Karine Maucourt ([email protected])
Tue, 19 Jan 1999 15:06 +0100 (MET)
As usual Robbie, your message is very interesting. Here are some
thoughts more....i send them publicly because it can be useful for everybody.
Robbie wrote:
>Yes, it includes those people who know/like rock music, but at a certain
>level of media fame, people that don't know/like rock music know of you.
>That's the level where you are on the cover of Time magazine or become a
>catagory on the tv show, Jeopardy, and the contestants are able to answer
>all the questions about the band (except Bono's real name).
>The majority of people that read this long standing and well known
>magazine and watch this game show which has been on for ages, are not
>fans of U2 and maybe not rock fans at all. I would even say that most
>of them fall between the ages of 45 and dead.
If you say this, i believe you, but in your mind, how many Europeans
know Jeopardy ? And even Times Magazine ? Sure many people know Times Mag.,
people like me who know english language for instance or students....but the
others ? And see below for others thoughts.
And what do you think about the message from "Jennifer White"
<[email protected]> ?
>Yes, but are you talking about Americans or Frenchmen?
>I think Patty and I were talking about it from the point of view
>of how most Americans think.
>I'm sure that there are Americans that know and are interested
>in the things you and Dave talk about, but a huge number of Americans
>are just media-hound couch-potatoes and reading the classic Irish
>writers (or any classics) isn't a common American passtime (to
>put it mildly;) If they know of some Irish guy named Sheridan at all,
>it's likely to be the movie director because they saw him on
>EXTRA or Entertainment Tonight.
You made the point. And it why i'm not angry against Patty. I was
talking about Europeans in general. Except UK and Ireland, rock music isn't
well-considered by adults in Europe. However, it's changing a little with
people from my generation. Maybe some US have to learn the US way of life
isn't so famous they can imagine and maybe some of them have to think it
exists countries where people don't have a clue about rock music. So, when
you (in general, not you Robbie) write something to an European (like Patty
did for instance) maybe you can keep in mind you're talking with a person
who hasn't the same culture than you and maybe you can avoid to hurt
him/her. Or is it too much to ask this? As your message proves it, Robbie,
you understood very well where is the problem. And it was Patty's mistake.
She acted like she forgot to keep in mind she was talking with an irish man
and it was almost like she was telling him only U2 is really famous outside
Ireland. I know she wrote a warning at the top of her message but it's not
an excuse to hurt people like that....And she could easily guess she could
hurt David. So, what's the interest in hurting people ? For instance, i
always try not to hurt people in my messages, whatever i can think about
some of them, or i avoid to talk about some U2quotes i read about some kinds
of people.
>There is a good chance that the Senior Citizens of America would, because
>they are that majority of Americans that read Time and watch Jeopardy :)
>Oh yes, interestlingly enough, if I remember correctly, the first two
>questions about the band on that famous game show...the first one described
>U2 as an Irish band and the second one asked which town they are from.
>The contestans got both right :)
>(Oh yes, and that special tribute show for Sinatra's 80th birthday that
>was on US TV a few years ago, remember, Bono and Edge were on it singing
>the song they wrote for him, that got huge ratings, especially with
>the Senior Citizens. A lot of them know of Bono and of U2.)
You can't generalize like that. Or are you sure all US people watch
Jeopardy ? Are you sure each US person, whatever its origin, lives in the
same way ? Notice it's only a question...
>I think your both comming at this subject from the point of view of being
>Irish and being French. Patty and I are answering it from the point of
>view of how the average American that is not necessarly a U2 or even a
>Rock fan would would see it. We've lived with those people every day
>of our lives so we have a pretty good take on them.
Sure i believe you, but can people make the effort to write messages
without stopping thinking about the people who will read their messages ?
Not you Robbie, but to say you're US isn't an excuse to hurt people. And you
can specify you're talking from an US point of view, or you're talking only
for the US people you know....(US or whatever the country). It will mitigate
the weight of your words.
PS: Patty, don't loose your nerves like that, you hurt David first, so don't
be surprised irish can be angry against you. Maybe you didn't think about
these consequences of your message, it's not a drama. Everybody can make
mistakes. Just don't forget the lesson.
In the name of love
Karine
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b2 on Tue Jan 19 1999 - 06:04:00 PST