Chris Brown performed at the Grammys on Sunday. You probably had an opinion about it. It might have been this one. You would not be wrong. I don’t watch the Grammys on principle, but I decisively turned the channel when Team Breezy polluted the stage on the VMAs. However, no matter what side you come down on the “Just how much of a scumbag is Chris Brown?” debate, you should not be surprised that it happened, and more importantly, you should not be surprised that millions of women had no problem with it.
Before I continue, I would like to point out a fact: Chris Brown is three months younger than I am. However, this fact does not depress me about my future status as great person the way the birthdates of Taylor Swift and Avicii do, and I think it’s because he has been famous since he was 16. The only thing he knows how to do is be famous. When attempting to discern the ontology of Chris Brown’s actions, one would do well to remember that he has spent as much time as you have in this world, and he has not had to grow up since he was 16. He is a manchild, in the classical sense of the world.
Anyway, Chris Brown performed on the Grammys, and the feminist blogosphere went and got all mad at patriarchy, as it is wont to do. Then, some idiots took to Twitter (for the first time ever in history), and it suddenly had no idea what to do. Thoseof us who hate domestic violence, its cultural toleration, and the general grating nature of Chris Brown seem to be at an impasse with society.Our hatred glands are fully engorged, which is a problem because Chris Brown’s career has at least four more years left in it, and in those four years he will never humble himself before the Jezebelian masses. So what are we to do? Double our shaking? Double our outrage? And stay mad forever ever ever? (Editor’s note: I am so sorry.)
For those of you who think that the music industry’s diffidence towards Chris Brown is bad, let me tell you the story of one of the literary figures that often weighs heavily on my mind (I go back and forth as to whether or not I actually view him as an idol). In 1960, Norman Mailer had published three novels and the definitive treatise on hipsterism. He was the toast of the literary world. One night, actually the night which was supposed to begin his mayoral campaign, he stabbed his wife in the heart and refused to call an ambulance. Eight years later, he won a Pulitzer Prize. This is a man for whom misogyny might actually be the most prominent theme of his work. Currently at my library, there is half a shelf dedicated to books written about him.
One of the worst parts about our criminal (in)justice system is that pernicious little box on job applications. You know, the one that is right next to the question “Have you ever been convicted of a crime?” Once any of us has to check that box, about 2/3rds of all jobs that we would ever want to have are officially out the window, such is the reality of paternalistic capitalism. The music industry is an industry first and foremost (anyone who complains about the current state of pop music as an “art form” would do well do remember this fact). However; it, along with sports and other forms of entertainment, is an industry unlike any others because its labor force is public and thus not easily replaceable. No matter how disillusioned we get with our economic structure, we still cling to the myth of the benevolent capitalist patriarch. We desperately want to believe that the head of the company who creates the products we love really does have society’s best interests at heart, that his company really does have principles, that he would not tolerate this type of behavior, that Tim Cook had absolutely no idea about the conditions at Foxconn plants until that This American Life special aired. When we plead for the Grammys or MTV not to allow Chris Brown to perform at the Grammys, we are pleading for the benevolent patriarchs of the music industry to take a moral stance; one that takes account of the influence that it has over the socialization of America’s teenagers, one, essentially, that is not driven entirely by ratings.
There’s another problem with the music industry though, which is that it it trafficks heavily in one of the most dangerous substances on the planet: art. A great many of us like to believe that the sole purpose of art or entertainment is escapism, to allow us to detach from the world and enjoy what’s in front of us, and a great deal of it is. Indeed, the whole ethos of the entertainment industry is based on the idea of escapism. Industry executives only want us to think about our entertainers when they are on stage, on MTV, or on the radio, just like Tim Cook only wants us to think about Apple products in the context of buying and using them — not how they get made. However, art does not come out of the ether, or out of a factory; it is made by real people with real life circumstances. Art and artists hold up a mirror to society and reflect it as it actually is. We would like to believe that society does not tolerate violence against women, or that the function of misogyny in America is negatively linear and not sinusoidal. Chris Brown’s sustained career, and Norman Mailer’s before him, say otherwise. This makes us uncomfortable, and so we like to blame Chris Brown or the Grammys, instead of acknowledging that this is a collective failure of society.
What should we do? I think more introspective work is necessary. Attacking the manifestation will not solve the problem; we have to get at the root of the problem, even though that root is something we really would rather not look at most of the time. Honest conversations about our own latent tendencies instead of Chris Brown’s might do real work. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep shaming Chris Brown though. I don’t care how good of a dancer he is, that motherfucker is sleazy.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent The Pulse’s editorial policy.
Those who would like to contact the author can reach him at petermgunn@gmail.com. He welcomes discussion, debate, love and hate.
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