Jarvis JargOnline 2001 - 2002: Media
What is the Film Board Scared Of?
By Kate Ranachan
Stuff: A Waste of Time
By Melinda Maldonado
By Melinda Maldonado
The Return of Weezer
By Raki Singh
By Raki Singh
What is the Film Board Scared Of?
By Kate Ranachan
By Kate Ranachan
Flipping through the newspaper recently, an article about the Ontario Film Review Board's decision to ban the film "Fat Girl" caught my eye. I re-read the article in disbelief at the idea that in the new millenium we need and/or allow someone to tell us what films we can and can't see.
The Board banned the film because of its depiction of "teenage nudity and teenage sex in an explicit way," and because the Board "felt that this would be a bad precedent to set. Once filmmakers feel that it's okay to show teenage nudity and teenage sex in an explicit way, (they'll say), 'Let's start making films like this.'"
The Board did leave the distributor Lion Gates films, the option of cutting at least fifteen minutes of the film. However, cutting even fifteen minutes of a film that is already barely an hour-and-a- half is hardly an option.
The film in question Fat Girl, was made by Catherine Breillat, one of France's most highly respected directors. A filmmaker since the seventies and it is fair to say that when she makes a film, controversy is never far behind. Her films are sometimes criticised for their portrayal of female sexuality, but they are also hailed for the same reason. Her films are considered to be done in a responsible and thought-provoking manner.
Many things about the banning of this film have left me scratching my head. The first and perhaps most obvious question is why? Why do we in Ontario need to be told what films we can and can't see? Are we not a responsible enough audience to decide whether or not we want to see a film?
It is not as if by granting this film a commercial release that everyone in Ontario will be forced to see it. Chances are that very few people would in fact choose to view this film because it is foreign, and will therefore only have a very limited release.
Perhaps a feeble argument for the banning of this film could be made if many other countries were banning the film, but this is simply not the case.
The film was not banned in England, France or any other province in the country, for that matter. This begs the question: what makes us here in Ontario so different that we aren't able to handle viewing this film?
Or as Atom Egoyan, the acclaimed Canadian director, wrote in his letter to the Film Board, " What is it that makes our particular community in Ontario so vulnerable? How is it that you at the Board can see this work of art, carry on with your lives, but can anticipate that the viewing of this film by your fellow Ontarians will suddenly violate community standards and unleash all sorts of unacceptable response."
Before continuing, I must acknowledge that the film does contain graphic images of teenage sexuality, but these images do not remotely approach pornography. The images are disturbing because they do present teenagers nude in sexual situations, but because of the responsible manner in which they are dealt with, do not merit censorship.
But despite how you feel about the images themselves, the essential question remains; why do we in Ontario need to be told what we can and can't watch?
The Film Board is trying act like our parents, and quite frankly I don't like it. I have two parents already and definitely don't need a third, thank you.
What do the films Luna, The Tin Drum, Pretty Baby and Fat Girl have in common? They are all films critically acclaimed films that were initially banned by the Ontario Film Review Board.
Bernardo Bertolucci's Luna was banned for its portrayal of an incestuous mother-son relationship, Volker Schlondorff's The Tin Drum was banned for its depiction of the sexual adventures of a man-boy and Louis Malle's Pretty Baby for its portrayal of child prostitution.
If you were to walk in to any video store and ask for any of those films you would not be forced to look in the adults-only section. All three were made by very well-respected and important European filmmakers of the last century.
Filmmakers who are not, as the Film Board would like you to believe, pornographers.
More disturbing than the Board's decision to ban the film is the Board's argument that the film will encourage other filmmakers to portray images of teenagers' engaging in sexual acts.
This to me seems to be a most perverse argument. If we were to ban everything on the basis of what others might do, then what would we be left with?
Besides, if teenagers having sex is dealt with in a responsible way (as it is in the film Fat Girl) then why shouldn't it be seen on screen.
At no point in Breillat's film is someone naked simply for the point of being naked. We can't keep pretending that teenagers aren't having sex because the bottom line is they are, regardless of whether or not this or any other film is made.
So the question remains, if teenagers are already having sex, then isn't it better to have it out in the open?
In the last few years we have already seen many images of teenagers' engaging in sexual acts that weren't banned. Didn't last year's Oscar winning film American Beauty feature a middle-aged Kevin Spacey both fantasising and eventually seducing a teen-aged Mena Suvari?
What about Larry Clark's Kids, a far more viscerally disturbing portrayal of teenage sexuality ( it got only a AA rating from the review board).
Many important and influential members of the Canadian film community (including film directors Atom Egoyan, David Cronenberg and Piers Handling, the director of the Toronto International Film Festival) have lent their support to this film and I can say with confidence that these people would not risk their careers if they didn't truly believe this film has merit.
After all, as Atom Egoyan wrote in his letter to the Film review Board, " Free expression-- especially by established artists with long and respected careers--is certainly one of the cornerstones of our democracy."
The Board banned the film because of its depiction of "teenage nudity and teenage sex in an explicit way," and because the Board "felt that this would be a bad precedent to set. Once filmmakers feel that it's okay to show teenage nudity and teenage sex in an explicit way, (they'll say), 'Let's start making films like this.'"
The Board did leave the distributor Lion Gates films, the option of cutting at least fifteen minutes of the film. However, cutting even fifteen minutes of a film that is already barely an hour-and-a- half is hardly an option.
