So here is a philisophical question that maybe you can address. Why is it that we seem to accept-- even celebrate-- fraud in the arts? The Music Man celebrates a musical fraud, Harold Hill. P.T. Barnum's cons are enjoyed for their creativity. When he sells a ticket to walk through a door that says "This way to the Egress" (which just means "exit") people laugh, in much the same way we would not laugh at a consumer product marketed with such boldness. When the movie A Knight's Tale was advertised with "reviewers" quotes made up by the studio, it was not a scandal, and barely a news story. Why do you suppose this is?

Just a guess, here. Maybe it sounds better to say, "how smart they are!" than it does to say, "how stupid we are!" (for lettin' 'em pull the wool over our eyes. Which brings me to another question....where the heck did that cliche about pullin' the wool over eyes come from and how the heck does it mean bein' fooled?)

Confusedly,
Capt. Zap

The story I once heard about the "wool" thing goes back hundreds of years ago to England, when men wore wigs for dress. The slang term for the wigs was "wool." Robbers would yank those wigs down over a man's eyes so he could rob his subject without being seen. Hence the expression.

As to the original question, it's one I've pondered without knowing the answer. The entertainment industry, I've always said, can get away with screwing the public over & over, & the public just keeps coming back for more.

I've always taken a different approach. I've refused to step into clubs or venues that I didn't think were treating the customers right. I stopped buying Chuck Berry's records back in 1986; he was supposed to perform a concert after the last Pirates game of the season (which I attended) but backed out when the game went into extra innings. I once wrote an article about an unknown singer for a web site; I won't even say his name here but when he sent the site a nasty email objecting to the article (if he was polite I wouldn't have minded), I stopped buying & listening to his stuff as well. I never got into Aerosmith coz they always refused to play Pittsburgh in their heyday, saying the city wasn't big enough; I figured, if you don't need Pittsburgh, you ain't getting this fan.

And so on. That's how I've always seen things, but I'm in the minority.

Thanks for the info, Joe. Good thing I don't wear a wig!

Gosh Joe it's great to know I'm not alone.....People are always lookin' at me strange because I refuse to buy things because of the way they're advertized or won't shop at a certain huge hardware chain cos they still sell timber logged from old growth forests in Tasmania.. etc..etc..
Wow you should see them when I tell them I always pay cash for weekly stuff.groceries,gas etc (and most other things I buy).. instead of eftpos card or credit card cos I don't like the bank and whoever else knowing when, where I buy and how much I spend.I don't think thats being paranoid just trying to keep SOME privacy in my life!!
Im with you Lauralee I don't get that there isn't uproar over these things and if you do voice your distain people look at you funny and also become offended because they think that you think you are superoir to them because you think that way and they don't. I've been told many times by others who think this way that at work or in some social situations it's better to justy DUM yourself down 'cos your out numbered.I guess it's just easier to be a sheep (or a Lemming). Thanks for the Wool story Joe!

Great minds think alike, Weezie! WE are the consumers. If anybody wants ME to buy anything, I gotta like the price & I gotta be treated right.

Louse, Joe--I'm with you! Also, people think I'm absolutely NUTS because I refuse to use the grocery (or other) store "discount" cards, which means I may wind up paying more. (Though recently I've just not been shopping at those stores at all.) This site explains (among other things) why a wise consumer won't use those cards: Marketing YOU

Welcome back to Laura Lee. Wow, didn't realize that about the store cards. I don't belong to any of the stores where ysa gotta pay a fee in order to shop there like Sams Club, Costco, Price Club etc. I can't afford to pay to shop there when I can shop elsewhere for free. I read somewhere where some guy in a newspaper columm said he'd never shop at Sams Club cuz they were run by Walmart but charge ya to belong to shop there instead of being free. & He could shop at Walmart for free. I agreed with him...

