Monday, 11 June 2007

• Currently Watching Stranger Than Fiction By Will Ferrell, William Dick, Guy Massey (III), Martha Espinoza, T.J. Jagodowski see related

  SOULED OUT (PART TWO)

  Someone (let’s call him Roger) recently made a comment to me that went something like this:  I used to like Avril Lavigne back in 2002, but now she’s turned pop and her new music is too poppy for my taste.  Obviously, this statement struck me as somewhere between moronic and idiotic.  I will concede that I am a relatively new Avril Lavigne fan, and I’m the last one to jump onto the Avril Lavigne bandwagon.  However, I’ve always considered her to be pop.  In fact, the reason why I probably didn’t take Avril Lavigne seriously when she came out was because of that fact that she was pop.  Her first two singles, Complicated and Sk8er Boi, were in heavy rotation on Top 40 radio stations throughout 2002 and 2003, and her debut album, Let Go, was a national and international megahit.  Furthermore, she has gone on record numerous times in various interviews and has said that her music is legitimately and undeniably “pop”.  I’m no expert in music, but you can’t get any more “poppy” than that.

   

  In any case, I could somewhat understand what Roger was trying to get at.  Avril’s new album, The Best Damn Thing, is full of songs that make you want to jump on your bed and engage in a pillow fight.  This is a far departure from her last effort, Under My Skin, which was a quasi attempt at making a “dark” album (but in the end it kind of just made me want to shoot myself in the face).  And, if you’ve seen her new videos, you’ll see that Avril no longer runs around with skater boys and/or emo kids, but now she choreograph-dances with other hot chicks and sexy young men.  And because of this, Roger felt betrayed.  He felt that Avril has sold out.

   

  I don’t really know if Avril sold out.  For one thing, I don’t think it’s possible for a pop artist to sell out.  And second, I’m pretty sure that Avril herself is consciously aware that she did not sell out.  I mean, she’s 23 years old and she was 17 when her first album came out; of course her music is going to change!  And, as a fan, I wouldn’t expect her image and music to remain the same as time goes by.  In fact, I don’t expect anything from her at all.  She doesn’t owe me anything.  Sure, she owes her fans her successful career, but she doesn’t owe us anything in terms of her artistic talent and product.  She can do whatever the hell she wants to do with her music. And if I like her future albums, then that would be terrific.  But if I don’t like her future albums, then that would suck, but I wouldn’t begrudge her for it.

   

  It seems that “sell-out” just means doing whatever the hell is not expected of you and fully knowing that people are not going to like you for it.  In that case, I’ve sold out many times in my life, and here are a few of them:

   

  September 10, 1995:  I woke up on this Sunday morning (a few weeks before I moved out of my parents’ house to go to college) and decided that I didn’t want to go to church anymore.  Up until this point, I went to church every Sunday and was fairly involved in church activities.  There is no doubt that the St. Irenaeus Youth Ministry (and God, I suppose) believed I sold out.

   

  March 31, 1997:  After a viciously unhealthy spring break of non-stop keg parties in San Diego and international debauchery Tijuana, I decided to quit smoking (cigarettes and weed).  This altered the dynamics of my relationship with my friends and roommates.  I could no longer be counted on for cigarettes, nor could I stand to be around them when they smoked.  I clearly sold out being cool for being healthy.  (This would only last for three months until summer began, when I rekindled my love affair with Marlboro Ultra Lights and barbequed chicken.)

   

  October 18, 1999:  Again, I sold out being cool by sending in my Letter of Intent to Register for optometric school.

   

  May 15, 2003:  On this day I received an email from my friend Thao, who invited me to join an online community known as Friendster.  I signed up and all of my old friends came out of the woodwork (such as LittleMissGrumpy).  It was fun for a while, but I sold out my anonymity.

   

  October 12, 2006:  This is perhaps my biggest sell out of all.  I signed up for Xanga Premium on this day, thus dooming me (and you) to (at least) a year of blogging about my views on life, love, and all the bullshit in between.  By doing so, I sold out internet decency.  I’M SORRY.

   

  (And now I’m contemplating signing up for Xanga For Life.  May Allah have mercy on my soul.)

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