The Magic of Wally World…I mean WALMART!

Today in our RTVF class, we had a heated discussion on Wal-Mart and the audience they usually cater to. Well the topic for the week I chose to write about relates to the Wal-Mart and the Sheryl Crow Incident. A brief description of what had happened: Wal-Mart is America's largest music retailer, and as such wields a great deal of power. They refuse to carry CDs with images or lyrics their company disapproves of. They refused to carry Sheryl Crow's CD because the lyrics of one of her songs went like this: "Watch out sister/Watch out brother/Watch our children as they kill each other/with a gun they bought at the Wal-Mart discount stores." (PoMoAds, PBS).

I was curious to learn more about this incident and decided to find more information regarding Wal-Mart and the company’s policy on “censoring” the music. Well from what I had found, Wal-Mart has a harsh policy when it comes to music as they refuse to carry any CD’s that carry the notorious parental warning label or anything with explicit content. However, I had gone back to look over what Ms. Crow had wrote in the lyrics and nothing sounded explicit in her lyrical verse. Perhaps it was the fact that she had targeted Wal-Mart, tarnishing the name, so what sort of company would stand for that?

I think its ridiculous as to how Wal-Mart feels they have the right to censor the music. It is true that they have a great deal of power when it comes to the music industry, but to not carry an album because its explicit or they simply disapprove? You would think they would carry everything, but if you really think about it, this is corporate America and they would make so much more money if they carried all sorts of music. Although, Wal-Mart feels they have the right to censor the music because they want to promote family values and make it easy for the parents to not worry that their child is picking up something that might “tarnish” their minds, it all goes back to the fact that the company started in middle America, where its conservative.

I am not saying that it is bad to be conservative, nor am I suggesting people to not shop at Wal-Mart. I personally believe that since Wal-Mart caters to Middle America, which mostly consists of white conservative families, they should keep in mind that not all of America is Conservative (or Middle America). I feel that religion plays a big role in America, especially when it comes to business too. Why else would Wal-Mart censor music? With religion, I feel it dictates people beliefs. Are you Conservative? Are you Liberal? How do you feel about this Policy, and so fourth.

In the long run, I do not think it is right for Wal-Mart to censor the music because as humans, I feel we have the right to choose what we should be able to listen to. Especially with the Sheryl Crow incident, they should have carried her album, as it did not contain explicit content. Although she did make a bad mark with dissing Wal-Mart, you didn’t see Wal-Mart banning Michael Moore’s “Bowling for Columbine” as he knocks the company for selling guns to children in the documentary. I think everyone should be entitled to what their beliefs are, just don't impose it on people! People should be given the option or choice, especially now a days, rappers for example make two versions of their CD's, the explicit version and a clean version, why not carry both? People love choices, so why not give it to them?