A rapper blurting out the F-bomb? Imagine that.
Last night
culture-barrier breaking PSY sang his catchy
Gangnam Style rap hit at a fundraising concert, despite
controversy over past songs he had performed that were virulently anti-American. In two separate incidents in 2002 and 2004, PSY had publicly attacked American foreign and military policy. The silliness, which the
Wall Street Journal described as a “scandal,” did not stop him from performing at a concert last night attended by President Barack Obama and his family. The annual event benefits the Children’s National Medical Center, a fact that seemed to get lost among the
howls of protest from the right. So let’s remember a few points:
- PSY apologized soon after those videos were released, so let’s move on.
- The incidents were emotional reaction by a young man after what happened to his fellow citizens.
- For just about every South Korean citizen, protesting American foreign and military policy is a rite of passage. Find a Korean who has never been to an anti-American protest and I will find you a liar.
- Most Koreans have a conflicted view of the American military presence on their land. Rationally, Koreans understand the North Korean threat. But no nation wants a foreign military presence on their soil. Whenever a tragedy happens that affects one’s country’s fellow citizens, of course people of all walks of life will react emotionally.
- For crying out loud, PSY was in his early to mid-20s, and we are talking about what happened eight to ten years ago. Grow up.
- This is an event that raised money for a very worthy cause.
We have far more important issues that need attention; hopefully this will die down--judging by the
number of views PSY’s video has had on YouTube, it appears the ruckus has already died down. And it should.
The concert will be broadcast on December 21.
Agree or disagree? Let me know via
Twitter.
Image credit:
Wikipedia
About The Author
Leon Kaye
Leon Kaye is the founder and editor of GreenGoPost.com and its advisory division,
GGP Media.
Contact him to discuss how he can work with your organization or event.
His focus is making the business case for sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR).
He writes for San Francisco-based
Triple Pundit,
Inhabitat and now
The Guardian, for which he writes about corporate responsibility, water, and green building. He has also written for AIA's
Architect Magazine.
Leon works out of Fresno and Silicon Valley, California, and when he has free time, he enjoys hiking, gardening, cooking, weightlifting, and planning his next trip to one of the 60 countries he has visited. He has an MBA from USC's Marshall School of Business and is also a proud graduate of the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) and Cal State-Fresno.
A rapper blurting out the F-bomb? Imagine that.
Last night culture-barrier breaking PSY sang his catchy Gangnam Style rap hit at a fundraising concert, despite controversy over past songs he had performed that were virulently anti-American. In two separate incidents in 2002 and 2004, PSY had publicly attacked American foreign and military policy. The silliness, which the Wall Street Journal described as a “scandal,” did not stop him from performing at a concert last night attended by President Barack Obama and his family. The annual event benefits the Children’s National Medical Center, a fact that seemed to get lost among the howls of protest from the right. So let’s remember a few points:
