Now here’s a woman.

You know this woman is important because she is a member of Fail Valhalla?

at the time of the incident i was only 12. so to me she was only famous for ripping up the foto. i didn’t realize she was already so world renowned . admittedly her name invokes a sense of ambiguity for myself.

Leave it to Mr. “I Love Kate Bush” to write this. If I used emoticons, that one would be a wink.

I think the point is that while her performance was ballsy, it was ultimately a gesture which changed very little. I agree that she deserves a lot of respect for choosing the route she chose as opposed to other, more lucrative avenues. But it didn’t stop any children from getting raped.

It also strikes me as important to point out that she didn’t use the time to educate people at all. She merely ripped up a picture of the Pope, made a cryptic statement, and that was about it. Most people watching probably didn’t have a clue what she was trying to say (beyond “Pope = bad” which is really far from the point), and so she might as well have ripped up a picture of Don Knotts as far as they were concerned. Wouldn’t it have been approximately a thousand times better had she articulated an argument against the Catholic Church with a little more substance than “FIGHT THE REAL ENEMY?”

Expressions of celebrity outrage can be awesome. But in the final analysis they are little more than one person shrieking at a wall. Movements of regular people are required for sweeping social change. I know of comparatively few people fighting for social justice who were inspired by their favorite celeb, and if that’s why they’re fighting the good fight, they usually don’t last long.

“Sinead picked up the flaming sword and used her opportunity to strike directly at the heart of evil and corruption.” Sounds more like she stuck it in her own heart. Her actions may have been brave, cathartic, and a million other things. But I think you would be very hard pressed to make a case that they were in any way politically efficacious.

Saying that if somebody makes a gesture of hope, but they don’t fix the problem they were criticizing, they fail, is being completely out of touch with reality, and an easy enough thing to say from a cobwebbed armchair. Is the man run over by a tank in Tianamen Square “meaningless” because he didn’t single-handedly defeat Communism or at the ... Read Moreleast hand out pamphlets against it? Is the monk who burned himself alive to protest the Vietnam War “meaningless” because he didn’t stop the war? No, and no.

Above should read:

Saying that if somebody makes a gesture of hope, but they don’t fix the problem they were criticizing, they fail, is being completely out of touch with reality, and an easy enough thing to say from a cobwebbed armchair. Is the man run over by a tank in Tianamen Square “meaningless” because he didn’t single-handedly defeat Communism or at the least hand out pamphlets against it? Is the monk who burned himself alive to protest the Vietnam War “meaningless” because he didn’t stop the war? No, and no.

I was horrified by the torches-and-pitchforks reaction to her simple gesture.

When you get right down to it, we’re talking about people who are too aliterate to even know what an iconoclast is.

Your post on Sinead O’Connor is pure poetry.  Thank you.

I love the songs she did with Massive Attack, so thus, she has done no wrong in my mind.

<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVoH6ZTDrD0&fmt=18”>In addendum to my above statement…</a>

Life is a funny thing. People get born, they get busy, or not, and then they’re gone.. and in my opinion sooner or later they come back and do it all again.

I can’t imagine for myself a) having such an amazing gift and not squandering it, or becoming some self obsessed egomaniac, and b) wanting to actively contribute to society in such a powerful way; risking your self and your security in life especially at such a young age…  I mean think about that. Your in your early twenties, you decide to make a stand, you’re right on the precipice of carrying it out, and in that moment you coud be drastically altering the next 60+ years of your life.

I think Sinead is an old sole and it wouldn’t surprise me if she was a healer or spiritual elder in a past life, If she wasn’t one of those original pure blooded Celts from centuries past.

I agree I think she should be canonised but maybe by humanity and not by the church. I think the church shouuld just be thankful that someone cares so much about the people in it’s care that she would give them such a passionate wake up call.

In response to whether she really changed anything for anyone, I agree with Jason. and you know what else? self expression isn’t expressing yourself how everyone else thinks you should, or how they might want you to approach them, it’s personal, it’s unique and in this case utterly amazing and respect her for it.

...soul….doh!

I’m Catholic, and I thought her action was right-on target.  I loved her music before that; she became a hero in that moment.