Minding the Nevermind

I was gonna just do my ambling along to EL&P's version of Pictures at an Exhibition, but Spencer Elden has gone where I didn't think he wanted to go.

This is a very sensitive subject, and I'm known for being mildly insensitive to make a point. Not so this time. You can go read my analysis of the cover on my blog, and in my second book, they were 100% accurate interpretations at the time. We, however, now stand on the precipice of a bifurcating reality. The opinions will be many and range from coherent to ridiculously stupid. 

Here is the link to my analysis of the cover.

https://albumsforeternity.blogspot.com/2021/01/chapter-1.html

I deleted the cover because fair's fair. Now, here is my opinion.

Does Spencer deserve a shitload of money from that image? Yes, absolutely, an insane percentage of gross sales from Nevermind. Will that fix anything? Probably not. Is this child pornography as the lawsuit claims? No. It's not.   The lawsuit as defined will do more damage than good. 

My argument as written says this is a gray area, and it very much is. The situation is unique unto itself, and it must be treated as such. In my analytical opinion, there was never nor is there now any intention to exploit Spencer Elden, and this situation would eventually arise had any other child been chosen for the cover. 

Is Spencer wrong for changing his opinion of the situation over time? Absolutely not. Should they remove it at his request? Absolutely yes. Should police raid our houses and prosecute consumers for buying Nevermind? No, that's ludicrous.

Is some pervert somewhere sexually aroused by the album cover? Probably, some people are really fucked up. Sorry for the swear words, but as you surely know by now, I use them for their actual meaning that no euphemistic language can accurately convey.

At its heart, this is a case of an individual battling a corporation for their personal rights, and Spencer Elden deserves to have his rights honored on this issue in the manner of his choosing. The simplest solution is for Geffen to take the initiative and simply ask the plaintiff how he wishes to proceed. The worst possible way to go about it is to publicize the private proceedings in half speculated garbage media reports like it's a tabloid goldmine. That's definitely exploitation.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The 4 Seasons - The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette

Image
This might be my longest  album review ever. But i swear a couple times, so it's worth the read ;) How could i possibly mention Jefferson Airplane, The 4 Seasons, and Frank Zappa in the same context? Zappa said "this is rediculous" and a few years later The 4 Seasons said "you know what, Frank is right. This IS ridiculous." To which Jefferson Airplane said, "Oh. Ok. Got it." The real question is: which one is the most transgressive? Zappa said stop fighting, you look like idiots. Jefferson Airplane said i guess if love and community is a bad thing, then sure we're criminals and we'd be happy to move out into the fields and live peaceful lives without your garbage, let us go already. The 4 Seasons said hold my champagne for a moment. In 1969, The 4 Seasons released the single most ironic, acidic, extravagant, and downright befuddling album ever created, The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette. Zappa was accused of writing "shitty doo-w
Read more

Welcome to my blog, and my record collection.

This is a blog about my love of listening to albums. It started off as a nightly perusal of my dad's record collection (which sadly became mine) on my personal facebook page. Over the last two months it has become quite an enjoyable process of simply ranting about what i think is a real art form, the album. It needs a more permanent home. Some of my reviews are positive, some negative. They might not be what you expect from album reviews, but i hope you at least find them entertaining. For the most part i do very little research, and they tend to be train of thought reactions rather than calculated essays. If nothing else, know that i'm really listening to them and whether they are amazing or abysmal i want you to go listen to them too.  I'll start migrating the 60+ i've written so far over here in the next few days, and hopefully get to the point where i just start writing them here. I'd probably even take suggestions if you're just dying to know my tho
Read more

Pat Benatar - Seven The Hard Way

Image
I don't know about you, but i love Pat Benatar. Yes, that's also her debut album with the single most underrated song in the universe (My Clone Sleeps Alone) in the background, but that's just a generic non-self-titled debut album. We're jumping ahead to her 6th album, Seven The Hard Way, because that, ladies and gentle germs, is how you kalaidescope a concept. Not one, not two, not three, but 4 protien-packed layers to this metaphor. You don't really need to know the overly complicated rules of Craps to know that A) it's gambling, B) "the hard way" refers to rolling doubles, so good luck rolling two 3.5s, and C) you're going to lose, one way or another. It's a joke, but more importantly, it's Pat Benatar and the roll out is Sex As A Weapon, so the innuendo is not intended to be subtle. Wait wait wait, that's only 3, Bottle, where's 4? You're right, last but not least, side B opens with Seven Rooms of Gloom, a Holland-Dozier-Hol
Read more