The 1975 - I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It (Feb 26, 2016) Album • Page 91

I'm not trying to start anything I just wish he would shut the fuck up about politics, particularly U.S. politics that he has no perspective about.

I saw them the weekend after the election here in Chicago and he gave this whole speech about how we need to give Trump a chance, and he dismissed the opener saying "fuck Trump," by saying "of course she's going to say fuck Trump, she's a minority."

He's a great artist but he should just stay out of it.

 

ooooof yeah bad fucking look.

 

yeah and like personally, as a minority I really just felt whitesplained by the entire thing, particularly just DAYS AFTER the election

 

That's extremely strange that he would do that. Saw them like 2 or 3 weeks before the election and he was the one going on a rant against Trump right before Loving Someone

 

I was at both of their Chicago shows in November and don't remember any of this at all. What I remember is him speaking poorly of Trump at the show.

 

Yeah I remember seeing videos of him Trump bashing too.

 

Sure,

Matty is not a fan of religion as he understands his identity as a humanist. An organized Islamic group of women spoke out against a woman who left the faith and speaks about her view of it. They claim she spreads hate and fear mongering. She cancels her speech for security concerns but does not indicate the exact reason in her press release. Matty doesn't do as much research as he should and retweets someone else framing the cancellation as the Islamic women's opposition groups fault and that they are anti-feminist, which they claim on both counts is false. Furthermore, this is not what Think Inc., the woman's event organizing group claimed. The assumption being made by some is that she canceled her appearance because she was afraid this group was going to attack her to silence her. Matty didn't like this situation and failed by initially expressing fault at the group incorrectly. He's since spoke that .It's generally unfortunate that she couldn't speak from his view, regardless of who was trying to silence her with violence.

Matty by definition has latent Islamaphobia as he has a stated prejudiced against religion generally. He does not want religion involved politics, which is a critical component of the definition Islamaphobia per "dislike of or prejudice against Islam or Muslims, especially as a political force.". This is somewhat justified as religion has the demonstrated capacity, across all cultures and ethnicities, to commit horrendous crimes and to silence dissent.

However, his prejudice and fear led him to jumping the gun to share a fallacious and damaging opinion from a position of power and great influence.

This stems from his understanding of humanism to be incompatible or disparate from religion.

People who are afraid of Islam, or any religion should be engaged instead of silenced, and I rather have Matty fumbling about to get his bearings in the public sphere of debate on the matter than to retreat to largely apolitical music.

 

Telling artists to stay out of politics is something.

 

I think Matty's best speech on Trump being president was at the O2 show when before playing "Loving Someone" he said something to the effect of "We are liberals and compassionate so we should hear out why other people are angry before we dismiss them". I thought that was powerful.

The best conversations I've had with Trump supporters are the ones where you allow them to speak about what their true fears actually are - and speak only to those, and show them why the policies they are advocating for are inadequate, damaging or an overreaction.

 

I was at one of the shows and I don't remember all of it, but do remember he said that about the opener. Maybe you were at a different one of the two nights?

Edit: just saw you said "both." Reading is hard for me I guess.

 

I think people are taking issue with him being a foreigner, not just an artist. Idk tho.


EXTREMELY surprised by his recent take on things. He seems like a socially conscious person, so it's pretty odd, that's all I'll say.

 

matty healy is the definition of a beautiful disaster

 

This was the part that really stuck with me. I'm not trying to say Matty is some MAGA hat wearing Trump supporter, I just think it's incredibly shortsighted and ignorant to believe that as a white man he could speak to the experience of a minority concerning their feelings about Trump, and then dismissing them.

 

Not at all what I'm saying. I just don't think Healy has an informed or educated perspective on a lot of the things he's chosen to comment on lately. And due to the visibility of his platform, I wish he'd either educate himself more on these issues, or just learn that there are certain things he should see as off limits from offering his perspective.

Much of the greatest art is political, many of my favorite artists are political, in essence, most art is political. That being said, I think there's things some people should comment on, and some things they shouldn't.

 

I just personally think an already incredibly toxic environment that actively encourages Islamophobia, he really crossed the line in stoking the flames. And this isn't the first time he's done so in regards to the Islam faith.

What you said about jumping the gun is dead on. Healy doesn't seem like someone who wishes to sit back and take in other perspectives before offering his own. That to me is troubling, especially due to the visibility of his platform.

I'm not trying to say he should be resigned to making soulless political music forever, just maybe taking the time to step back, recognize his own privileges and limited perspectives, then commenting on something he's qualified to comment on.

 

I appreciate all of the discussion here, and I'm not trying to turn this into some kind of Matty Healy "witch hunt."

When You Sleep was my favorite album of last year and they're one of my favorite current groups. I just didn't see anyone commenting on these various problematic stances Healy has taken and I think it's important to discuss it. Especially in a society that perpetuates a lot of his problematic and damaging positions.

 

In reality, I was just incredibly disheartened since I saw him that night in Chicago, and have continued to be since with subsequent comments. It sucks when people you respect and admire have shitty opinions and perspectives, but I think it's important to confront those issues rather than ignore them or blindly offend them.

(Not saying that's what anyone is doing here, just an important sentiment in general).

 

I agree that he should take a step back and listen to the voices of minorities trying to speak to him on matters like these. It is disheartening to see him trying to talk over those voices and it is problematic.

I've always seen Matty as this guy who seems to have his heart in the right place, but his execution comes across poorly. This is one of those cases. He does strike me as a socially conscious guy, but when trying to voice his beliefs he ends up crossing a line and then measly back-pedals, as you've mentioned earlier @Aregala.

 

that your fav is problematic post completely inverts/misinterprets that lyric from "girls" so

 

Yeah I don't necessarily back everything in that post but it was the most accessible source I could find re: his comments surrounding Islam in the past.

 

I back this. Honestly I've never gotten the sense from Matty's comments that he has any more problem with Islam than he does with Christianity, or any other religion for that matter. I do think he jumped the gun on this issue, but at the same time as an atheist, I do see a tendency by some to lump in any legitimate complaints about Islam and lack of rights under the religion in certain parts of the world under the blanket of "Islamophobia". There are legitimate criticisms I have of how Islam is practiced in some parts of the world, and often they're similar critiques I would have of Christianity. I'm not going to criticize Christianity for one thing and then give Islam a pass for it.

 

Bingo. My thoughts exactly as an atheist as well.

 

hmmm...tell me more. Any ideas guys?

 

maybe an ep?

 

Still crossing my fingers that they're releasing updated/reimagined versions of Drive Like I Do era tracks under the title "Renaissance". Maybe this is the vinyl they're talking about.