L
LoafingOaf - The Killer Inside Me
Guest
I don't know if anyone has ever mentioned the similarities between the music on "The Teachers are Afraid of the Pupils" and the "Dead Nazi March" in the film Romper Stomper.
That can't be coincidental.
What do you guys think Romper Stomper means to Morrissey? (And btw I think it's a pretty good film.)
He got the song title "This Is Not Your Country" from the opening scene of the film. He referred to the film's main character "Hando" in a press release with the release of Maladjusted. The film came out around the time he was penning songs such as "National Front Disco." He even (this may be a stretch) seems to be quoting Hando when he referred in a recent interview to soldiers in Iraq as "cannon fodder" (Hando asks someone who enlisted in the Australian Navy: "Why do you want to be cannon fodder for the system?").
The song "This Is Not Your Country," of course, is not about skinheads telling Asian immigrants to get the f*** out of their country or get beaten. I think he just liked the line and wnated to use it in a different context. However, the film obviously has touched something inside Morrissey to have had such a strong influence (or is it just that he finds Crowe sexy?).
This THREAD is NOT about whether Morrissey is a racist or a bad person, as I think he clearly does not judge people based on something as stupid as skin color and I think he's a great person. However, this does not settle his views on immigration, which is what I was kind of wondering about after watching Romper Stomper again. He's clearly not down with the racist skinheads, but where is he coming from?
Morrissey does seem to sympathize with some of the underlying feelings, no?
Not the racism and violence, but the feelings that make some people turn to racism and violence?
Hando, in Romper Stomper, says he doesn't want him and his kind to go down like the "Abo." Morrissey, on Viva Hate advises people who don't belong in Great Britain to "shelve their western plans." On Your Arsenal he is sad about being the "last truly British people you will ever know," and how British culture "looks to Los Angeles for the language we use."
But on "National Front Disco" he is sad that a boy has gotten caught up in the National Front's views on race. (In Romper Stomper, Hando's violence and nazi views don't do him any good, they just make him do sick, evil, and stupid things and he's a complete f*** up every step of the way until it finally kills him.)
On "Asian Rut" on the album Kill Uncle, Morrissey tells the story of an Asian victim of thuggery and portrays it as an example of how uncivilized the world still remains.
What do you think Morrissey's views on immigration really are? Does he think the uncivilized behavior in "Asian Rut" is a consequence of there being too much immigration while the people born and raised there feel neglected and without much of a future? Or is it because he thinks it's sad that so many people are angry at immigrants? Or does he think the natural-born working classes and the immigrants are all just exploited victims of the real enemy? "Margaret on the Guillotine"? Again, I'm just trying to work out where he comes from on all this, without saying it's right or wrong. Maybe he doesn't even know and he's just expressing feelings that are as confused as everyone else's, and all he knows for sure is that he should live his own life as a civilized, loving person.
How come no interviewer has ever asked him straight up? All we get are questions about life in Los Angeles, as if anyone cares. But people do wonder about his views on immigration, since he has songs touching on the issue. It's weird that no one ever asks him. Is he just observing all the growing pains in this world of globalization and immigration? Or, does he think too much immigration is bad for society?
In my opinion, anger at immigration is very similar to anger at free trade and globalizing capitalism. In both cases I think it's very ignorant, as I think immigration is extremely beneficial to countries in the long term for many of the same reasons as global capitalism is, even though with immigration and global capitalism comes short term problems that people lash out at.
Also, what does Morrissey mean by the lyric: "It's the touchy march of time that binds you"??
Another thing that brought this to my mind was that I saw a story in the Guardian which states:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1126141,00.html
>>>>
Four out of 10 white people do not want an Asian or black Briton as their neighbour, according to a survey published this week.
The opinion poll found rocketing concern about immigration and asylum combined with ignorance about basic facts about the issue and growing resentment.
...
Bobby Duffy, research director at Mori, said: "We have overestimated the progress we have made in race and immigration issues. I'm surprised about such a high finding as people are usually reticent because they worry about being judged by the interviewer, so this finding is worrying."
