Response 3 - Ava Solina
April 18, 2018, by Ava
Even though Please Kill Me is frequently focused on a different era of music and life than we know today, I am always fascinated by the similarities between now and then, and how popular cultural themes and concepts have carried over in one way or another. Even though styles change (sometimes), and music and other entertainment forms evolve, parts of them persist over time. I found this particularly evident in chapter 22, when Danny Fields was discussing how he came to be manager of the Ramones. He states that when he introduced himself to the Ramones, he said, “I love you so much. I’ll be your manager.” (McNeil & McCain, 224). This seemed a bit fan girlish to me, but it also reminded me of the type of culture we have subscribed to today in regards to certain artists. In response to Fields saying that he’d be their new manager, the Ramones said, “Oh, good, we need a new drum set. Do you have money?” (McNeil & McCain, 224), hinting at the fact that they just needed money, not another person lusting after them and their image. Fields said that he asked his mother for three thousand dollars and she gave it right to him and that’s how he started managing the Ramones- he bought his way into being their manager.
This reminded me of how most artists build their fan base today and along with that, their power. You can only be a “fan” if you buy your way into their music. Even to just enjoy their music, you need to pay $1.29 on iTunes (theoretically). If you want a more authentic experience and want to go to their concert, you have to shell out hundreds of dollars for crappy seats and God forbid you want to meet the artist, you have to fork over thousands dollars to have them pretend to have some sort of deep connection with you for all of five minutes, which you paid for. By buying these passes people are basically saying, “I’m your biggest fan because I can afford to be.” These few lines reminded me of my experience last summer at Gov Ball. My boss at DO was nice enough to pay for some of us to go, and I got to see another side of the concert industry. I’d hear kids saying, “Oh I love this song! Who sings it again?” They weren’t there for the performance as much as the image they wanted to be a part of, which can be seen throughout music history. There were stages with different artists performing at the same time. They’d put on Franz Ferdinand or Cage the Elephant at the same time as Lorde or Wiz Khalifa and you’re forced to choose between the two and most of the time you’re going to go with the big name just because of the name and their popularity even when it’s not what you truly want to see. We buy into these big artists because they are selling themselves better- and we love it.
Another topic discussed which reminded me of modern entertainment was later on when John talks about the magazine he and Holmstrom were going to start. He says that “if we have a magazine, people will think we’re cool and stuff and want to hang out with us,” (McNeil & McCain, 225). This reminded me of how today, when most artists are rising to popularity and fame, they’ll do whatever it takes to come off as being cool so people want to rally behind them.. which includes face tattoos and other extreme measures. Holmstrom said that he “wanted the magazine to be a combination of everything we were into- television reruns, drinking beer, getting laid, cheeseburgers, comics, grade- B movies, and this weird rock & roll that nobody seemed to like: the Velvets, the Stoogies, the New York Dolls, and now, the Dictators,” (McNeil & McCain, 225).
His hopes for the magazine reminded me of reality TV today, but in magazine form. It made me question why we are always attracted to this type of entertainment, is it because it’s proof that yes- I could actually be doing worse? Or does it boost our ego knowing that hey- there are people who care less about image than I do? Either way, this Please Kill Me reading helped me realize that even as time moves forward, in twenty years, kids my age right now will most likely be saying the same things about the popular artists and bands I’m listening to right now.