They want to have their opinions about the censorship of Rock Music known, especially to those crazy people who came up with the notion that true Rock Music, regardless of the race, age, gender, or class of he/she who plays it, is and idea, a message, and an art form, one that represents an individuals opinion of the human condition, and suppression of such would be a denial to all of those who are willing to listen. To think that those music fans could be ignorant enough to think that "the purpose of art lies purely in its ability to portray a concept, an idea- (Jahan 1) and is not employed as a brainwashing tool. Those silly people. I guess the PMRC was unfamiliar with what modern-philosopher Peter Michelson rationalization that "the responsibility of society, if it accepts poetry as a mode of knowledge, is to remain open to what poets of all genres, including the pornographic, have to say. Otherwise all mirrors will soon reflect the same imbecilic smile- (Lombardi 1).
But why is rock blamed so? Four months into the year 1999, an terrible act occurred in Littleton, Colorado, an act without clear motive, and an act that downsized anything else on the news from a "Nation In Crisis- typed piece to a fifteen second news brief that came between updates on this greater tragedy, the Columbine incident. Two boys, armed with assorted guns, homemade grenades, and pipe bombs, walked into their school cafeteria and began a shooting spree. Two hours later, they "capped- off the murders of 12 of their fellow students, and a teacher, by shooting themselves in the mouths, thus leaving us with no way to find out what caused them to do this terrible, unexplainable act, and leaving politicians scrambling for a scapegoat. What the politicians found was the entertainment industry: violent movies, the Internet, videogames, and, of course, Rock Music. A poll taken after the incident showed that 80% of Americans felt that the Internet bore some of the responsibility, and that 46% though it was the likes of Goth bands like Marilyn Manson and KMFDM who told the boys to do these things.
