Dear Vault members, friends, family, and associated members of the Peanut Gallery,
Your old friend Ben Swank here.... A couple of weeks ago I sent a small letter to a site express my distaste for the manner in which they were using and manipulating our materials which then exploded into a bit of an online kerfuffle. We were accused of censorship, harassment, Big Brother tactics (the book not the show) and generally being really bad people who hate Freedom Of Expression. I'd like to copy and paste that letter here below for you all:
We respect your right to speak freely. We also exercise this right ourselves, which is what we're about to do here. Here goes... We can no longer watch your Tumblr blog exist without pointing out the racism and sexism that is inherent to its content.
We realize that the tone of your site is humorous, and we sure do love to laugh, but the posts on your blog are often no more than literary black face, and it frustrates us to have Third Man-related content used with this mocking tone. Throw in the racist jab or two about Asians and a few dozen decidedly anti-feminist posts, and what we have is a blog full of negative and unproductive contributions to society.
This letter won't begin to address the libel your site perpetuates, of which there is quite a lot.
We can't ask you to take down your parody account, nor would we try, but let it be known that you offend us in every way.
A couple points if I may:
1. I never asked them to remove or censor their content in any way
2. I understand they considered their site a 'parody'. Still offensive. And this is the first time I've ever done something like this. It was the usage of our materials in that way and seeing it spread around the internet that got me to a place where I needed to say something.
I am a person that believes greatly in self expression and privacy. I want fans to have places online where they can discuss anything they like regarding Third Man without fear of our ire or scrutiny. But I've not said anything about this for a few years, but I'm going to go ahead and say this now... There is a strikingly (dare I say eerie) similar tone between those rants on that tumblr site to a lot of comments you see all over the internet whenever articles are posted about Olivia Jean or other female TMR-associated artists, same tone and phraseology that existed on this Black Belles hate-blog that used to exist, and the same tone and language used from this slightly unhinged person who emails me directly 20 or more times a day who thinks she (SHE being the woman sending the emails) is in a relationship with Jack White and who wants nothing more then to ruin Olivia Jean's career. What I'm saying is this could likely be one person working under different names and log ins (we have confirmation from our webmaster and other media outlets and websites that these originate from the same IP address) and what they are doing is embarrassing and irresponsible. This is all just to say that the internet is many things. A lot of those things are amazing, but there's a side of the internet where people can act in an anonymous and abhorrent manner that they would never act in real life and I hate to see other people exposed to, and believe, some of the hate and negativity that is espoused out there in the online vortex... Especially when so much of what is being said is based on falsehoods, conjecture and half-truths.
To be clear I very much encourage open discourse regarding music and criticism. I get that not everybody likes everything Third Man releases musically, we travel in a lot of musical worlds and not everything is for everyone. If this was about music in any way, then I would get it. But myself, I'm not a person who can stand watching cruelty based on racism, sexism, misogyny, homophobia, or how people look or dress. We all have freedom of expression. I'm all for it. I hope it can remain positive and stimulating, but that's not always the case and sometimes when it gets to be too much I'm going to express my freedom of expression and say so. Just like I'm doing now.
This is likely something people want to discuss further. I welcome it. Please leave comments and I'll check in and reply. I'll also try and make myself available on Vault chat to talk more if people want to.
thanks for your time and understanding,
Swank
Lovely Lisa and Catherine! I do find that there are many things in my life that all lead back to TMR. In art, writing, musicians. Almost like everything is 3 degrees away from it. Peace be with you both!
No problem. None at all. It’s called Imprensa do Rock. I have reviewed several bands for the magazine. The response has been so positive that they started printing them in English as well as Portuguese. I’m kind of excited about the whole thing. I’ll try not to go on about it too much. Lol. I’m out of here for now. It’s been really nice chatting with you Catherine. Take care!
Lisa, may I ask what magazine? (If not, no problem.)
I’ll let you know when it comes out Catherine.
Awesome, Lisa Gros. Thanks for replying. All cool stuff. I would love to read your article. I hope it will be spotlighted! Happy writing.
Ms. Ponce… your daughter said this : “To all the trolls, You broke your tongue talking trash, now you’re trying’ to bring your garbage to me I got some words for your ass you better find somebody else up the street” and I responded with this : "Good point Annajean… much of the content in the songs we listen to as TMR fans are filled with trash talk and slurs against the fairer sex… Its the bread and butter of the angry vindictive attitude spoiling for a fight in modern music but ecen Jack will tell you there is a time and place to let all that go and be kind to each other… It feels like someone wants there to be winners and losers in this very conversation… Swank was hoping it would stay positive here but obviously the tone of the entire tribunal is trading one witch for another because SHE (OJ) broke HER tongue talking trash and SHE needs forgiveness just as those jealous hordes do who also talk trash…. Can we stop talking trash now?.. This thread is becoming polarized and divisive with raw aggression and I thought the point was to put a limit to it "………. The last time I dealth with a mother daughter fan team was in Ohio where the mother wouldnt stop taking photos and said a few things about how Jack smelled when she met him one early morning after a long night…. the fans behind her nearly came to blows with her but I escorted her away from them out if courtesy… i thought it was you to be quite honest… All that aside … I dont need nor do I want your mental health services, but this woman that Swank referred to… Collette something has visited chat many times at length going on and on about her relationship with Jack and how she ‘Made’ him in the masonic order and she went on about some curse bullshit… I reckon she could use your help and supposedly she works i the film industry… she definitely was wearing the Elephant Western shirt in one of her photos she posted but none of that has anything to do with me… normally I would look for some sort of apology but I am guessing you are not likely to offer it with all that voices i the head shit you were talking… sorry to let you down if you are wishing more of a dispute but no thanks
Oh, I also met the artist David Swanson. He said it will be signed and numbered. Very cool… He also said he’s designed a couple of Jack White’s album covers. I write for a metal/rock/punk music magazine in Brazil. I’ve had this idea of writing an article about the resurgence of vinyl and the importance of album cover art -past and present. David was so nice, I’ll use one of his covers for the article and post it to his, (and send one to TMR records) Facebook page. I’m pretty stoked about writing it. Thanks for jumping on the ‘change the subject’ bandwagon.
It’s 40 inches by 40 inches. The media is very thin metal. I love that! I’m going to hang it in my dining room. I think it will make not only a stellar but sophisticated Halloween decoration.
Very cool, Lisa Gros! (and thanks for opening the discussion to art) What size is the polaroid you bought? Is it polaroid-sized or an enlargement? And those kind of synchronicities are sooo cool, I agree. Love them. Robert Plant, yeah.
Okay, I’ll start: I went to TMR for the first time on Sept. 19th. I enjoyed the art show of the yellow & black Polaroids so much I bought one. The one of the hanging skeleton. I’m hoping to receive it soon. Also, on Sept. 17th I saw Robert Plant at Meadowbrook in Rochester Hills, MI. he sang a song that was written by Charley Patton in 1928 called Spoonful. I thought Muddy Waters wrote it. Anyway, when I was at TMR, what do I see? An album by Charley Patyon! Yep… Spoonful was on the album. How cool is that??? Needless to say, I had a fantastic time and look forward to returning. Hopefully to see a show.