RavenBlue
Blue Crack Addict
I don't know what to say, but it's very odd...
Official "Bitch about the stupid mask" thread
- Thread starter mikal
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Mrs. Garrison
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
Hello there, I think you could be getting a little carried away here. I would bet that 99% of the posters here in this thread like (if not love) the singer of the band. And again probably a good majority of us have followed him/the band through thick and thin, and will continue to do so. However i do find it refreshing that we don't automatically buy into everything "because its u2" or "because Bono said so", etc.
While i agree its for a good cause, i think the band preaching to us and telling us to wear a mask is a bit much, even by their standards. Wear it to the pub, wear it on the train, etc... several people thought that was a joke because who in their right mind would wear that mask out in town like that?
Anyway to each their own, im just glad we are allowed to come in here and express our opinions about it and its very refreshing to see people use their own judgement and not automatically follow suit on every little whim. Im still holding onto hope that the band comes up with a better way to support her than asking everyone to put on a mask. In fact i agree with whoever said that "walk on" was taking up a valueable setlist position and should be replaced with something from AB, PoP, or basically any other album (except atyclb, htdaab)
Cheers
Okay, I need to be honest. Holding the signs is a great compromise. But I think the mask idea in itself is fine. And creative.
I am sorry but I really, really don't get the "I support this cause, but I would never wear a mask at a U2 show." If you are unwilling to engage in a creative stunt for the duration of one song to support a cause that you believe in, what would you do? It seems a lot of people here support the cause of creative stunts to bash Bono and mock people who risk their lives for human rights.
Sure, it's cute to post silly photoshopped pictures or to gasp at whether or not the mask will match our hot outfits and of course people like me all should lighten up. I get that. But I don't quite get the sheer tenacity and veracity of the anti-mask posts.
Do any of us really even "get" what others have done for defending their rights in this country and the rest of the world? Why is protesting in the streets of Tehran courageous but raising consciousness at a U2 concert undignified, dumb, and dorky? Do you think that if you are too cool to wear a mask at a U2 concert, you would have been willing to risk the embarrassment of say, integrating a lunch counter in the segregated south?
I am going to the second of the Chicago shows with my Mom and Dad who are 68 and 69 years old respectively and have been seeing the band with me since 1985. My dad marched with MLK at Selma and my mom has been arrested to protest torture. Please do not call them "undignified" when they put on their masks.
My wife does makeup, and I think we might just have to wear our masks. I promise to post pictures on here if that is what we end up doing. See you at the shows!
I am sorry but I really, really don't get the "I support this cause, but I would never wear a mask at a U2 show." If you are unwilling to engage in a creative stunt for the duration of one song to support a cause that you believe in, what would you do? It seems a lot of people here support the cause of creative stunts to bash Bono and mock people who risk their lives for human rights.
Sure, it's cute to post silly photoshopped pictures or to gasp at whether or not the mask will match our hot outfits and of course people like me all should lighten up. I get that. But I don't quite get the sheer tenacity and veracity of the anti-mask posts.
Do any of us really even "get" what others have done for defending their rights in this country and the rest of the world? Why is protesting in the streets of Tehran courageous but raising consciousness at a U2 concert undignified, dumb, and dorky? Do you think that if you are too cool to wear a mask at a U2 concert, you would have been willing to risk the embarrassment of say, integrating a lunch counter in the segregated south?
I am going to the second of the Chicago shows with my Mom and Dad who are 68 and 69 years old respectively and have been seeing the band with me since 1985. My dad marched with MLK at Selma and my mom has been arrested to protest torture. Please do not call them "undignified" when they put on their masks.
My wife does makeup, and I think we might just have to wear our masks. I promise to post pictures on here if that is what we end up doing. See you at the shows!
I always get carried away in discussions like this, which is why I generally avoid the forums. Excited about tomorrow, I've decided to hang out here.
We all can agree that we are not little Bono sheeple, and nobody does exactly what Bono says all the time. No one is claiming that.