OH...MY...GOODNESS...CEASHEL...believe me..
i,m taking all seven of those buggers off my keychain ASAP!
People laugh at me when I tell them of my banking practices.
I stopped using the bank in 1995. That was when they refused to open an account due to a discrepancy over a 35$ check...yada yada...they (the US 'telacheck system') would not even let me have a savings account in ANY bank...they said 7 years after I clear that 35$ check...then and only MAYBE then could I attempt to start another account......well, like i said...since '95..i was quite clear on what the banks of this country can do with themselves....so i know thet haven't been tracking me that way....but my grocery discount cards?..those b*****ds.<img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/angryrazz.gif" width=15 height=15>

I agree with everything you're all saying, but so far the replies here sorta prove Lauralee's point, coz nobody but me has said anything about boycotting a certain artist or a certain entertainment venue. Anybody here ever done anything like that?

Well... there is the boycott of ClearChannel radio... I stopped listening to any of the seven ClearChannel stations in my area after 9/11, when I became aware of the non-approved playlist they had issued... can you fathom that they said "don't play John Lennon's IMAGINE" ???

I don't use any store cards and am going to make a sign that says NO I DON'T HAVE FLY-BUYS! Yes Joe, besides the hardware store, I have boycotted lots of things and places in the consumer sense. But a particular artist or venue.......let me see....... Hey, I'll never go see C,S and N coz you don't like them.. how's that?
Of course there are the one's I mentioned elsewhere Rod S. Tom J. Julio.. do I need say why??????
I was there when those psudo old hippies in Townsville walked out on Bob when he came out and went straight into an electric number (this was '98 NOT '65!)So I was there when one happened does that count!
And I boycott any artist that uses women as decorations (I don't think there's enough room here to list them all)
Boy... Would I love to get in a room with all you guys and gals for a talkfest! It would be nice to be able to talk freely and not be thought of as a conspiracy you know what.
Once again why don't people what to hear or believe this stuff about loss of privacy etc.??
Help me here, are they so afraid to take control of their own lives anymore?
One day there might not be a supermarket full of food..a fully stocked hospital at their fingertips.. people have grown too far away from self sufficency and nature.
My goal is to get as close to living off"The fat 'o the land" as possible and I know if some disaster occured we could survive if we had to head off into the bush because we have taught ourselves skills over the years.
I mean did the Indians and Aboriginal people have supermarkets for goodness sake!!
Well thats my sermon for today. It's 8:30 A.M. New Years Day here so about 5:30 N.Y. Eve there so it's my one foot in each year sermon!

..hi laura, good to "see" you again<img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/smile.gif" width=15 height=15>.....interesting question....well, my first thought was that in the arts, people go with the entertainment mindset....so when Barnum gets a laugh out of Egress, it's just part of the show, yes?......
....but i'm not sure that's always true......whatever happened to those 2 guys that were lyp-synching and got caught......was that the total end for them....and the recent performer on SNL that was lip-synching (but really does sing)...she caught slack from that......still trying to prove herself....

...and perhaps it's a reach....but McCarthy certainly targeted more than a few performers who really did suffer, despite how questionably "wrong" they were....

Anita Bryant (remember Anita?). John Wayne. Exploitative porn. Rodeo. Circuses or shows that include wild animals. Shows that misuse/abuse domestic animals. "Reality shows" that celebrate greed and rudeness. Anyone who uses a religion (but seems insincere) to further their career. I'll have nothing to do with any of those (and a lot more that I just can't think of at the moment). For most entertainment, though, it's more a matter of natural preference, so "boycott" never comes into it. Most of the musicians/authors/actors I enjoy listening to/reading/seeing are people whose values are similar to mine. Their art reflects their world view, and that's why I'm attracted to it to begin with. I suspect it's that way for most people, whether they're conscious of it or not. The boycott, as it were, is kind of built in. You can learn a lot about what people really think and believe not by listening to what they espouse, but by noticing what entertainment and cultural activities they choose.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by P. Pittsburgh Joe:

I agree with everything you're all saying, but so far the replies here sorta prove Lauralee's point, coz nobody but me has said anything about boycotting a certain artist or a certain entertainment venue. Anybody here ever done anything like that?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Just cuz ya don't say it don't mean ya don't or didn't do it. I reckon that everybody has boycotted or eschewed (wow! always wanted to use that word!) something or someone for some reason or another.