How does general public view Vanessa?

This quote was from a different topic, but when I typed up my response, I thought it lead to something bigger that deserved its own topic.

most of the artists in the music industry have a conventional persona, but v is like a breath of fresh air...

I don't necessarily think that most of the artists in the music industry have a conventional persona.  I think that most artists in the mainstream have this persona though.  And even in several of those cases, I think that persona is forced upon them.  I think labels want artists to be as conventional as possible so there is less risk for a flop.

Heck, even Vanessa-who is unconventional-appears conventional to the average music fan.  Think about it.  All of her singles have been her conventional songs because they are more marketable.  The only time I can think of her dark side appearing to a mass audience is the Pretty Baby video, and if I remember correctly, MTV censored that or wouldn't show it except for really late at night or something.

Polititians argue that sex and violence is at an all-time high in the entertainment industry, but I would disagree.  I think censorship is at an all-time high.

Maybe the problem is just that the wrong stuff is getting censored nowadays.  It seems like if the sex and violence is gonna make some corporation a bunch of money, that is okay.  But when it is...how shall I put this...more part of an expression of art than merely commercial, the censorship potential rises ten-fold.

For all these reasons, I don't think the general public even knows how multi-talented Vanessa really is.  I know for sure they don't know what kind of artist she is in terms of her different moods.  That's why people always mix her up with Michelle Branch and shit.

[milla]

 It seems like if the sex and violence is gonna make some corporation a bunch of money, that is okay.  But when it is...how shall I put this...more part of an expression of art than merely commercial, the censorship potential rises ten-fold.

That is so true, like when they censored the bridge of White Houses, which is poignant and moving, but then they can show Christina Aguilera...doing bad things and hip hop videos full of sex and tits...MTV is stupid.

 It seems like if the sex and violence is gonna make some corporation a bunch of money, that is okay.  But when it is...how shall I put this...more part of an expression of art than merely commercial, the censorship potential rises ten-fold.

That is so true, like when they censored the bridge of White Houses, which is poignant and moving, but then they can show Christina Aguilera...doing bad things and hip hop videos full of sex and tits...MTV is stupid.

Of course MTV is stupid but, unfortunately, the people who happily watch it are even more stupid and they outnumber us by about ELEVENTY MILLION-SKAGILLION. :cry:

And just to make it clear, my solution isn't to censor the hip hop videos and stuff too--my solution is to not censor any of it.  That is what ratings and parental involvement is supposed to be for.

Controling expression is controling thought, and what is worse than that?  Like George Bernard Shaw said, "The ultimate form of censorship is assassination."

[Will]

MTV sucks. So don't watch it, then. There are better things to do than watch television, anyway.

There should be an entire strand devoted to bashing MTV!
 

[unsungmelody]

There should be an entire strand devoted to bashing MTV!
 

I agree to that!

[jessica73]

General Public: Who? :?

Seriously, after that bomb of a sophomore album, she need to get back into the public's eye with a hit of "A Thousand Miles" proportions.

General Public: Who? :?

Seriously, after that bomb of a sophomore album, she need to get back into the public's eye with a hit of "A Thousand Miles" proportions.

Yeah...'cause God forbid Muffy, who lives in Beverly Hills and sleeps with her pom-poms under her pillow not be listening to Vanessa albums. :roll:

I'm sick of people calling Harmonium a "bomb" just because the MTV crowd didn't gobble it up and give it huge sales numbers.  That CD was an improvement on Be Not Nobody, and there's no reason anyone, especially here, should call that album a bomb.  The fact that it didn't sell very well is probably due in part to its better quality.  Provacative music doesn't sell anymore.

Vanessa doesn't NEED anything at this point in her career.  She should just continue making the music that is sincere to her.  Whether it tears up the charts or gets regular play on TRL is an unimportant sidedish.  If it happens, that's fine; if it doesn't happen, that's fine too--what is important is that Vanessa stays true to herself and keeps making music that she is proud of, even if that means Muffy won't be interested.

[SylvanHistorian30]

Yeah...'cause God forbid Muffy, who lives in Beverly Hills and sleeps with her pom-poms under her pillow not be listening to Vanessa albums. :roll:

I'm sick of people calling Harmonium a "bomb" just because the MTV crowd didn't gobble it up and give it huge sales numbers.  That CD was an improvement on Be Not Nobody, and there's no reason anyone, especially here, should call that album a bomb.  The fact that it didn't sell very well is probably due in part to its better quality.  Provacative music doesn't sell anymore.

Vanessa doesn't NEED anything at this point in her career.  She should just continue making the music that is sincere to her.  Whether it tears up the charts or gets regular play on TRL is an unimportant sidedish.  If it happens, that's fine; if it doesn't happen, that's fine too--what is important is that Vanessa stays true to herself and keeps making music that she is proud of, even if that means Muffy won't be interested.

I am tempted to call the perception of Harmonium as a commercial flop utter stupidity and the tendency of today to push eloquent music like Vanessa's aside a sinful folly. It almost—almost—makes me lose hope in mankind.
I will admit that Harmonium was a commercial flop, but the keyword there is "commercial". Those who weren't able to buy the album but whose souls experienced a "temporary nirvana" after hearing its songs will not, I think, care if it is.
She doesn't need sales, or chart-topping hits, although these would be quite nice. She's an artist, and what she needs is to keep on doing her own thing.

[Nessaholista]

...what is important is that Vanessa stays true to herself and keeps making music that she is proud of...

True 

[tylor2000]

My mother used to always say that she never listened to or payed attention to the words or lyrics to a song or music.  It was just basically background music requiring absolutely no thought at all.  I'm like the complete opposite.  I'm thinking of the music even if I'm doing something else.  But it made me think about what was involved in music from a perspective point of view.  In every successful album you always have at least a few songs with a "Hello Ears!" for people who aren't really listening or paying attention to the radio.  Something that requires no thought and that people can relate to on some basic level.  It's not really a persona but just a part of human nature, or a lack of it, if you will.

The easiest way is to just do the same thing because people will be able to relate to that because they relate to what they are familiar with. ect., ect.