I was thinking about that, because I saw Almost Famous for the first time recently and was struck by how (at least a little ambiguously) romanticized and normalized that notion was
Found that post from Jackie Fox to be very heartening
― Nhex, Monday, 13 July 2015 13:31 (nine years ago) link
Yeah, the documentary version of Almost Famous would look like Romper Room on acid.
― Iago Galdston, Monday, 13 July 2015 13:34 (nine years ago) link
Yeah, I mean, this scene, where she admits she's 16, is both weirdly touching but definitely uneasy. Especially since she and the band(s) have already been involved for some time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkEQ_bvbny4
I don't remember anyone making a big deal about her age in the film. That's just "how it was."
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 13 July 2015 14:04 (nine years ago) link
That wasn't just in LA and wasn't just in the music biz, but that's a good example of how the "sexual revolution" was primarily an opportunity for men to be skeezy fucks as opposed to women exercising agency over their own sexuality.
― from batman to balloon dog (carl agatha), Monday, 13 July 2015 14:11 (nine years ago) link
Almost Famous is hot garbage and its sexual politics are a big reason.
― Οὖτις, Monday, 13 July 2015 14:19 (nine years ago) link
the whole concept of groupies is something people talk about like it's totally nbd. i find that type of objectification really disturbing, esp when it's presented as one of the only entry points of young women to being involved with music. like imagine being a 13 year old just getting into learning about music and finding out that people like you were primarily known as sex bunnies. it's…i don't even know what it is. i think things are quite different now, but even as late as my own adolescence, it was a common narrative. i read pamela des barres' book because i thought it would help me learn stuff but the stuff it helped me learn was not helpful.
― La Lechera, Monday, 13 July 2015 14:22 (nine years ago) link
I think AIDS and lawsuits put a slight damper on that scene, but if anything what's left over has gotten even darker, because the predatory artists have I think taken greater care to formally cover their paths, like conventional predators vs. nbd, this is how we roll romanticised rock stars. But it is horrifying, to read the salacious oral histories of Motley Crue, or Zeppelin, or whomever, for entertainment and titillation, yet realize that at the very least due to the prevalence of drugs and alcohol and general cultural look the other way-ness that what we know about is just the tip of the iceberg and that felonious behavior abounded/abounds.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 13 July 2015 14:30 (nine years ago) link
Feels like this is more a by product of the Hollywood machine than the sexual revolution to me. Stories of this nature were coming out of Hollywood as early as the 30s (okay maybe not NYE rape stories, but certainly similar tales of exploitation/abuse/cover up.)
― One bad call from barely losing to (Alex in SF), Monday, 13 July 2015 14:33 (nine years ago) link
Girl 27 is a 2007 documentary film about the 1937 rape of MGM movie extra Patricia Douglas (1917-2003), the front-page news stories that followed, and the subsequent cover-up of the entire event.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 13 July 2015 14:35 (nine years ago) link
As if on cue....
― One bad call from barely losing to (Alex in SF), Monday, 13 July 2015 14:37 (nine years ago) link
Hippy movement definitely allowed multifarious creeps to exploit young women, look at Manson, for one.
― holger sharkey (Tom D.), Monday, 13 July 2015 14:37 (nine years ago) link
Feels like this is a thread derail, but creeps/cultists are always exploiting people. Manson would have likely figured out a means to find participants wherever/whenever.
― One bad call from barely losing to (Alex in SF), Monday, 13 July 2015 14:46 (nine years ago) link
don't listen to Little steven's underground garage, because it's boring and he's a supreme asshole regularly and smugly inveighing against anything outside of his rockist agenda (man, 30 years ago, your goal was to end apartheid, and now you complain that kids don't play and listen to music the right way), but I happened to stop on it accidentally, and there was Kim Fowley's show, with him talking about the youngbloods or something…maybe someone at Sirius/XM should see to it that they don't play those shows anymore…heaven knows they have 100s of hours of Giorgio Gomelsky etc etc…
― veronica moser, Monday, 13 July 2015 15:08 (nine years ago) link
Re LL's "Imagine being a 13 year old": this is played out very explicitly in, of all things, School of Rock. (I'm at the library right now, and can't check the wording of the exchange--hopefully there's nothing that can be misconstrued, as I'm breaking my own pledge to stay clear of these threads at all costs.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHtTRUC2Drs
― clemenza, Monday, 13 July 2015 15:09 (nine years ago) link
― One bad call from barely losing to (Alex in SF), Monday, July 13, 2015 10:33 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
maybe so: http://www.buzzfeed.com/annehelenpetersen/loretta-young
― for sale: baby shoes, never worn your ass (katherine), Monday, 13 July 2015 16:11 (nine years ago) link
(buzzfeed longform, before you ask)
There's a Fowley interview done for Ugly Things magazine where he definitely frames things in terms of the sexual revolution. I won't quote from it - it's online.
