“My Bloody Valentine” and Plato
In the time that Plato was alive there were no such things as music videos, rock bands, or the internet, but he would have frowned down on these human developments. Music lyrics are related to poetry and Plato wanted to ban that type of expression from society in general. The song “My Bloody Valentine” by Good Charlotte is exactly what Plato was afraid the community, especially the young generation would be exposed to. The song is centered on a crime of passion, a murder, which does not represent good moral character or uphold the values of virtue. This song teaches the wrong way to deal with emotions of love and jealousy, and illustrates no encouragement for “self-control in young men, who hear them” (Plato 29). Plato would have been heartbroken to know that the youth generation of today is so used to this type of lyrics that they are not even surprised by its violent nature.
Good Charlotte is singing about a brutal, merciless murder, which they have not experienced first hand since they are not in jail or on trial, so they are imitators. Plato had a problem with imitation, because that made the poet or singers in the case “at third remove from the throne truth” (Plato 43). Lies are immoral and do not help in building a strong character which knows the difference between wrong and right. This song is playing in the background of a video that has drawn imaginary characters playing out the actions of the lyrics. The colors are animated and the graphics are simple, almost childlike, but at the same time represent the evils of human nature. This video is available on a site that is very popular in today’s internet surfing community and it is no censored for children of young impressionable ages. Lyrics such as “I ripped out / His throat,” (Good Charlotte 5-6) are an inadequate reaction to jealousy and are teaching its listeners the wrong way to deal with emotions. The murder is justified by true love, which is not a reasonable excuse and should not be accepted as being realistic, because then nobody in the real world would be safe. The song’s lyrics are so dangerous because “everyone will excuse his own wickedness if he believes such things are done and have been done” (Plato 31). Plato fears rhetoric for its power over the mind of the regular thinking citizen living in society.
This video and the song are accessible to anyone who wants to find it, and it is extremely appealing with its rhythmic beat, catchy chorus, and good vocals. Plato was afraid of the power of poetry, because it had a great audience who were easily swayed to emotions that are inferior to the noble, strong character. People derive pleasure from listening to this song and watching the video, which means they are not in their right mind to judge the truth behind the words since they are so overcome with emotion. The chorus, which is repeated numerously in the song, gives the message that “I’ll wash my bloody hands / and we’ll start a new life” (Good Charlotte 3-4). That says that a person can clean away their sins without having major consequences for the immoral actions committed. Plato says, “writers are wrong about the most important matters in human life, when they say that there are many unjust men who are happy,… that wrongdoing pays if you can get away with it” (Plato 32). His statement explains perfectly why the message presented by the song should not be allowed to be heard by the general public, because it does not provide justice. People should have good role models to look up to in pop culture, which would mean extracting lyrics that provoke violence. Plato was trying to keep corruption, sin, and injustice out of the lives of people in his Republic, which is why this song and video would be banished in his realm.
Works Cited
"Good Charlotte - Bloody Valentine lyrics." LYRICS007. 4 Feb. 2009
Plato. Classical Literary Criticism. Trans. Penelope Murray and T. S. Dorsch. New
York: Penguin Books, 2004.pg. 1-56
Sndrsrbcc. "Good Charlotte - Bloody Valentine + Video." YouTube. 4 Nov. 2008. 4 Feb. 2009
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