A Take on Janet You Might Not Have Heard

Written by Chris Cotner
Published February 04, 2004

Due to network interruptions, I quit streaming the normal stations I listen to during the work day and flipped on the AM Radio I keep in my office. Rush was on, and as I keep a radio on for mostly background noise, I left him on.

My interest was peaked when he said he wanted to talk about why he thought the Janet SB Halftime controversy was so big. Not that I expected anything different, figured it would be the same half-baked stuff I have already heard/read.

His take boiled down to this: People have overreacted to this story because we are all convinced that famous people have much better sex lives than we do.

So, there you go. A new perspective from an unexpected source.

Keep reading for information and comments on this article, and add some feedback of your own!
A Take on Janet You Might Not Have Heard
Published: February 04, 2004
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Section: Culture
Writer: Chris Cotner
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Comments

#1 — February 4, 2004 @ 15:35PM — Eric Olsen

Hmm, interesting, except I'm not sure what a dangling participle on a stage in front of a bilion people has to do with sex.

#2 — February 4, 2004 @ 15:47PM — Chris [URL]

Fixed.

#3 — February 4, 2004 @ 16:09PM — Eric Olsen

Hmm, by "dangling participle" I actually meant Janet's right breast, which I have been trying to never call the same thing twice. I probably wouldn't much notice the grammatical kind.

#4 — February 4, 2004 @ 16:14PM — Chris [URL]

Well, now the other kind you were referring to, I can't fix. But I did have a sort of dangling participle, the grammatical kind . . .

Based on what I heard, his point overall was on the image that famous people present, in terms of "having a good time," and sounded more directed at the overall presentation with the sagging participle as icing on the cake.

#5 — February 4, 2004 @ 16:37PM — Eric Olsen

well said

#6 — February 4, 2004 @ 16:49PM — TDavid [URL]

Chris - is Rush still on the pills or what? Seriously, I think I'd need to hear Rush's entire take to try and see what he was trying to say. Is there a transcript available somewhere?

I'm not sure about a dangling breast being a sexual turn-on thing. I didn't think of the picture I've seen now a hundred times even remotely sexy. I saw some african american women auditioning on American Idol who were more sexy than Janet Jackson and they had all their clothes on.

#7 — February 4, 2004 @ 16:57PM — Chris [URL]

I have no idea if he is still on pills . . . my hearing of the entire thing was affected by not being able to give it my full attention . . .

However, in an attempt to make sense of it this is what I gleaned --

As a general rule most of us think that other people are having a good time and we aren't. DFW wrote a little bit about this in Supposedly Fun Things I'll Never Do Again. TV, due to the medium and neccesity of being entertaining presents an exaggerated view of how most of live our lives, and for most of us our lives in no way resemble what people do on TV. In a lot of ways, this makes people bitter because they begin to think that the reflection of the blue glow is the truth and their lives are in no way as remotely satisfying or sparkling as the image on the screen, which induces depression which causes more TV to be watched, and the cycle continues.

Wow, that is probably a little heavy and way past the point Rush was trying to make -- but people, and we know who they are, are overreacting to this because it presents an image that "famous people" have more fun than the average person, have lots more sex, etc.

Make sense?

#8 — February 4, 2004 @ 17:00PM — TDavid [URL]

Hmm, quite a stretch from a dangling titty. I guess Rush is trying to be philosophical.

#9 — February 4, 2004 @ 17:10PM — David Flanagan [URL]

I remember hearing a radio interview with Mark Wahlberg, who initially became famous through his music and then moved into acting. He was talking about some of the differences between being a "rock star" vs. a movie star.

One of the DJs asked him if being a rock star meant a more active sex life and he said something like, "God no!" He mentioned that his life since moving into his film career is much wilder, only stars don't talk about it the way that you do in the music business.

In the music business, its about "sex, drugs, and rock n roll," but in film its very different. What we hear about coming out of Hollywood is the tip of the iceberg. From what Mark was saying, what we don't hear is the truly wild things that go on there.

David Flanagan

#10 — February 4, 2004 @ 22:06PM — TDavid [URL]

Yeah, I bet Mark Wahlberg was getting all kinds of tail after his appearance in Planet of the Apes.

#11 — February 4, 2004 @ 22:35PM — Mac Diva [URL]

Rush Limbaugh is a famous person. But, for some reason, I suspect he has a boring sex life.

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