On this whole Chris Brown Thing

Adam Sheets Posted On February 15, 2012

Originally published on MoonRunners

This whole Chris Brown thing reminds me of a deleted scene from Mike Judge’s Idiocracy and is exhibit A in the case against our modern day society and culture.

I’m not speaking from any moral high ground here. A short list of any of my favorite artists would reveal drug addiction, alcoholism, and even an attempted murder or two. But I was brought up to believe that a real man NEVER hits a lady and that is the biggest sin in my book.

But, strangely enough, I don’t blame Chris Brown for this. I blame our dumbed-down society.

Don’t get me wrong. He hit Rihanna and that’s all on him. He should have served his time just like any other common, scum of the earth criminal.

But that’s where his part ends. The rest of it is on you, meaning the music industry, Holllywood, and, yes, YOU.

Here’s the thing. The record industry aren’t your parents and they never will be. But at one point, there was at least a sense of responsibility.

Nashville understood that there were some taboos. That’s why Johnny Paycheck never had a hit single after 1986 and why an otherwise talented and very influential artist is not a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. The same concept probably explains why David Allan Coe never became a superstar on the level of the guys he constantly name-drops.

For further proof, look at the blacklisting of Jerry Lee Lewis in 1958.

Even in rap, a style of music often lamented as violent by those who don’t understand it, there were some standards. Look at Ice-T and “Cop Killer” for instance. Try finding that one today. Legally.

So, yes, Chris Brown is a piece of shit, but you can’t blame an asshole for being an asshole.

Instead, I blame Jive Records for giving him an outlet for his music.

I blame Clear Channel for playing that music.

I blame the Grammys for awarding him the Best R&B album on Sunday night.

I blame every artist who has put him on one of their albums or agreed to be on his.

I blame Hollywood for putting him in movies.

And, last but not least, I blame you, America, for allowing your teenage daughters to idolize this motherfucker.