Program Length: 1 hour
Produced: 1999

This study guide suggests different ways that teachers can help students think critically about information, and to help them better understand various points of view regarding video censorship. The guide’s sections occur in the same chronological order as the items in the video. Some of the suggestions involve class discussion, some involve research.

You need not view the whole tape at one sitting, nor is it necessary to use all of the guide; in fact, it is recommended that only those suggested activities be followed that best suit the students and the curriculum. Replay sections that need repeated screenings.

Many of the participants’ key statements are included in the guide, so teachers can become familiar with them and be prepared for them when they occur in the video.

In this program, a panel discusses two contentious videos: Metallica’s "Turn the Page," a cover of a Bob Seger song set to the story of a stripper/hooker mother and her daughter; and Marilyn Manson’s "I Don’t Like the Drugs (But the Drugs Like Me)," an allegorical criticism of television brainwashing.

The major issues discussed in "Turn the Page" are the appropriateness in showing the life of a stripper/hooker, especially the violence she endures from "Johns," on prime time MuchMusic (an edited version was showing at the time this show was recorded. Unlike MTV, MuchMusic itself does not edit videos; in this example, the edited video was supplied by the record label). The major issue discussed in "I Don’t Like the Drugs (But the Drugs Like Me)" is the depressing influence of the video on vulnerable youth who might be contemplating suicide (the video was not shown at all on MuchMusic at the time this show was recorded, but discussions were proceeding with Manson representatives to modify it to fit MuchMusic’s standards).

The panel was carefully chosen to provide a variety of points of view, and many excellent issues came out of the discussion.
The Panelists:
Max Valiquette - Youth Marketing expert, Bozell Advertising
Tim Huff - Street Youth Worker
Chris Sinnons-Physick - Kids’ Help Phone/Council on Suicide Prevention
Ken MacNeil - musician in Rusty, a Canadian group whose video "Oh No Joe" was rejected by the MuchMusic screening committee.
Hosted by MuchMusic VJ Juliette Powell.

1. "Turn the Page" - the video
Watch the video and note its elements.
The video creates three separate spaces. First, intermittent interviews with the main character, a stripper/hooker, wherein she comments on her life. Second, a docu-drama telling the story of a transient mother and young daughter. The mother strips by day and turns tricks at night to support the family. In between, she does laundry, takes her daughter to restaurants, and travels from motel to motel. The third space is Metallica performing "Turn the Page" on a studio soundstage.

Metallica’s performance is used to punctuate and comment on the docu-drama. The opening of the docu-drama reveals crumpled dollar bills on a side table, a flickering TV screen, the daughter playing unattended and the mother sleeping. What feelings do you have from seeing these elements?

One section of the video presents an intercutting of the stripper performing, men in the audience, the Metallica musicians, and the daughter amusing herself in the dressing room. What meanings do you take from the combination of these four elements? How do they influence our interpretations of each of the four moments? What does "Turn the Page" mean in the context of this story?

2. Emma asks: "What was the reason behind drastically changing the context of a Bob Seger song about a band on the road to a song about prostitution?"
What is Lars Ulrich’s answer? (Avoid the obvious.) Emma says that his answer was unsatisfactory.
Do you agree? Why?

3. A real sex worker asks, "Because the woman in the video is not a recognizable actress, I’m wondering if she is a real sex worker."
Lars Ulrich’s answer: "She is an actress that was a porn star. She had a vulnerability and a sadness that really fit what we were looking for." He explains: "There are two or three places in the video where it stops and it goes into a monologue where she sits and talks about some things. That stuff is unscripted. After they shot the video for 2 or 3 days, Yonas (the Director) sat her down and said, "tell me about your life." Those quotes came out of that."

Later in the program, Ken MacNeil comments on the misleading nature of using an interview with a real actress as part of the story involving a character: "They’ve interviewed this woman as a real person, and in the video she’s acting. That’s a very odd thing to do to someone."
Is this honest on the part of the director? How important is it to the effect of the video to hear that the actress would "make the same decisions"? How might the video’s meaning change if that were omitted?

4. Alec Toro e-mails the following comment:
"I also think that hiding things like suicide and prostitution from the public furthers the problem. People need to be aware of what’s really happening outside their white picket fences so they will be more aware of and perhaps more educated about people such as the ones in these videos. After all, real life isn’t censored."

What information does "Turn the Page" provide for MuchMusic viewers that they might not already know? How might the video benefit viewers? Is this the best way to learn about "strippers"’ and "hookers"’ lifestyles? Do you agree that ‘real life isn’t censored?’ Explain.

5. "I Don’t Like the Drugs (But the Drugs Like Me)"
Marilyn Manson
This video presents a surrealistic story of an androgynous character (played by Marilyn Manson) who first appears to be attached to a cross made of TV sets. We also see a Nativity scene, which symbolizes the birth of Christ. Crucifixion symbolizes the death of Christ. At intermittent moments there are headless police in pursuit of Manson’s character.

We also see a family with TV dinners watching TV - it is a retro moment because the TV dinners are on old-fashioned TV trays and the TV is a 19 - inch set. The family all have artificially big eyes. At one point a woman shows flash cards to the children watching TV. Words on the flash cards include ‘suicide, dope star, repent, masturbate, drugs, quaaludes (sic).’
Manson flees into a doctor’s waiting room and eventually has his left arm amputated (without anesthetic). With the headless police in pursuit, he rushes through a Springer-like TV studio and disrupts the guests, who attack one another, Springer-style. The host is headless. Manson then rushes up a stairway and jumps from a bridge between two large tanks. His body is represented on the TV cross we saw him attached to in the beginning.

In the words of Paul Hunter, Director of the video:
"What the song is about is the drugs of television and the negative images of the world that we live in and the irony that we love it, but it’s the thing that destroys us. It wasn’t to say, ‘Hey! Commit suicide because that’s the only escape. As an artist I think that everyone has a right to express themselves and try to get the point that they want to make. I just wanted to make something that was thought-provoking."

Do you find this video thought-provoking? How do you interpret the following elements?
Manson’s costume, make up and hair? [Could he be portraying Marilyn Monroe, one of his namesakes, and a victim of media exposure, therefore crucified on a cross of TV sets?]
The exaggerated eyes? [The heightened sensitivity to, or dominance of, images in the media.]
The amputation? [Symbolic crippling.]
The flash cards? [Suggestions made by TV programs.] The Springer-like TV studio? [Often considered the worst of exploitation TV.]
The headless police?
Jumping off the bridge?
"I Don’t Like the Drugs (But the Drugs Like Me)"? [Drugs might be TV shows. His distaste may be for the perverse nature of Springer, etc. The drugs may like him because TV is drawn to the macabre.]

6. "I believe that I have the right to do what I want to do artistically."
Lars Ulrich
Does Lars Ulrich, the artist, have the right to create a video that depicts these events, even though the story is about a fictitious character while the interview is with a real person? Is it acceptable to mix art and reality? Why?
Should MuchMusic show the uncut version to respect the artist or edit some parts to protect some of its audience? Which sections of the video do you think the record label cut? Would you cut any sections? Which ones? Why?

7. John Jones, member of the MuchMusic screening committee, explains:
"Our big concern with the video was the imagery of suicide and the ambiguity there. As broadcasters, we’re concerned with the issue of suicide and the impression of suicide. It can be potential triggers for suicide."

Do you understand the committee’s concerns? Do you agree? Why?
Ken MacNeil states:
"Just because it’s in the video doesn’t mean it’s being condoned. It also takes the power out of the viewer. Just because someone says the word ‘suicide’ doesn’t mean they’re saying it’s good. It’s art, and that’s what art does: it reflects the world."

Max Valiquette adds:
"It’s not real. And young people are smart and young people can get that. You’re doing his [Manson’s] marketing for it by yanking it off the air. Historically, if you look back, young people tend to gravitate to stuff their parents don’t want them to see. If you want to do something clever with the video, put it on the air and air the Kids’ Help phone number right after it. The problem with suicide is we aggrandize it [make it important] by NOT talking about it. But there are so many more people who don’t call who this (video) could get to call your line."

Chris responds:
"Part of the youth population is a fairly large group of kids who are very vulnerable to these kinds of messages. It’s a reality. I guess I was thinking about the comment that one video would cause someone to commit suicide. I don’t think anyone’s saying that. I think that’s absurd, but it may be accumulation and it has a lot to do with where the person starts out. And the reality is, folks, that there are vulnerable, depressed young people in this society who are committing suicide each and every day. And it may not be one video, but that one video may be the trigger."

Ken:
"Art is a reelection of what is going on out there. Artists have responsibilities, but they also have responsibilities to their art and that is to report on what they see out there."
I think it’s our responsibility to take issue with the fact that it’s just marketing, someone thinks it’s just creativity it’s young lives that focus on this. Some kids take it literally. If you’re offended by it, don’t watch it. But if you’re smart and young, and lots of your viewers are young and smart. If they’ve got some kind of feelings of depression or some kind of problem, then do something smart about it and get some help, but, don’t take these videos off the air."

Max:
There are three points of view expressed in this interchange. One is the artists’, one is the marketers’, and one is that of the potential victims of actions resulting from the videos.
Summarize each of the three positions. Consider each of ‘‘Turn the Page’’ and "I Don’t Like the Drugs (But the Drugs Like Me)." State your opinion of MuchMusic’s editing of ‘‘Turn the Page’’ and banning "I Don’t Like the Drugs (But the Drugs Like Me)."

8. ‘We actually took our concerns to the Manson camp and they are changing the video to what we think are the standards.’
John Jones

Is it ethical for MuchMusic to insist on changes to a video? Would MuchMusic show more respect to the artist to just ban the video? Does an artist have artistic integrity if he is willing to change a video to gain airplay? Does this suggest that marketing is more important than art?

Written by: Neil Andersen
Neil Andersen is an award-winning Curriculum Consultant with the Toronto District School Board. He is also a speaker and consultant in media and communications technology. His most recent work includes the Between the Lines CDs, the teachers' study guide for the award-winning Scanning Television, and study guides for Space, Bravo! and MuchMusic's Cable in the Classroom broadcasts of original media literacy programming.

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