimented Gaga once before. I probably heard it wrong then.

Interestingly, I don't think I even noticed the product placement in the Telephone music video. Flew right over my head, I guess.

Amanda Palmer, I like your music, I like your voice, hell, I'm all about supporting/respecting your opinions like everybody else's, that said, please, please do not compare a song to thousands of killings of innocent people. Your music's good but it's not that good...

[fengi.livejournal.com]

She not only complimented Gaga, she covered her with the Boston Pops and posted a song on youtube called "Gaga/Palmer/Madonna" with a chorus humbly asserting they were part of the same continuum and, at the time, a sincere feminist sentiment. Maybe she got mad at seeing someone else make the big quirky cabaret bucks.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

I didn't notice either. And rewatching, I noticed only so far as to think I was a little hungry.

[omnipresentdmat.livejournal.com]

Oh my god, I can't even comprehend her extreme levels of douchebaggery. It's like she's trying to offend everyone she can.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

I wonder if it's better or worse to think there is effort involved here. Because man, if she can do this by accident, God knows what she could accomplish if she were really trying.

[scrollgirl.livejournal.com]

I didn't know who Amanda Palmer was until this whole Evelyn/Evelyn came up on disabledfeminists, and everything I've learned of her since then hasn't exactly cast her in a good light. Just... why would anyone with any kind of decency make a joke about the KKK??

[seperis.livejournal.com]

I can't even think how you make that leap over a music video. That's not even a jump--that involves using a transporter of some kind.

[evadne-fenn.livejournal.com]

Her feelings about Lady Gaga (and also Evelyn Evelyn) are just so entirely wrongheaded and I can't believe she brought the Klan into this, for god's sake. I normally find her and her project pretty interesting--I don't think she's a publicity whore, actually, but I think her feelings are easily hurt and she resists intellectualizing her very bold ideas, preferring to shield herself from criticism with blatherings about the creative process and Art. The deal with Lady Gaga, I think, is that she feels like Lady Gaga is homing in on her territory and also stands for everything she hates about the corporate music scene. It's fine for her to feel this way even if I don't agree with her, but how she in ANY WAY thought it was appropriate to bring up lynching in this conversation is ENTIRELY beyond me and is entirely NOT OKAY.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

Seriously, that is not a comparison that is like, IDK, even in the normal realm of random comparisons.

[anjak-j.livejournal.com]

Obviously she didn't fill her quota for offending people with ableism...so full steam ahead to racism she goes.

I really want the first word that pops into my head about her to be as tame as the previously offered 'douchebag'. I'm afraid mine comes in the four-letter variety, begins with 'C' and ends in 'T'.

[lurkerlynne.livejournal.com]

Actually, she might be an Ankle. It's much lower.

[lorelei76.livejournal.com]

Christ on a motherfucking cracker, Amanda Palmer needs to read a dictionary and learn what "irony" really means.

Hasn't she learned anything from the Evelyn/Evelyn fiasco? Is there no "douchebag hipster" filter between her brain and her fingers when posting on her blog or Twitter?

I was semi-fond of her music, but that shit got deleted off my player after her braindead handling of the E/E shitstorm.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

She learned she got lots of attention, there's that.

[tingler.livejournal.com]

Okay, just--what the fuck was that? I can't even tell how the hell that train of thought starts.

From Vast Ignorance Station. And it's an *express*

[seperis.livejournal.com]

An express transporter or something. Her fail has broken the speed of light.

[synecdochic]

But Jenn, she's being ~*ironic*~! WHY DO YOU HATE HIPSTERS AND ARTISTS?

[seperis.livejournal.com]

Maybe skinny jeans cut off blood circulation to the head?

[lurkerlynne.livejournal.com]

I was unaware the Klan was ironic. I'd always thought they were a group of murdering racists with a linen fetish. How silly of me.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

I was trying to work it out myself. Product placement is not on the same continuum as terrorists.

[gwendolynflight.livejournal.com]

I'd thank you for the link, but I'm now involved in an Evelyn Evelyn flamewar. Damnit!

(Srsly, thanks for the links. This level of fuckitude is just staggering...)

[seperis.livejournal.com]

*dies*

And yeah, it's still--my mind just can't even work out how she's making that connection. Which I think is a good thing, tbh. I don't want to be the kind of person who could.

[jujuberry136.livejournal.com]

I'm still unclear about how the Klan is *ironic.* Now maybe I'm confused, but I was taught that organizations that systematically terrorized, beat, and murdered people were horrible. Not really sure where the irony is.

Also? Lady Gaga is awesome. Shut it Amanda Palmer. If you haven't figured out that her whole schtick is fame whoring/selling out (see: paparazzi, the fame, etc), then that's ironic.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

YES THIS.

Also, now Ironic by Alanis Morisette plays in my head whenever I see Amanda's name. This is going to drive me crazy.

[the-emef.livejournal.com]

thanks for this! I kinda made myself ill reading A. Palmer's twitter, unfortunately, BUT sparkymonster's post was really amazing.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

It was amazing and probably hideously painful for her as well. I was sick just looking at it, even though I've seen those (or similar) pictures before. Putting it together took a lot of strength.

[onederfulwall.livejournal.com]

I...classes just let out for the day and I thought I'd reward myself with my daily dose of stress-relieving, non-offensive fanfic. So, I'm happily lurking about(love your writing btw) and BAM--this nonsense, right in my face. :( Now I have to turn my brain back on just to contemplate how asinine people IRL really are....thank you?

[seperis.livejournal.com]

a.) thanks!

b.) God, I know. I was going through AO3 for new Adam/Kris and then this. Gah.

[mistresscurvy.livejournal.com]

I am utterly appalled at the fact that anyone could think that referencing the Klan in that way was even remotely acceptable. The fact that she continues to defend it and mocks people who are upset by it is even more disgusting. What part of giving money to an organization that kills and terrorizes communities is ironic? For fuck's sake.

I don't even have the words. Thank you for this post.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

This. So much this.