Wal-Mart Sued Over Evanescence CD Lyrics

[IWasBored]

this seems to happen every few years, doesn't it?

i think it's brought on by the same people who teach their kids not to hit other people by spanking them

 

[discothequeLP]

this is why I love America: we don't really know why we're so good, we just are, except that we're pretty bad, it's just that no one knows it except everyone else

 

[Anirban]

well the one positive i can see out of all this is that there's a chance evanescence cds will be pulled from shelves. (desregarding the whole threat to democracy and basic civil liberties)

 

[Macfistowannabe]

What's next, banning the word "gas?"

 

[BrownEyedBoy]

Whoa, our 13-year-old heard the F-word! Only $74, 500 can reverse such trauma!!!!



How ridiculous.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

First off, to starsgoblue's post. No kidding-it's amazing where our priorities lie sometimes when it comes to being outraged over things, isn't it?

Second...

As far as I was aware, the parental advisory label is self-imposed or at least left to the discretion of the label. One song with the word "fuck" doesn't warrant a label. Look at Ben Folds' albums; the only one with a label is the live album, but the words "fuck" and "shit" appear frequently, along with a good bit of drug reference. But WalMart sells all of those, and no one ever complained. Shit, I could say it's because Ben Folds isn't really mainstream and Evanescence is. Well, then you look at Alanis Morissette's "Jagged Little Pill": fuck shows up numerous times, references to oral sex ("go down on you in a theater" and "wine, dine, 69 me"), along with "shit" and a few others... but guess what? It still sold millions and millions and millions and millions of copies without a parental advisory label or sanitized version available. In fact, the "dirty" version still sells at WalMart. It's just one radical person reacting to one song with "questionable" content on an otherwise clean CD. Jeez.

Exactly right. Seriously, the person filing this lawsuit may not want to come to my house, then, 'cause I have CDs that have swear words in them-you can hear the "f-word", and "shit" and stuff like that in some of my CDs (hmmm, and yet I magically have seemed to turn out pretty well, I'm a pretty good kid, haven't been known to cause trouble or anything...wow, imagine that).

Besides that...okay, so this person means to tell me that Wal-Mart employees forced them to buy this CD, had a whole conspiracy going where they weren't going to tell them there was a bad word on there and stuff?

Uh...no. If this person's so offended, just return the CD and be done with it. There's no need for a freakin' lawsuit, 'cause the store did nothing wrong here, this person was never forced to buy the CD.

I just have never understood what's so hard about the concept of, "Don't like it, don't buy it/watch it/read it". It's so simple, people.

I know there's smart people wandering around out there, but lately, I swear, it seems I just keep running across a lot of the dumb ones that exist more than the smart ones (although I agree with Zoomerang, it is nice to see that you all in this thread have common sense ).

Angela

 

[BVS]

Wait they're upset because a 13 year old heard the word "fuck"? Why aren't they upset that their kid bought shitty music?

Wal-Mart scares the shit out ot me. For more reasons than one. They use to be a client of a company I worked for, and they're scary.

 

[EmilyBono]

Wait they're upset because a 13 year old heard the word "fuck"? Why aren't they upset that their kid bought shitty music?

Hahaha, that's too funny

 

[shrmn8rpoptart]

when i was 11, the presidents of the united states of america had just hit it big, and i loved peaches. it was the first time in my life i had ever taken a liking to music outside of what my parents listened to. i had to have that cd. so i saved up my quarters and got my mom to take me to target so i could get it. i brought it home, and upon listening to it, my mom herd the f-word (in "kitty" as i recall). she wanted me to try to return the cd (though i don't think you can if its opened) but i really loved that cd. so she comprimised and let me make a tape out of the songs that didn't contain swear words. then when i was older, she gave me the cd back.

so i guess my point is, parents have to do their job. i think most people would agree that most young kids shouldn't be listening to music filled with obscenities, but it is up to parents to be proactive about this. they need to know what their kids are listening to, and take the appropriate measures. they should not try to decide what everyone else can and cannot listen to.

and let's remember, kids aren't the only ones who would be buying cd's at walmart. there are many adults who are legally able to buy music with obscenities, who would be denied this oppurtunity if all objectionable music was pulled.

 

[lmjhitman]

Okay, if you don't want your own child to listen to the CD, whatever, it's your kid, you raise them however you see fit. I don't care.

