To Noam is to Love Him
(Chomsky
"Rocks" on Film)
by Mickey
Z.
Dissident Voice
December 2, 2002
"This is a
dissident linguist Bono stole from the radicals. I'm stealing him back."
Some years ago,
I remember reading an article in The Nation about rock stars
"idolizing" Noam Chomsky and attempting to bring him into the fold,
so to speak. I learned that music producer Don Was not only had a "large
portrait" of Chomsky hanging over his drum kit, he named his studio
"The Chomsky Ranch." The Nation reported that Was had just begun work
on a series of rock videos in which the recorded words of the "dissident
linguist" (as the nation's oldest weekly oddly chose to identify Chomsky)
would be combined with original music by "top" rockers like R.E.M.
and Pearl Jam. In fact, I discovered those noted millionaire subversives in
Pearl Jam were playing Chomsky selections on the 75-watt "pirate"
radio stations they set up in each town while on tour.
Surely, the end
of predatory capitalism was finally in sight now that the MTV generation had
joined the fray. How long before we see bell hooks on "Survivor"?
As was
inevitable, rock stars awash in capital were using the only internal reference
point they know: their massive ego. The highest form of praise they can muster
is to elevate another human being to the same level of blind adoration they
wallow in (I can see it now: Noam stage-diving at his next lecture). The only
possible result of such self-centered drivel is the personalization of Chomsky
as a youth "hero" with very few of his ideas coming along for the
ride. With most anti-corporate tyranny tenets being checked at the door by the
pop music elite, members of the well-bred gentry class can now welcome a
"dissident linguist" with open arms, conveniently leaving the rest of
us behind.
It's class war for the polite crowd.
Around the same
time as The Nation article, I read the liner notes for a Chomsky spoken word CD
and spied a blurb from none other than Bono Vox, full-time lead singer of U2 and
part-time saver of the world. Calling Chomsky the "Elvis of
academia," Bono bemoaned the fact that a man of Chomsky's age had usurped
rock and roll's place at the table of rebellion.
When exactly was
it, I wondered, that rock and roll did anything more than pose, preen, and earn
billions for large entertainment conglomerates? So-called activists like Bono
have the money and the influence to help finance progressive publications,
websites, rebel radio stations, and maybe even a third (second?) party. Instead,
they sell more CDs by singing at a charity concert and using Chomsky's
reputation when name-dropping.
Which brings me
to the new Chomsky documentary currently making the rounds.
"Power and
Terror: Noam Chomsky in Our Times" (which ironically opens with a quote
from Bono calling Chomsky a "rebel without a pause") has very little
in common with R.E.M.'s supposedly clever song lyrics, Pearl Jam's
well-choreographed angst, or Bono's high profile hobnobbing with Paul O'Neill
and Jeffrey Sachs. I saw this short, sparse film in late November at a very
crowded showing at the Film Forum in the West Village. It was sharing a theater
with another dissident doc: "The Trials of Henry Kissinger." As a
result, the sign above the theater door read suspiciously like a septuagenarian
prizefight of sorts: Kissinger-Chomsky.
In "Power
and Terror," Prof. Chomsky succinctly lays out the post 9/11 geo-political
realities of the day in language that would have most rock stars regurgitating
their pâté into their kidney-shaped pool. This is information we all need to
hear; information that goes far beyond fashionable poses or indecipherable
theories. As usual, our favorite dissident linguist has done the tedious work
of compiling the statistics, the quotes, and the headlines. From there, as
always, it's up to us.
Besides urging
you to see this movie and spreading the word long and far, I'd also like to
encourage music fans to demand more from your chosen idols. If Bono and others
want to wear the hat of political rebel, let's get more for our entertainment
dollar. Instead of just whining about the disappearing rain forest, why not
educate the masses about the role corporate America, the U.S. government, and
the meat-based diet plays in the domestic affairs of Brazil? Why just write a
song for starving Somalis when you have the influence to mobilize hundreds of
thousands of people to examine the social conditions that allow for poverty in
a world of plenty? If not, we can simply stop buying their music, going to
their concerts, and wearing their overpriced, sweatshop-produced t-shirts
Imagine that:
Legions of music consumers mobilized in the name of peace, justice, and
solidarity. There's a birthday gift (December 7) for you, Noam.
Mickey
Z. is the author of Saving Private Power: The Hidden History
of "The Good War" (www.softskull.com) and the upcoming book, The
Murdering of My Years: Artists & Activists Making Ends Meet
(http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=62-1887128786-0).
Email: mzx2@earthlink.net.