Rage’s deployment of symbols of generalized rebellion against authority, which gave them such wide success in the ’90s, was ultimately out of date. By calling back to ’60s notions of protest, they aligned themselves with a sense of resentment common to both the contemporary left and the right; Paul Ryan did not accidentally get something out of the band that wasn’t legitimately there. Pussy Riot read the culture more astutely. By looking like a riot grrrl band, they communicated not only the desire to protest but what the protest was about. Their lyrics had almost nothing to do with it, because they didn’t have to.
I still have a queasy feeling that one of the reasons why Pussy Riot’s story spread so far and wide - was because of their 90s Riot Grrrrl aesthethic, and that may have especially triggered something sentimental in alot of people who grew up during that time period and especially in those circles (like me). Would they have been more of a blip, otherwise?
This NYT piece lays it out quite nicely, as well. Easy anti-Moscow/Putin opportunism.
Notes
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standardgrey reblogged this from barthel and added:
I still have a queasy feeling that one of the reasons why Pussy Riot’s story spread so far and wide - was because of...
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o-song said:
Fun fact: Australia’s last conservative Prime Minister said his favourite artist was Bob Dylan (that he just liked the melodies).
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barthel posted this
