Revolution is not an AOL keyword

April 27, 2003 12:40 PM

Revolution is not an AOL keyword. "You will not be able to stay home, dear Netizen.
You will not be able to plug in, log on and opt out ..."
posted by sheauga (21 comments total)

This just in, somebody from Berkeley yammers on about revolution, can't even rhyme "party" and "Bacardi."
posted by jfuller at 12:55 PM on April 27, 2003

And for comparison, the lyrics to the original "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"
posted by gluechunk at 1:12 PM on April 27, 2003

And the television will not be revolutionized, either.
posted by Vidiot at 1:20 PM on April 27, 2003

Howabout net literacy for underserved or older populations?

"For women and minority writers, who have been denied literary authority and may have been even denied literacy, parody is even more significant. In the African American tradition, it would be signifying. It would be a way of signaling to their African American readers something that less informed readers would not understand."

"Hutcheon locates some of parody’s impulse among the demographic of “those who are marginalized by a dominant ideology” (p.35). I would include in this population individuals who, despite their privileged access to the new technologies, are seen to have little business being in the mass media, perhaps especially young people."

The original of this parody
Who is Gil Scott-Heron? Quick info, and a bio from Rolling Stone.
posted by sheauga at 1:38 PM on April 27, 2003

Excellent comment sheauga. I have to admit it's going to take me awhile to read through the longer articles. I'm still aching away my traditional sunday hangover

Right off I should say, I don't like the AOL version of this poem. I enjoy parody, sarcasm and the greatly misunderstood medium we know as irony, but this is a parody of a very powerful and prescient poem. By parodizing The Revolution, the author (perhaps unintentionally) dilutes and cheapens the original. It's comparing being oppressed in America with being an AOL user, which is a self-serving comparison at best. Then there is the larger problem I have with this re-write: It's not funny. It's not even a giggle. The original had this sense of rage mixed with a sense of humor, this parody lacks the vision that would give it any power as a written piece.

Totally off topic:
I keep seeing this thought floating around, this idea that when one rebels from a system, they end up embracing the system they attempt to subvert. Like a freedom fighter who overthrows an oppressive government only to become a more oppressive government, A hacker who end up working for MS, an artist who deconstructs art only to end up on a gallery wall, selling paintings to the kindheads who want a canvas that matches the 3 piece couch set.

It's without a certain irony that I note I first heard the Scott-Heron piece on television.

I gotta quit drinking till 5am.
posted by elwoodwiles at 2:24 PM on April 27, 2003

Okay so basically this is an attempt to update the original version. So if one wants to be part of the revolution, they can't be sitting on their ass watching TV and they can't be sitting on their ass surfing the web. They have to go outside and break laws and be generally rowdy and eventually get beaten up by a bunch of policemen who are like, pawns of The Man or something.

If that's the case, I'd rather not be part of any revolution. Where's my corn chips?
posted by ZachsMind at 2:41 PM on April 27, 2003

It's comparing being oppressed in America with being an AOL user, which is a self-serving comparison at best.

and therein lies the problem...
posted by quonsar at 3:02 PM on April 27, 2003

TV is a one-way medium; the internet is not.
posted by angry modem at 3:23 PM on April 27, 2003

Hmn, didn't realize AOL users were oppressed.

Revolution, in the sense of "The American people have a revolutionary tradition, or "revolutionary solutions to important science and technology problems" doesn't capture the imagination sufficiently?

Another example of a useful parody with diluted impact: using the Signifying Monkey ( strong language version / NSFW version ) to teach math.
posted by sheauga at 3:26 PM on April 27, 2003

AngryModem: "TV is a one-way medium; the internet is not."

Yeah, but both TV and the Net are relatively sedentary activities. Comparatively, participating in a revolution is more active and improves your cardiovascular workout. Thomas Jefferson once said occasional rebellion is a healthy thing for a society, but this poem is saying that not only is it good for humanity but it's good and good for you, and it's part of this complete breakfast!
posted by ZachsMind at 3:30 PM on April 27, 2003

You've only got to have seen about ten minutes of the war show to know that the revolution will be both televised and sponsored by Nike. And I'm not an AOL user, but I'm betting that "revolution" IS an AOL keyword.
posted by seanyboy at 3:31 PM on April 27, 2003

Jefferson quote, with comments on the distinction between a rebellion and a revolution.
posted by sheauga at 3:37 PM on April 27, 2003

From the breakyourchains.org, right after a 'vote to impeach' GWBush banner:

"ALERT! NOW IS THE TIME TO STOP BIG BROTHER! CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE!"

LOL! If the executive branch of the US Gov't is Big Brother, that makes the house of representatives the good guys? I mean, contact your representative and do what? Tell him he's a tool? This is the lamest excuse for "The second american revolution" I've ever seen. Thanks for the laugh.
posted by ZachsMind at 3:39 PM on April 27, 2003

Well ZachsMind, at one point, your phrase "second American Revolution" would have provoked giggles and literary fingers in the air, reciting: "Without Marx or Jesus, the second American Revolution has begun!" But the cultural reference now might just as well be Prop 13, Lincoln, or ENIAC.

More on seanyboy's observation about the implications of Nike and marketing revolution, and the use of revolution as a marketing tool. "Out of the liberation marketers of Madison Avenue, those who have prevailed in American life are the ones who have learned to channel this anger to their own purposes."
posted by sheauga at 4:04 PM on April 27, 2003

When you talk about destruction
Don't you know that you can count me out?
posted by mr_crash_davis at 4:33 PM on April 27, 2003

as one of the comments in the original link points out, the revolution may not be televised, but it'll certainly be blogged...
posted by Vidiot at 4:40 PM on April 27, 2003

Here's another take on the revolution. Apparently, it will be digitized.
posted by skinsuit at 5:10 PM on April 27, 2003

...vocalized, printed, webcast, satirized, painted, all business, remixed, carbonated...
posted by Vidiot at 5:23 PM on April 27, 2003

Via Wil Wheaton Dot Net, a week ago, of course.
posted by armoured-ant at 5:50 PM on April 27, 2003

count me out

Can't you hear Paul saying "in" just a split-second later in the background on some takes of that tune?
posted by hairyeyeball at 6:13 PM on April 27, 2003

Only if you play it backwards, hairyeyeball
posted by dg at 11:43 PM on April 28, 2003