― timellison, Monday, 13 July 2015 16:34 (nine years ago) link
I can definitely see Fowley framing (and excusing) things in that fashion. Just not sure how credible a reading it is.
― One bad call from barely losing to (Alex in SF), Monday, 13 July 2015 16:40 (nine years ago) link
I don't think the issue is whether it's credible, it's that the wide availability of contraception and the whole idea of women's liberation gave a lot of creeps a cover story. C'mon baby, loosen up, get in touch with your body, blah blah blah. The sexual revolution was real and necessary, but just destigmatizing extramarital sex without altering massive existing power differentials meant that lots of bad things were going to be justified (however dishonestly) in the name of freedom.
― something totally new, it’s the AOR of the twenty first century (tipsy mothra), Monday, 13 July 2015 20:23 (nine years ago) link
C'mon baby, loosen up, get in touch with your body, blah blah blah
"... why are you being so uptight and bourgeois?"
There's a whole chapter about this in Jonathon Green's "Days in the Life", about the UK underground in the 60s/70s.
― holger sharkey (Tom D.), Monday, 13 July 2015 20:33 (nine years ago) link
real short hop from that to "you look tense, lemme rub your back"
― La Lechera, Monday, 13 July 2015 20:38 (nine years ago) link
I read a story a few years ago, maybe by Rob Lowe (?) about how being a teen in the 70's in LA was like being a pack of stray dogs (at least for some kids of wealthy families) - parents so burned out, disillusioned & self medicating to the point where they are completely checked out & the kids become free range mini adults because there's zero supervision & so much more trouble that you could get into in LA in those days, because of that permissiveness hangover
― difficult-difficult lemon-difficult (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 13 July 2015 20:41 (nine years ago) link
You mean, "the good ol' days"?
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 13 July 2015 20:43 (nine years ago) link
Basically the parents of the free range "what's the worst that can happen?" parents.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 13 July 2015 20:44 (nine years ago) link
ie Robert Downey Sr.
― Οὖτις, Monday, 13 July 2015 20:45 (nine years ago) link
parents so burned out, disillusioned & self medicating
altho really isn't LA still like this
― Οὖτις, Monday, 13 July 2015 20:46 (nine years ago) link
It's the plot of Less Than Zero, right?
― Frederik B, Monday, 13 July 2015 20:47 (nine years ago) link
Foxes obvs!
― La Lechera, Monday, 13 July 2015 20:49 (nine years ago) link
lol
― difficult-difficult lemon-difficult (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 13 July 2015 20:49 (nine years ago) link
Foxes is such a weird movie
― Οὖτις, Monday, 13 July 2015 20:52 (nine years ago) link
LA is still "like this" in terms of neglectful burnt out parents and children with too much money, but between uber and rehab society has definitely created some buffers since the 70s
― da croupier, Monday, 13 July 2015 21:00 (nine years ago) link
yeah i didnt mean it was unique to LA,just that it was more heightened bcz of the 60's freelove burnout
― difficult-difficult lemon-difficult (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 13 July 2015 21:04 (nine years ago) link
― La Lechera, Monday, July 13, 2015 8:38 PM (31 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
^ a favorite line of creeps who want to creepily creep their hands up against the side of your boobs as recently as the early '00s (the last time I was single).
― from batman to balloon dog (carl agatha), Monday, 13 July 2015 21:12 (nine years ago) link
"I don't think the issue is whether it's credible, it's that the wide availability of contraception and the whole idea of women's liberation gave a lot of creeps a cover story."
Right and I'm not sure I find this terribly credible. I think Fowley's perceived industry influence was the "cover story" (as it is for most "creeps" of this type before and after).
