As a fictitious Broadway-esc musical that seems too political to be performed in the Great White Way, is this “Gonzo” musical still relevant in indicting the follies of a GOP-run America?
By: Vanessa Uy
Everyone writing about politics should be thankful to Dr. Hunter S. Thompson and his invention of “Gonzo Journalism” for without it, the inherent subjectiveness and untruths of politics would be unbearably boring. And since the American Entertainment Industry had become hopelessly intertwined with the country’s political process since the 1960’s, it would only be a matter of time that hypocrisy in politics – by becoming a parody of itself - will be fuelling the American entertainment culture like a perpetual motion machine run amok.
As a contender to be shown on the Great White Way, Spoilt the Musical - a musical based on a Lunachicks song titled "Spoilt" - is probably long overdue. Given that most punk enthusiasts are Abba fans and Abba managed to coexist with the punk movement of the late 1970's and early 1980's - unlike the over-egotistical faux girl power group Spice Girls of the mid 1990's - Spoilt the Musical has enough financial sensibility to warrant an understudy. But given it could easily beome a pale imitation of a neandering 5 hour long Philip Glass opera only makes the task a bit harder.
Recent events – especially the 2008 US Presidential Elections - had managed to segue into my proposals of creating a musical based on Lunachicks’ song “Spoilt”. Every Lunackicks fan know that Spoilt is a critique of the mid-to-late 1960’s US Government’s handling of the Vietnam Conflict. By fielding weapons that kill more innocent civilians than active combatants – like napalm and the dioxin contaminated herbicide Agent Orange proudly made by Monsanto – the devastating effects of the Vietnam War are still with us till this very day.
Since it’s birth in the economically depressed corners of London, punk rock music has always been a critique about the Anglo-Saxon Protestant political system obsessed with it’s own hypocrisy. When The Sex Pistols and The Damned tried to make music that would change the world. These bands not only entertained the masses living in the bubble of self-delusion that their elected officials create assuring them that everything is alright, but a cultural tour de force that’s still going strong till this day. Punk is and should be political. It outlasted many things, from President Reagan’s “whimsical” views on pornography – like the 1,960-page Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography; Final Report of July 1986 is a case in point – to the Cold War created by the Military-Industrial Complex. Its here, …get used to it.
Should the creation of Spoilt the Musical necessitates the reunification of Lunachicks one last time just to appease their ever loyal legions of fans? That would be great, but given that Led Zeppelin – which is quantum leaps more fiscally blessed - had a hard time making possible their ultimate reunion tour after more than 30 years. The phrase “cold day in Hell” comes to mind.
Maybe, as a dedicated Lunachicks fan, its up to us to create our own Lunachicks “tribute bands” similar to that all-girl Iron Maiden tribute band Iron Maidens to make Spoilt the Musical that much closer of a possibility. A self-made Spoilt the Musical would probably be the ultimate Halloween don’t you?
Saturday, October 25, 2008
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