Lots of things Bono and the band say/do I completely disagree with and will be happy to state these. Of late, the list of Bono's actions that I despise is far longer than the ones I support. For example, the Paul McGuiness continued rant against many forms of digital internet sharing etc. I find distasteful and distracting.
This one, I actually thought was a genuinely neat idea, and I find the backlash against it unsettling.
For better or worse, I help manage the public face of the webzine component of Interference, and I was actually planning to publicize the mask idea using our website. Wearing this mask seemed a heck of lot more creative and principled than buying a product Red teeshirt. But I doubt I will do that now thanks to my blunt friends here!
Some people wear masks and costumes out on the town all the time! Some people who are not 8 years old wear costumes!
Why are people who take risks and do things differently not "in their right mind"?
VintagePunk
Blue Crack Distributor
To be honest, I really don't like the tone of this post. It's as if you're implying that those of us who are against this action are less socially evolved than you and your family, when in actuality, the reasons for being against this action are as diverse as the number of us who are against them.
I agree with Kelly - it's not the cause I'm against, it's the execution.
One thing I do admire about Bono is that he doesn't just speechify at shows, he gets out there and does the hard, demanding work to back up his words, and he's achieved tangible results because of this. At times, he's asked us for help - signing petitions, texting, contacting politicians to make our wishes known, and these things have also led to tangible results.
This mask thing however - what is it going to accomplish? First of all, the vast majority of concert attendees won't even know who she is, never mind care. Of the ones who have heard of her, how many of them really care? I don't believe for a second it's because people are callous. People tend to get activism/social cause fatigue, and can only adopt and care about a finite number of causes. If they took on every cause that came up, they'd drive themselves insane. And of those who do care, how many are actually going to hear about this, and wear the mask? I'm guessing it's going to be a really small, insignificant number. But supposing it wasn't, supposing everyone in the stadium wore it, what then? Would politicians even notice? Would the Myanmar government suddenly think "oh no, U2 fans wore a mask for 5 minutes, so we'd better release her"? Hardly.
So, I guess the basis of my feeling of this being ridiculous is that I don't see how it will be effective in any way. Give me something that has a chance of working rather than just seeming like a publicity ploy, a cheap stunt, and I'm in. But as far as the mask goes? Nope, I won't be taking part.
Liesje
Blue Crack Addict
Did I miss something? 
Liesje
Blue Crack Addict
Oh I get it now. We'll I'd really like to *see* the show, but I'd be OK with putting it on the back of my head..
VintagePunk
Blue Crack Distributor
That's okay Lies, we've been given permission to deface her picture by cutting out eye holes.
Points well taken Vintage Punk, especially regarding activism fatigue, effectiveness of letter writing and other approaches versus the venue & visibility concerns for this particular action. No, of course, I don't think this or any unitary event would change her situation single-handedly; that's not how history works.
Gee, sorry if I sounded like I thought I was socially evolved or in any way morally supperior! I'm definitely not! I'm just another small man with big ideas. Just because one is an activist, that doesn't make one evolved, and there are great arguments for/against all kinds of various strategies and tactics if one chooses to be an activist.
Moreover, I am not saying anything about any of y'all personally or your choices to be activists or not or participate in this or not, just responding to the overwhelming tone of the thread that this idea by its very nature is harmful to the band, or the shows, or the cause it purports to support (all that and more have been suggested). I admit that I probably got a little defensive in light of some of the posts I read.
Forgive me though, I still don't think the idea itself is inherently stupid or that some of the posts on this thread (or its title) are not just a little bit disrespectful of the spirit of the song, the activist in question, or the style of tactics suggested on u2.com.
The mask wearing idea does not come from a vacuum or an uninformed perspective but from a vast and healthy tradition of political creativity.
VintagePunk
Blue Crack Distributor
Thanks for the response, and the explanation.
