David Bowie’s 1983 MTV Interview

David Bowie handed away on Jan. 10, 2016, however the influence of his life and profession continues to reverberate via the music neighborhood, in addition to with his dedicated fans. Bowie was not only a musician — he was a visionary, one who lived life on his own terms and impressed others to do the identical. He was additionally an unabashed supporter and champion of variety within the media, and one in every of his most outspoken moments has continued to go viral because of its robust ethical message.

“Should it not be a problem to try to make the media much more built-in, particularly, of something, in musical phrases?”

In an iconic 1983 interview with MTV veejay Mark Goodman, Bowie took the community to job for the dearth of movies they performed from black artists. “Why is that?” Bowie calmly requested the anchor, who was visibly flustered whereas making an attempt to elucidate that MTV was dedicated to taking part in movies that “not simply New York and Los Angeles can respect,” but additionally suburban Midwest communities “who can be scared to demise by Prince . . . or a string of different black faces.” Bowie’s rebuttal, pertaining to younger folks of coloration being “a part of America as effectively,” is remarkably related at this time: “It does appear to be rampant via American media. Should it not be a problem to try to make the media much more built-in, particularly, of something, in musical phrases?”

We nonetheless see the identical pleas to the leisure trade over 30 years later, whether or not it is demanding more representation from people of color on TV and in films or questioning the absence of minorities being nominated for major industry awards. It appears really easy for folks to ignore these observations when they come from celebrities (a sure esteemed actress recently calling out a sure thin-skinned “politician” comes to mind). We rush to social media to demand that they “stick with their jobs” as entertainers — as if being a public determine means you may’t have opinions — or dismiss their feedback as trivial or petty as a result of they do not precisely apply to us. What David Bowie’s 1983 interview proves is that there’ll at all times, fortunately, be celebrities who will use their highlight and privilege to name out inequality of their chosen trade. And sure, additionally fortunately, MTV does now play extra music movies by folks of coloration — not less than between episodes of Teen Mom and Jersey Shore reruns, that’s.