But what in the hell makes these people think they have the right to prevent other families from letting their kids listen to this music? Who died and made them supreme ruler of all children? Last time I checked, I only had TWO parents, thanks, and that's all the more I need. And if my parents don't mind me listening to that song, then that's their choice and this guy can just butt out. Since when did one person feel that it was okay to push their personal ideas of what is and isn't offensive on everyone else?

I worked in a music store when Eminem first came out. We could not keep that CD in stock, it was so popular. And yes, a lot of kids would come in to buy it. We did get a lot of complaints from parents. The worst was the guy who came in screaming at us because his 11-yr old came in and bought it with his allowance. He pointed to the PARENTAL advisory label on the cover and claimed that he "knew the law", and that we were going to lose our jobs. I pretty much laughed it off afterwards, the guy was a dumbass. But one of my co-workers got a bit freaked out. The next time a kid came in to buy the CD, she asked if his parents knew what he was buying. His reply was something along the lines of, "My parents don't care what I listen to." My co-worker wasn't convinced and told the kid he couldn't buy the CD unless he had a parent with him. Well, wouldn't you know it, the next day, the second kid's parent comes storming in going, "Who the hell are you telling my kid what CD he can or can't buy?!?!" As anyone here who works in retail knows, getting screamed at by customers is NOT fun. Especially 2 days in a row.

The thing is I agree with the second parent. I mean when did it become ok to allow multimillion dollar corporations to absolve parents of their parenting responsibilities? Why would ANY parent allow Wal-Mart or Target or whoever to decide what material is appropriate for their own children?

Kudos to your mom shrmn8rpoptart for making a responsible decision that she felt was right for her own child. That's what parents are SUPPOSED to do.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

I worked in a music store when Eminem first came out. We could not keep that CD in stock, it was so popular. And yes, a lot of kids would come in to buy it. We did get a lot of complaints from parents. The worst was the guy who came in screaming at us because his 11-yr old came in and bought it with his allowance. He pointed to the PARENTAL advisory label on the cover and claimed that he "knew the law", and that we were going to lose our jobs. I pretty much laughed it off afterwards, the guy was a dumbass. But one of my co-workers got a bit freaked out. The next time a kid came in to buy the CD, she asked if his parents knew what he was buying. His reply was something along the lines of, "My parents don't care what I listen to." My co-worker wasn't convinced and told the kid he couldn't buy the CD unless he had a parent with him. Well, wouldn't you know it, the next day, the second kid's parent comes storming in going, "Who the hell are you telling my kid what CD he can or can't buy?!?!" As anyone here who works in retail knows, getting screamed at by customers is NOT fun. Especially 2 days in a row.

Oh, I can believe that-my mom's told me horror stories about customers yelling at her (not so much about music choices of the customers, but for other things), so I understand completely. It sure doesn't sound fun.

Originally posted by lmjhitman
The thing is I agree with the second parent. I mean when did it become ok to allow multimillion dollar corporations to absolve parents of their parenting responsibilities? Why would ANY parent allow Wal-Mart or Target or whoever to decide what material is appropriate for their own children?

Exactly right-good questions. Sadly, too many parents out there today expect everyone else to raise their children. No-you created them/gave birth to them, therefore, you are the one who must raise them, not the rest of the world.

I would like to point out one thing that totally supports the argument that I've constantly put up in regards to this issue, by the way-that CD had the "Parental Advisory" sticker on it, and yet you said you couldn't keep those CDs in stock, they flew off the shelves so fast. Proof that you can do everything in your power to keep kids from listening to something (or watching something or reading something)-they won't care, if they really want it, they'll find a way to get it, so instead of having all that hassle, I would personally think it'd be a hell of a lot easier to just be flat out honest with your kid and not hide things from them.

Once something is forbidden, all that does is make it more tempting. It's amazing that there's so many people out there who haven't caught on to that concept yet, either.

Originally posted by lmjhitman
Kudos to your mom shrmn8rpoptart for making a responsible decision that she felt was right for her own child. That's what parents are SUPPOSED to do.

Agreed. Like I said, if someone personally wants to set limits for their kids in regards to what they listen to or watch or read or whatever, that's their business, they raise their kid however they see fit.

Just do NOT get the idea that they can dictate that kind of thing to everyone else around them. One thing that really bugs me is having some complete stranger try and act like they know what is best for me. They don't.

Angela