Thirty Seconds to Mars: A new controversy hits the web!
juil 26th, 2013 | By Patricia Tanne
While the band is having a short break during their promotional worldwide tour for their new album « Love Lust Faith + Dreams », officially released on 21st May, a new controversy arises in the columns of some well-meaning musical magazines.
Indeed, in an official announcement released on July 23 on the band’s official website, fans were asked to participate in the shooting of the video for the upcoming Mars single « Do or Die », but this was in a very special way.
The band offers its fans to get a tattoo of some of the lyrics of the song, make a video of the tattoo processing and send the film that has been done to make it appear in the video for « Do or Die » .
The wait was not long before a wind of revolt was blown on the web! Some people rebelling against this « criminal » or « irresponsible » idea of Thirty Seconds to Mars.
Jared
Leto, director of the band’s videos, is, of course, the first target to hit. He is the frontman of the band after all, and he is a master in
filling this role no matter what.
He is described as a rare tyrant towards his fans, asking the impossible and exercising a kind of emotional blackmail on his troops to make them participate in his next video.
Jared Leto is a monster of selfishness, only concerned by his own little person, his glory, his fame, his money and lives far from reality in his beautiful house on the Hills in Los Angeles. This is a fact, of course, and the music industry professionals are so aware of that….
Jared is a good guy, and some continue to ignore that he has feelings too. It would be good to put things in their right place and … give to Caesar what is Ceasar’s.
When we read what is written in this official announcement a little more carefully, it’s easy to notice (when you can speak basic English) that the mention of a « permanent » tattoo is never mentioned. This simply suggests that future graphic work can be done ephemeral, henna, ink, … everything that can be washed after shooting the video.
Mentioning the name of the tattoo artist? Yes, allright, if he is running the drawing, it is normal that it is known. And yes, there are renowned tattoo artists who make temporary tattoos.
Fans can do what they want without endangering neither themselves nor their future.
The controversy is dead and buried.
Well almost, because some took the opportunity to put on the table, and for the umpteenth time, the price of what the band calls the « Adventures in Wonderland » tickets. Those are VIP concert tickets to meet and greet the band before the show. These tickets are the sinews of war, the busybody, the thing that irritates the world. So much ado about nothing.
These tickets are expensive, that’s true, and as Jared said many times (« drooled » would be appropriate, but he was asked the question so often that unfortunately he has no other choice), the money raised with these special tickets can pay the concert security and allow the normal tickets to be less expensive for the audience.
Which same sized band can sell EUR35 a concert ticket to his fans today? Not much … except Thirty Seconds to Mars.
As for merchandising, a subject on which Leto is often attacked again, why focus on it? Do people criticized the merchandising of Michael Jackson? Madonna? Lady Gaga? Beyoncé? Rihanna? No, so why doing it with Mars? These artists have made their fortunes on the merchandising.
About Mars, this is perfectly irrelevant and, until proven otherwise, the fans do not have to buy everything the band sells. Jared Leto even encouraged them to create their own visual identity by welcoming their inventiveness on T-shirts, jewelry and posters. He even asks how his fanbase would be willing to pay a particular item or a particular event broadcast on its network, the VyRT.
If Jared decides to allow his fans to contribute to the making of his new video, it’s to show them respect and to thank them for always being by his side and support him against all odds.
Attacks and criticism are easy, polemics swell very quickly as soon as the name of Jared Leto is mentioned but demonizing is a flagrant injustice.
Jared Leto is a complete artist, very talented, able to be involved in any art project related to music, film and graphic art.
There is no doubt that he still has a lot of things to show us, so let’s give him the time and opportunity to do so, without jumping on him at every opportunity.
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