The poll shows that the issue of race and immigration has risen up the list of people's concerns, and is now the third most important, ahead of crime, defence and the economy."
That can't be coincidental.
What do you guys think Romper Stomper means to Morrissey? (And btw I think it's a pretty good film.)
He got the song title "This Is Not Your Country" from the opening scene of the film. He referred to the film's main character "Hando" in a press release with the release of Maladjusted. The film came out around the time he was penning songs such as "National Front Disco." He even (this may be a stretch) seems to be quoting Hando when he referred in a recent interview to soldiers in Iraq as "cannon fodder" (Hando asks someone who enlisted in the Australian Navy: "Why do you want to be cannon fodder for the system?").
The song "This Is Not Your Country," of course, is not about skinheads telling Asian immigrants to get the f*** out of their country or get beaten. I think he just liked the line and wnated to use it in a different context. However, the film obviously has touched something inside Morrissey to have had such a strong influence (or is it just that he finds Crowe sexy?).
This THREAD is NOT about whether Morrissey is a racist or a bad person, as I think he clearly does not judge people based on something as stupid as skin color and I think he's a great person. However, this does not settle his views on immigration, which is what I was kind of wondering about after watching Romper Stomper again. He's clearly not down with the racist skinheads, but where is he coming from?
Morrissey does seem to sympathize with some of the underlying feelings, no?
Not the racism and violence, but the feelings that make some people turn to racism and violence?
Hando, in Romper Stomper, says he doesn't want him and his kind to go down like the "Abo." Morrissey, on Viva Hate advises people who don't belong in Great Britain to "shelve their western plans." On Your Arsenal he is sad about being the "last truly British people you will ever know," and how British culture "looks to Los Angeles for the language we use."
But on "National Front Disco" he is sad that a boy has gotten caught up in the National Front's views on race. (In Romper Stomper, Hando's violence and nazi views don't do him any good, they just make him do sick, evil, and stupid things and he's a complete f*** up every step of the way until it finally kills him.)
On "Asian Rut" on the album Kill Uncle, Morrissey tells the story of an Asian victim of thuggery and portrays it as an example of how uncivilized the world still remains.
What do you think Morrissey's views on immigration really are? Does he think the uncivilized behavior in "Asian Rut" is a consequence of there being too much immigration while the people born and raised there feel neglected and without much of a future? Or is it because he thinks it's sad that so many people are angry at immigrants? Or does he think the natural-born working classes and the immigrants are all just exploited victims of the real enemy? "Margaret on the Guillotine"? Again, I'm just trying to work out where he comes from on all this, without saying it's right or wrong. Maybe he doesn't even know and he's just expressing feelings that are as confused as everyone else's, and all he knows for sure is that he should live his own life as a civilized, loving person.
How come no interviewer has ever asked him straight up? All we get are questions about life in Los Angeles, as if anyone cares. But people do wonder about his views on immigration, since he has songs touching on the issue. It's weird that no one ever asks him. Is he just observing all the growing pains in this world of globalization and immigration? Or, does he think too much immigration is bad for society?
In my opinion, anger at immigration is very similar to anger at free trade and globalizing capitalism. In both cases I think it's very ignorant, as I think immigration is extremely beneficial to countries in the long term for many of the same reasons as global capitalism is, even though with immigration and global capitalism comes short term problems that people lash out at.
Also, what does Morrissey mean by the lyric: "It's the touchy march of time that binds you"??
Another thing that brought this to my mind was that I saw a story in the Guardian which states:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1126141,00.html
>>>>
Four out of 10 white people do not want an Asian or black Briton as their neighbour, according to a survey published this week.
The opinion poll found rocketing concern about immigration and asylum combined with ignorance about basic facts about the issue and growing resentment.
...
Bobby Duffy, research director at Mori, said: "We have overestimated the progress we have made in race and immigration issues. I'm surprised about such a high finding as people are usually reticent because they worry about being judged by the interviewer, so this finding is worrying."
The poll shows that the issue of race and immigration has risen up the list of people's concerns, and is now the third most important, ahead of crime, defence and the economy."