18 years and counting

[gfish]

I've been seeing this article being passed around quite a bit the last few days: Isn't Sinead O’Connor Overdue A Massive, Groveling Apology From Absolutely Everybody?

It raises some excellent points, none of which I want to get into here. Mostly, it just made me think of watching that episode of SNL when it happened, and how completely clueless I was about popular culture at the time. I became media aware fairly at a fairly late age, being the typical reclusive geek all my life. SNL was one of the shows I consciously watched not so much because I liked it, but because I knew I needed to start understanding references better. I wasn't even really paying attention when she ripped up the photo, since the music guests usually bored me. I mostly remember being a bit confused about why Sandra Day O'Connor was singing on SNL. Yes, I confused the singer for the supreme court justice. I didn't even recognize the photo at the time, I didn't realize what had happened until news stories about it the next couple of days. As an obnoxiously militant little atheist, I mostly just thought it was all pretty cool. I didn't even pay attention to the why she had done it -- I think I thought it was some Ireland Protestant/Catholic thing.

So, yeah, I guess my main response boils down to: I used to be a real dork.

Comments

At being a dork.

[caladri.livejournal.com]

You got better :)

[sistawendy.livejournal.com]

I didn't know it was about child molestation either. I thought it was was just a cheap, wacky stunt. That tells you something about the quality of the reporting that went on about it, I think.

[randomdreams.livejournal.com]

It was more about abortion rights and her contention that the Pope's stance on contraception amounted to violence against women, I believe.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Which it does.

Anyway, even minus the child sex abuse scandal I don't get this idea that *anyone* should be immune to having their picture torn up. If someone wants to tear up a picture of me, well, why not? A picture of the President, or Galleleo--okay, sure. The pope? Why should the pope be exempt?

Regarding dorkism I hadn't even heard about this until I read your post.

[dianthus.livejournal.com]

By the time it aired over here on the West Coast, it had already been censored. So I just remember being confused about what had happened at all, until I read the news.

[vixyish.livejournal.com]

I watched the video of her getting "booed off the stage" at a Bob Dylan tribute concert later on (which isn't actually what happened, and which is an amazing show of courage; I was shaking after watching it) and read her Op-ed piece linked in there, as well.

I wasn't at all aware of what or why it happened at the time either, and I have less excuse than you.

[peteralway.livejournal.com]

I have to admit I was in the same boat about not knowing exactly what Sinead O'Connor was protesting--I just figured that there were plentiny of likely things to prostest about any organized religion. I didn't actually see that episode live, but my reaction to what I'd heard about it was roughly the same as yours. But I'm guessing I was a decade or more older than you at the time, so I didn't have much of an excuse.

At least I knew she wasn't a Supreme Court justice!

[tarkrai.livejournal.com]

I almost *never* watched SNL (working weekends); and this was actually one of the very rare occasions when I did. I remember watching and thinking 'WTF?!? That wasn't really very funny...'; and then forgetting about it for a couple of days. The political impact of her protest completely escaped me that night.

After learning what it was about, I remember at the time feeling that Pope John Paul II didn't deserve the vitriol from her, 'cuz hey- he's just a nice old guy, y'know? But at the same time, I was uncomfortable with how the media was just dissing her and dismissing her out of hand.

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

Interesting to see the contrasts, in comments. Over here in the UK we never saw the SNL episode, just the aftermath in the newspapers and frankly, that was the only time I ever gave SO'C any credibility. Couldn't stand her music. *g*

We knew that allegations had been made, and were continuing to be made, and my general reaction was 'yeah, can see why she did that, fair enough' and I don't actually know anyone who condemned her for it. (I am not Catholic but half my family are - but Italian and not Irish, or they might have had more to say about it.)

The Father Ted stuff I just took as being an easy target, and in context an obvious one. Almost every guest character there was a nutter of some sort AND obviously mocking at least one real celebrity of similar type, so one based on SO'C didn't seem like it was solely and specifically aiming to hurt her.

[gement.livejournal.com]

All I remember registering was surprise that people were quite so attached to their graven images. I understood she was protesting *some* issue with the Catholic Church -- I believe I presumed it was attitudes toward women.

I think I thought it was a more in-your-face protest tactic than I would have chosen, but then I wouldn't have expected the reaction either, being raised New Age and completely out of touch with mainstream religion.

[ivy]

At the time, I remember being vaguely "should I be offended?" -- I was still vaguely Catholic, but not strongly so. I knew who she was, but I didn't know what she was protesting. I had my own less than stellar opinions of the Catholic church, though.