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Alanis Morissette
Open Letter to Alanis Morissette:We're supposed to thank our lucky stars that there are any female rock vocalists, and I mean people who can rock, not just recite phone sex with a synthesizer in the background. In the case of Alanis Morissette we have someone who hit the big time with songs about the wreckage from broken romances. Lyrics aside, the form rocked hard and aggressively. Nonetheless, "So-Called Chaos" leaves us wanting more. It's still rock, but it lacks the hard-hitting purpose you showed in your previous album. No song was more promising than the first "Eight Easy Steps," catchy and about the right topic. It could easily be expanded to a whole album. Alanis Morissette! We know you can do it: when are you going to rip all those grocery store magazines like Cosmopolitan for the "Eight Easy Steps" crap they peddle. In this album you're openly using the F* word--feminism. There is not going to be any feminism or adjustment in male to female relations without destruction of the patriarchal conspiracy at the grocery check-out. No, it's not right to "let go of this grudge that's grown old" to be "soft and resolved clean of state and released." Sure, OK, if someone called you fat in high school and caused your eating disorders(1): get over it, but get another grudge! It wasn't just one jerk in your life. There is a nine digit figure of jerks just in the united $tates alone, but you've got to start with the wimmin's magazines before men are going to take you seriously. Wimmin themselves have to set new standards and change the romance culture. You point out how romance is supposed to add something to life, but it can make people feel paralyzed and worthless. "Spineless" is a great commentary on it all, but this is not a persynal thing. It's a problem for hundreds of millions, maybe billions of people. So you ought to be knocking down those making money off of romance culture misery--even if you are happy yourself now. You've probably already learned your marketing tricks and realize it's tough and self-defeating to sing about love and deny wanting it. OK, but young people get their ideas from somewhere, and there should be no one better than you to lead. In June 2004 you became engaged to be married(2) at the age of 30 and probably you're a multi-millionaire. If we take a thousand people like you in the same position, we won't bet that most will move their music in a more discontented direction. Nonetheless, we still hope you will recognize your true calling. And anyway, it's about time we had a bunch of popular wimmin rockers who could voice powerful discontent.
Notes: MIM has explained that one might even "like" this music while knowing rationally that there is something wrong with it, maybe even profoundly wrong and evil. Being a Maoist means being a revolutionary scientist and that means having the ability to question everything that we like.
See MIM Theory on feminism and gender issues. Read Mao on politics in all literature and art
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