I think another factor in all of this is that over the years, Bono had built up a great deal of goodwill from fans and the public. He had political and activism capital, and quite frankly, I think in recent years, he's used a lot of it up, and there is now (rightly or wrongly, I'm not judging here, just calling it as I see it) a fairly significant "Bono-backlash." People are tired of hearing about him and his political views in the general public, and to a lesser but still noticeable extent, within the U2 fandom. Granted, there will still be a segment of fans who support anything he does from an activism standpoint, and that's fine, but I do understand the viewpoints of people who think "enough is enough, give it a rest for a while." So, i suppose my other objection is that he is putting himself (and by extension, the band) out there again, and for something that I don't think will be effective. If it was something that could have a positive and tangible impact, an argument could be made that doing this is worth risking negative perception from the public in general and fans in particular, but I just don't see the payoff of this being worth the risk, I think it's going to end up being an empty gesture, despite their good intentions. I guess you could also say that his tenacity is to be admired for doing this despite what people may think, but that's a subjective thing for each individual to decide.
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
You know what I think it is honestly, people are afraid to be corny. Bono isn't, he's been very uncool at times for most of his career, some people have that ability to pull it off, so it probably didn't phase him. But wearing a piece of paper you printed off your printer is the definition of corny, I'll admit it I'm just vane enough that I wouldn't wear it. A sign, button, armband I get but a paper cutout mask that reminds me of the Denny's children menus(please tell me someone got that reference) just doesn't work for me as an adult, part vanity and part practicality. It works for that photo posted before to me that makes a statement, this just doesn't seem to make a statement.
WildHoneyAlways
Rock n' Roll Doggie FOB
BVS, I was in Denny's late Friday night and I was thinking about the masks!
For the record, I think the mask idea is lame.
For the record, I think the mask idea is lame.
Acrobat51829
War Child
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
essentially (for me anyway), it's not really about the mask. U2 has made me aware of many political issues over the years. i will listen to them, research them and decide whether i want to contribute/support the cause.
however, after attending vertigo shows, i started to get just a little bit miffed that the show was becoming too politicized and for me this can have a detrimental effect to the concert experience.
people go to a gig to lose themselves in the music and feel their own unique experience of a U2 show. too much campaigning can make the show a bit of a chore at times.
so, make me aware of the issues but don't force feed it.
BVS
Blue Crack Supplier
Curious, did you ever attend any of the 80's shows? Did you find Vertigo to be more politicized than those?
Liesje
Blue Crack Addict
I agree with the "Bono goodwill" part, but I would also hope that because this is a U2 tour and a U2 concert that this is not just Bono going off on one of his usual tangents. My assumption is that the band as a whole made the decision and the band as a whole is behind this campaign. So, in that regard I guess Bono deserves a bit of goodwill every now and then since its his ass we want to kick when there are four members of this band and five people splitting the paycheck.
toscano
Refugee
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2005
- Messages
- 2,032
I did.
And Yes.
Yes Bono had his mini-speeches during SBS and BTBS, but nothing like the Buzzkill of the Human Rights video, the long-winded pre-one speeches, the pre-streets thng, etc which were all in addition to, not instead of the political nature of BTBS, SBS, etc.
^ I agree - in the 80s the politics seemed to be more spontanious and direct. For example, in Cardiff in 87 Bono referenced the Miner's Strike and Maggie Thatcher - they wouldn't have done that in say France or the US. My problem last time was that it was all kinda pre-scripted and didn't feel personal - pretty much the same speech everywhere (I saw it in Europe, US and Australia). Plus it went on for too long.
OP
OP
mikal
Blue Crack Addict
i don't think Dr. Phil would like the idea of wearing masks very much.
smileymbcastard
War Child
no effing way. I will be weairng a fez and a fake cokatoo mind you but no mask.
ntalwar
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
Saw this on u2.com
zoopop
Rock n' Roll Doggie
Will download mask and put it on watching the Shamu Show at Sea World.
Acrobat08
Acrobat
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2008
- Messages
- 356
I did too and I agree 100%.
Galeongirl
Galeonbroad
My god, they're handing out masks at the stadium and also put them on every seat. 
WHY has nobody in the U2 camp realised what an awful idea this is?
WHY has nobody in the U2 camp realised what an awful idea this is?Similar threads
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