From Rock to Ruin
World renowned metal band Metallica have caused uproar in the social networking world recently due to lead singer James Hetfield reportedly narrating a documentary on killing bears for sport.
The band, who have a worldwide fanbase, now face a dramatic loss of fans due to their support for killing bears. Facebook members have created a group labelled “Remove Metallica from Glastonbury Festival for their support of Bear Hunting”, and the site has exploded with fans expressing their disagreement and disgust at Hetfield. A petition has been made in order to get Metallica booted off the list for popular music event Glastonbury festival, and is said to have gained at least 10,000 signatures already.
Glastonbury festival is famous for its laid back and hippy attitude towards life, and the music festival is famously organic and natural. It is because of this that fans are completely devastated that Metallica are for the killing of bears, and have commented in their thousands to express their disgust. One user commented: “this message was enough for me… All my Metallica Stuff is in the Trash-Can… METALLICA-GOODBYE… you have killed enough…”
It is clear that a number of people feel strongly about this issue, and “wolf activists” and vegans alike are up in arms. However, should they really dig at a successful band for expressing their personal views? We all have our own opinions but we think it is okay to voice them and not receive any disagreement from others. Is Hetfield really in the wrong here? Can we blame him for wanting to be a part of something he feels strongly about?
Needless to say, social networkers aren’t in the slightest way inclined to believe this angle. As the story becomes more public, more conflict amongst users becomes apparent. For example, a member of the Facebook page previously mentioned posted some information about brown bears. Another user commented “And they taste delicious”. Now, this comment could be viewed from both angles; was it just a harmless joke? Or was it a spiteful comment directed at members of the page to get their back up? It is fair to say that this is ambiguous, but is this conflict really needed? James Hetfield might not view it as wrong, and stand by his opinion. Ultimately, fans are disappointed either way.
So will the metal band be banned? Well, right now the verdict is unclear. What is clear as day, however, is that their fans have undoubtedly dwindled since the story got out.
By Mirran Harper, year 13
The band, who have a worldwide fanbase, now face a dramatic loss of fans due to their support for killing bears. Facebook members have created a group labelled “Remove Metallica from Glastonbury Festival for their support of Bear Hunting”, and the site has exploded with fans expressing their disagreement and disgust at Hetfield. A petition has been made in order to get Metallica booted off the list for popular music event Glastonbury festival, and is said to have gained at least 10,000 signatures already.
Glastonbury festival is famous for its laid back and hippy attitude towards life, and the music festival is famously organic and natural. It is because of this that fans are completely devastated that Metallica are for the killing of bears, and have commented in their thousands to express their disgust. One user commented: “this message was enough for me… All my Metallica Stuff is in the Trash-Can… METALLICA-GOODBYE… you have killed enough…”
It is clear that a number of people feel strongly about this issue, and “wolf activists” and vegans alike are up in arms. However, should they really dig at a successful band for expressing their personal views? We all have our own opinions but we think it is okay to voice them and not receive any disagreement from others. Is Hetfield really in the wrong here? Can we blame him for wanting to be a part of something he feels strongly about?
Needless to say, social networkers aren’t in the slightest way inclined to believe this angle. As the story becomes more public, more conflict amongst users becomes apparent. For example, a member of the Facebook page previously mentioned posted some information about brown bears. Another user commented “And they taste delicious”. Now, this comment could be viewed from both angles; was it just a harmless joke? Or was it a spiteful comment directed at members of the page to get their back up? It is fair to say that this is ambiguous, but is this conflict really needed? James Hetfield might not view it as wrong, and stand by his opinion. Ultimately, fans are disappointed either way.
So will the metal band be banned? Well, right now the verdict is unclear. What is clear as day, however, is that their fans have undoubtedly dwindled since the story got out.
By Mirran Harper, year 13