― One bad call from barely losing to (Alex in SF), Monday, 13 July 2015 21:15 (nine years ago) link
When I said that, in that interview, he frames things in terms of the sexual revolution, I didn't mean that he was explaining himself in terms of the revolution's rhetoric. I simply meant that he speaks of the period favorably for some of those reasons.
― timellison, Monday, 13 July 2015 21:29 (nine years ago) link
Carl thx for bringing the clarity :)
― La Lechera, Monday, 13 July 2015 21:31 (nine years ago) link
re: "sexual revolution" vs "hollywood", this isn't a binary - power and cultural trends can both be exploited
― da croupier, Monday, 13 July 2015 21:31 (nine years ago) link
I suppose folks were hoping for an Evil Stig Joan - the one who spoke out about Mia Zapata and not the one who covers that Gary Glitter pedo song and speaks through Kenny Laguna press releases/lawsuits.
― Elvis Telecom, Monday, 13 July 2015 23:54 (nine years ago) link
Was Glitter a known child molester when she covered that song? More disgusted by dumbass companies who were still using it in adverts as late as a couple of years ago....
― One bad call from barely losing to (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 14 July 2015 00:03 (nine years ago) link
Reading up reminds me it was used in the biopic which shows pretty poor judgment on the part of all concerned frankly.
― One bad call from barely losing to (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 14 July 2015 00:06 (nine years ago) link
When was Glitter not a known child molester lets be honest. Pedo themes all thru his peak hits.
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 14 July 2015 01:40 (nine years ago) link
In fairness I think 99% of America doesn't hardly knew who he is but just recognizes the nah nah nah hey! song from sporting events
― Ma$e-en-scène (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 14 July 2015 01:53 (nine years ago) link
Glitter was a known child molester earlier this year when she was playing "Do You Wanna Touch Me There" in concert.
― Zachary Taylor, Tuesday, 14 July 2015 03:34 (nine years ago) link
can we not with Gary Glitter
― difficult-difficult lemon-difficult (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 14 July 2015 03:41 (nine years ago) link
Maureen Herman's piece is really really excellent:
http://boingboing.net/2015/07/13/the-jackie-fox-rape-disclosure.html
― timellison, Tuesday, 14 July 2015 05:07 (nine years ago) link
wow
― difficult-difficult lemon-difficult (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 14 July 2015 05:35 (nine years ago) link
it makes me question some of my own reactions and I don't know that I 100% agree with all of it but fuckin excellent regardless
definitely cuts to the heart of the discussion
― difficult-difficult lemon-difficult (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 14 July 2015 05:37 (nine years ago) link
maureen herman's point about triggers for anger really otm -- that's why i posted about the backlog of rape kits. i'm glad that the backlog came to light, but it took determined reporting, relentless lobbying of state and local politicians, and unmeasurable amounts of emotional stamina to get them tested, finally. then, among other things, some women who had been raped in the early 90s got a call in 2014 that their rapist had -- finally!-- been identified. not only that, but they found over 200 repeat offenders/serial rapists. imagine how much trauma could have been spared. i'm angry that in my lifetime we are still not at a point where the law supports rape victims. i'm super pissed about it. i'm glad it came to light, but i'm super pissed it took so long. here's the interview with terry gross (with a transcript) -- http://www.npr.org/2015/05/19/407766821/reporting-on-rape-kit-backlog-leads-to-new-law-and-arrests-in-ohio
i'm pissed about kim fowley and joan jett, and i'm pissed that this happened to the runaways but more than anything i'm pissed that even if a victim does everything within their power, the power invested in the state to prevent rapists from raping doesn't have their back. that's fundamentally wrong.
― La Lechera, Tuesday, 14 July 2015 13:50 (nine years ago) link
booming post
ty
― difficult-difficult lemon-difficult (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 14 July 2015 17:47 (nine years ago) link
Evelyn McDonnell interviewed in Salon about the Fox story:
http://www.salon.com/2015/07/13/id_known_there_was_a_possibility_this_had_happened_runaways_biographer_evelyn_mcdonnell_on_rape_charges/
― Naive Teen Idol, Wednesday, 15 July 2015 17:37 (nine years ago) link