There were also a few disparaging comments about the South in general
Silicon Valley is all about equality and opportunity. Except when it isn't.
Certain types of bigotry are not only tolerated, they're celebrated.
Silicon Valley is all about equality and opportunity. Except when it isn't.
Certain types of bigotry are not only tolerated, they're celebrated.
"I kind of got sick of the Bay Area, the attitudes of the people there, a little bit. They talk about how diverse they are, and things like that, and it's fine if you're diverse like them. But showing up with a deer on the bumper doesn't fly in Marin County. My form of eating organic doesn't vibe with theirs."
https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/metallica-james-hetfield-m...
I've never heard this before but I love this quote. In my opinion, hunting responsibly brings one a great appreciation for conservation efforts and increases connection to nature. Especially hunting fowl, where you are walking the whole time and working with a dog that you trained yourself from a pup for this purpose. It gives great appreciation for nature and responsibly sourced food.
And another relevant tidbit in the article: "It's something I felt. I probably made it up in my head a little bit."
Replace hunting with some act you find unethical, and you'll see why this doesn't make sense.
2) Lots of old Metallica metal fans will regale you at length about how Metallica sold out to Redneck America(tm) in return for lots and lots of cash. So, lots of this kind of stuff is suspect as to whether it is genuine vs planned marketing.
3) "But showing up with a deer on the bumper doesn't fly in Marin County."
Erm, actually James I know quite a few people in Marin that are totally fine with a deer on the hood. Somehow I never saw you hanging out with any of us.
But, then, none of us are multimillionaires who are worthy of running around in Mr. Hetfield's social circles.
As for your first point, he's put up with Lars Ulrich for almost 40 years now. If that's not tolerance I don't know what is.
For point 2, decrying a large portion of the country as "Redneck America(tm)" sounds like the exact type of thing Hetfield is talking about, the same as your dismissive "thanks" at the end of point 1. They sold out with the black album in 91 anyway, there was nothing "redneck" about that album.
This comes from the fan reaction directly to "Load", specifically. A GREAT deal of Metallica's then-current fanbase was incredibly pissed off.
Metallica, I am sure, cried all the way to the bank. I am reminded of Neal Schon from Journey (paraphrased): "Everybody says we sold out. We played prog rock for how long and where did it get us? We write a couple pop ballads and suddenly we're drowning in money and swimming in women. Did we sell out? Damn straight we did and I have nothing to apologize for."
And maybe James Hetfield really believes what he is saying, and maybe he doesn't. For the amount of money he gets paid, you could get me to say quite lot--some of which I might even believe after a while.
Maybe I'm overly cynical, but the successful people in the music business all understand that they are in the business, first, of making music, second. So, I'm going to regard any "public persona" through the lens of being a carefully crafted marketing construct.
Everybody wants to pat themselves on the back about how non-bigoted they are because they stopped hating the last outgroup. In reality, there's just as much hatred and bigotry as ever, they just transferred it to a new outgroup.