I've just been on twitter and the phrase "love JLS" is trending (which, for those of you not tweeting, means that it's being said by a lot of people). In what I can only assume is a direct response, "hate JLS" is trending slightly beneath it. Amused, I looked at some of the tweets about the latter trend. Plenty of people were outright hating. But then there were some who went for what they deemed to be the more perceptive and insightful approach. They said things along the line of "I don't hate them. They make bad music but hate should be reserved for the writers, producers and labels" or "don't hate the players, hate the game".
These observations/verdicts etc. seem reasonable and perceptive. We can't blame JLS, right? They're just pawns in the game. They don't write the songs, they just sing them. Don't blame the boys, blame the extortionate records labels. They're the ones creating, marketing and selling "music" devoid of all soul and meaning purely for monetary gain. If it wasn't JLS it would be some other bunch of talentless saps. Nah, we can't blame the kids.
I would disagree. HEARTILY. I think there's another level of perception about this kind of thing, beyond the "don't hate the players, hate the game" verdict. I have no beef personally with any of the members of JLS. I'm sure Aston, Marvin, Jonathan and Ortisé are all lovely guys (and no, I didn't just Wikipedia their names...) I don't want to rip on their characters. However.
The game these guys are playing- the game of shallow, musically, lyrically, spiritually bankrupt, repetitive, uninspired RnB/pop being glossed up, given obscene levels of advertising and forced down the collective throats of the nation- is a vile, disgusting and hugely saddening game. It is fully worthy of our condemnation. And so are those who willingly chose to take part in it. And that includes bands like JLS. They are fully culpable. They willingly become pawns of the record labels who don't give a toss about music or integrity and only want money. They do their dirty work. They're one of the small cogs that keep the machine grinding relentlessly on. Sure, the industry could survive without them. Sure, if it's not them it would be someone else. But that doesn't negate their responsibility. It's a matter of principal. They're taking part in and condoning a sickening industry that has no respect for music or those who really appreciate it. Saying they don't deserve blame is like saying soldiers involved in things like the Holocaust or the My Lai massacre in Vietnam don't deserve condemnation because they "were just following orders". An extreme, possibly hyperbolic comparison, but there's a similar principle. JLS and their contemporaries are just as responsible and worthy of condemnation and derision as are the label bosses, producers and media execs.
Also, it saddens me that, as far as I can see, they've been caught up in the dream of instant fame. X Factor runners up, snapped up by a record label, songs thrown at them to sing and immediately thrust into the spotlight. No graft. No heart, commitment or passion which can lead to artistic fulfilment. Merely instant superficial reward. Come on boys, can't you see how hollow that dream is? How perilous and brief the life of a popstar? It's sad and slightly worrying that these guys and their contemporaries don't seem to realise that in ten years time they'll be bitterly sat in the urine soaked corner of some dull, lurid London night club, bitterly listening to Bleeding Love playing over the jukebox whilst Pixie Lott is bawling her eyes out in the corner, Alexandra Burke is staggering around like an injured gazelle on dubious stilettos and Justin Bieber quivers in the loo with the intense signs of heroin withdrawl.
JLS et al may have been caught up in the dream and rush of fame, but they're still as responsible for the decline of popular music as the labels and higher-ups are. They may be pawns in the massive, sprawling game of monopoly that is the popular music industry, but they are willing pawns. They are active pawns who, though they are controlled by their labels, had the autonomy and free will to chose to enter into and continue their role. Like I said, I have no issues with their personalities. They're probably nice guys. But I have to say I utterly condemn their willingness to be cogs in the massive plastic behemoth of a machine that is dominating and defecating over the charts.
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