Shut Up and Sing

"Political Correctness is just tyranny with manners."
Charlton Heston

When I was a little toe headed Greek Girl (oh who am I kidding, everyone knows my hair is bleached by now) make that when I was  little Greek Girl my Grama Pauline used to say to me "Children should be seen and not heard."  What Grama Pauline forgot was that when you tell a kid that it only makes them want to talk more, not to mention I'm Greek.... HELLO Grama can you hear me?

So here I am all grown up finding myself in a world where a lot of people like to talk, but don't really want to talk about the truth and what is going on in our society.  Well they like to tiptoe around it, unless of course you're talking about some neutral topic that in no way shape or form could ever offend anyone.  This leads me to wonder... Why?

When did we turn into this ultra "PC" society devoid of our values, morals and or beliefs?Well, I mean many of us have them, we just have to keep them to ourselves lest we offend anyone.  This irks me. Last time I checked people who believe in the things that happen to go against my moral compass don't seem to be concerned about doing or saying things that offend me.  Yet these same people will waste no time calling it "discrimination" if I happen to disagree with their views.  They're not worried about losing a job if they are open or out of the closet on any subject per say.

This leads me to wonder...  If it's OK for Clint Eastwood, Chuck Norris and Kid Rock to have an opinion, oh I forgot about Sarah Jessica Parker, George Clooney, Matt Damon and even Oprah.  Why can't I have an opinion?  What because I'm not "famous"  I'm not entitled to have an opinion?  Otherwise I might be blacklisted from ever becoming famous (for my singing of course).  Anyone see the irony here?...

What about freedom of speech?  Where is My freedom of speech?  Why isn't it OK for me to have an opinion about the things that are going on in our world besides the fluff and buff stuff?  These are trying times, there is a lot going on in the world today.  In order to be able to get anything done, we should be, and are supposed to be able to talk about our differences in opinion.  There are two parties, we are a republic remember.  We're not living in Cuba under a dictatorship.  I mean HELLO The United States was founded on the premise to escape the tyranny of a Monarchy.  We should be able to have different viewpoints about things and not be afraid we are going to lose our friends, job, or not be able to obtain or book a job because of them.

If we were all the same or believed everything the media is telling us we should, we would all be like a bunch of robots, and that would be - boring.  Why am I all of the sudden a "bad" person if I don't happen to agree with George Clooney about politics?  Why are people like him allowed to do or say whatever they want without fear of recourse and I'm not?  Why do I have to just suck it up and keep my opinion to myself in order to have success in the music industry as I desire?  Oh I get it I'm just supposed to shut up and sing.  Why does anyone for that matter in any walk of life?

I thought we weren't allowed to discriminate against anyone's age, race, religion, sexual preference, or even in some instances political affiliation.  So what gives? Oh wait a minute, I forgot, that only applies if you're not a Christian or a Republican

Remember, there are three sides to every story, yours, mine and the truth...  It takes more than just one opinion on any topic to get to the truth.  I don't hate, demonize or discriminate against people who disagree with me.  They are free to think what they want, so why can't I be allowed the same courtesy?

I'm not saying we should run around picking fights with people.  What I am saying is, we should be able to feel free and comfortable to express our beliefs without having to be in the closet on all the dreaded topics... and even to admit we are that nasty word (a Republican).

That's just plain silly...  Because as the Greek Girl sees it, what's good for the goose is good for the gander.  At the end of the day all I can be is me.  I'm not going to do, say, not say, or pretend things just to make people happy.  I am who I am, love me or hate me, I'm free - as we all are to be - just me.  Have a beautiful day!

Blessings, Love & Music ~
Ava :) xox
www.avaaston.com

You Can't Handle the Truth!

Who hasn't seen the movie "A Few Good men" where LTJG Daniel Kaffee (played by Tom Cruise) is questioning Col. Nathan R. Jessep (played by Jack Nicholson) on the witness stand in court and Jack Nicholson delivers one of the most famous movie quotes of all time, "You Can't handle The Truth."

In 2005, Nicholson's reading of the line "You can't handle the truth!" was voted the twenty-ninth greatest American movie quote of all time by The American Film Institute. However, as popular as the movie quote is, I think in reality many people can not handle hearing the truth.

Some people realize that there is a difference between absolute honesty and total honesty. Sometimes total honesty will get you no where with someone so you must resort to absolute honesty in order to get things  done. I spoke about that in a previous blog titled Bad Day when I first met Mr. Bricks and he slopped marinara sauce all over his white shirt.

I know I am just as guilty as others in not always being able to handle the truth. An example is recently when my manager Mr. Bricks called with a last-minute audition and I was running late to get out the door. I asked my sweetie, "Does this outfit look good for the audition?" he knew that because I was running late "total honesty" would have only delayed me further, so he resorted to "absolute honesty" and said, "I look absolutely fine." Did he personally think I should have worn something else? Yes. But, he knew that I couldn't handle the truth in a situation like that without creating total muckery. I would have most likely been very late or missed the audition completely by wanting to change my clothes.  Note: In the grand scheme of things I still rocked the audition with what I wore!  Score one for the Greek blonde girl's fashion sense - just sayin'.

I am not advocating anyone telling lies because that just goes against everything I believe in. I also think sometimes when it is just expressing an opinion, telling someone the total truth does more harm than good. In total honesty the truth could sound so blunt or so cold that some people won't be able to handle the truth. So in my Greek little noggin absolute honesty is also better in a situation like that. It happens to me in the music industry all of the time.

I think the reason that Simon Cowell's new singing reality show The Xfactor is going to be so successful is because he has no problem telling the truth. Of all the American Idol judges, past and present it was only Simon who always told the contestants the honest truth. Cowell often got booed for his comments because the contestants and the audience couldn't handle the truth.

There are situations when nothing except total honesty is the only acceptable policy:

Me: Who's your favorite and most talented client Mr. Bricks?

Mr. Bricks: You are Ava Aston

Me: That was the right answer!

Blessings,

Ava

xox

PS Don't forget there is  just a few a little time left to take advantage of the March Madness sale on my "Gone" CD

http://www.avaaston.com/store.html