December 25, 2010

A Ray Stevens Christmas, Part Three...

Hello all! This is going to be a more critical blog entry. From time to time I give my opinions about things I see on-line and I criticize those opinions that come across as Anti-Ray Stevens, among other things. Some people out there apparently have no fondness for comical recordings...or novelty songs, silly songs, whatever adjective one wants to use to describe them. In a lot of my on-line travels on message boards and social network sites which incorporate a discussion forum of some kind I've come across contempt, annoyance, and outright anger over comedy/novelty songs. I think a lot of people are just innately "serious minded" and can't laugh at anything unless it's X rated and there's some sort of sexual innuendo punchline. Is this a description of the culture overall or is that segment of the population simply over-shadowing the culture who appreciates comedy songs and doesn't get annoyed hearing them? R and X rated comedy has long been available...so it isn't anything new...but it seems like the public in general only appreciates comedy if it's blended with sexual overtones whereas before adult-oriented comedy was geared toward specific audiences and not pushed onto the mainstream. Has the overly-liberal influence caused R and X rated comedy to be considered mainstream and as a result caused wholesome and clean comedy to be relegated as special interest material? These are rhetorical questions of which I already have my own answers.

The politically correct crowd, for example, has an ax to grind with the word "Christmas" and we all know that the crowd is a branch of the liberal tree. Their latest tirade is about how the word is spread around and mentioned freely which is "offensive to those who aren't Christians". Really? I don't consider myself a Christian or heavily religious at all and the word Christmas doesn't offend me.

The phrases "corny", "trite", "schmaltzy", or "old-fashioned" are used derogatorily to describe entertainment that's simply wholesome and clean. When did it become unpopular, or unattractive, to be wholesome and clean? I'm not saying that comedy has to be family-friendly or unoffensive or politically correct...but why are those derogatory phrases tacked onto the comedic styles of Ray Stevens, in particular, by several people on social network sites across the internet? The music video of "Santa Claus Is Watching You" has long been a favorite of mine...it's a favorite of hundreds of thousands of people, too, but yet there's always someone out there who'll have an ax to grind about this or that and insult the video, the song, Ray, and those who appreciate his music.

I was reading the comment section the other day of one of Ray's music videos and sure enough there's the antagonistic crowd who apparently get no enjoyment in their own lives unless they're making fun of other people's enjoyments...it's something I'll never understand.

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