The film in question Fat Girl, was made by Catherine Breillat, one of France's most highly respected directors. A filmmaker since the seventies and it is fair to say that when she makes a film, controversy is never far behind. Her films are sometimes criticised for their portrayal of female sexuality, but they are also hailed for the same reason. Her films are considered to be done in a responsible and thought-provoking manner.
Many things about the banning of this film have left me scratching my head. The first and perhaps most obvious question is why? Why do we in Ontario need to be told what films we can and can't see? Are we not a responsible enough audience to decide whether or not we want to see a film?
It is not as if by granting this film a commercial release that everyone in Ontario will be forced to see it. Chances are that very few people would in fact choose to view this film because it is foreign, and will therefore only have a very limited release.
Perhaps a feeble argument for the banning of this film could be made if many other countries were banning the film, but this is simply not the case.
The film was not banned in England, France or any other province in the country, for that matter. This begs the question: what makes us here in Ontario so different that we aren't able to handle viewing this film?
Or as Atom Egoyan, the acclaimed Canadian director, wrote in his letter to the Film Board, " What is it that makes our particular community in Ontario so vulnerable? How is it that you at the Board can see this work of art, carry on with your lives, but can anticipate that the viewing of this film by your fellow Ontarians will suddenly violate community standards and unleash all sorts of unacceptable response."
Before continuing, I must acknowledge that the film does contain graphic images of teenage sexuality, but these images do not remotely approach pornography. The images are disturbing because they do present teenagers nude in sexual situations, but because of the responsible manner in which they are dealt with, do not merit censorship.
But despite how you feel about the images themselves, the essential question remains; why do we in Ontario need to be told what we can and can't watch?
The Film Board is trying act like our parents, and quite frankly I don't like it. I have two parents already and definitely don't need a third, thank you.
What do the films Luna, The Tin Drum, Pretty Baby and Fat Girl have in common? They are all films critically acclaimed films that were initially banned by the Ontario Film Review Board.
Bernardo Bertolucci's Luna was banned for its portrayal of an incestuous mother-son relationship, Volker Schlondorff's The Tin Drum was banned for its depiction of the sexual adventures of a man-boy and Louis Malle's Pretty Baby for its portrayal of child prostitution.
If you were to walk in to any video store and ask for any of those films you would not be forced to look in the adults-only section. All three were made by very well-respected and important European filmmakers of the last century.
Filmmakers who are not, as the Film Board would like you to believe, pornographers.
More disturbing than the Board's decision to ban the film is the Board's argument that the film will encourage other filmmakers to portray images of teenagers' engaging in sexual acts.
This to me seems to be a most perverse argument. If we were to ban everything on the basis of what others might do, then what would we be left with?
Besides, if teenagers having sex is dealt with in a responsible way (as it is in the film Fat Girl) then why shouldn't it be seen on screen.
At no point in Breillat's film is someone naked simply for the point of being naked. We can't keep pretending that teenagers aren't having sex because the bottom line is they are, regardless of whether or not this or any other film is made.
So the question remains, if teenagers are already having sex, then isn't it better to have it out in the open?
In the last few years we have already seen many images of teenagers' engaging in sexual acts that weren't banned. Didn't last year's Oscar winning film American Beauty feature a middle-aged Kevin Spacey both fantasising and eventually seducing a teen-aged Mena Suvari?
What about Larry Clark's Kids, a far more viscerally disturbing portrayal of teenage sexuality ( it got only a AA rating from the review board).
Many important and influential members of the Canadian film community (including film directors Atom Egoyan, David Cronenberg and Piers Handling, the director of the Toronto International Film Festival) have lent their support to this film and I can say with confidence that these people would not risk their careers if they didn't truly believe this film has merit.
After all, as Atom Egoyan wrote in his letter to the Film review Board, " Free expression-- especially by established artists with long and respected careers--is certainly one of the cornerstones of our democracy."
Stuff: A Waste of Time
By Melinda Maldonado
By Melinda Maldonado
Stuff magazine is influencing young men to become more sex obsessed than they already are. It is teaching an attitude of self-gratification to the exclusion of others as well as alcoholism and masochism. The magazine cover always features a scandalously dressed woman, with headlines for articles about sex, models' personal lives, and instructions on how to be funny.
The advertisements in Stuff are directed at young men for whom sex is a large part of life, and who like to drink and watch sports. It seems to attract a male audience from about 16 to 26 although the advertisements are designed to appeal to men much older than that.
The two hair-loss remedy ads are surprising; it seems to be only targeted at youngermen. There are many ads for various kinds of alcohol as well as cigarettes and tobacco products. Other ads are for electric razors, sex guide videos or books, credit cards and cars.
The attitude that the magazine sells, is that of a partying comical 'ladies man' that is almost misogynistic. This attitude and lifestyle is further enforced by the ads.
There are so many kinds of alcohol and cigarettes listed, with pictures of guys drinking with their buddies. There are articles with large pictures of women in bikinis, as well as quotes such as 'being blond and beautiful makes life so much easier. It's not fair, but that's life'.
I would say that the advertisements are aimed at men with a lower paying job, like someone working while going to school, or in this case, just not getting a great job that could be a career. I say that because of the numerous video game ads. Are video games not meant for kids and teenagers? What kind of respected older man still has a Playstation? And why would a woman want to date such an immature man if she is in her 20's or 30's?
This magazine must have an appeal if it is so wildly successful and has such a large audience. The headline "become a sex genius!" attracts young men's egos, and has the idea of building confidence. The truth is that sex can sell anything in our culture.
Guys want to learn about sex. They want to learn how to perfect their sarcastic humour, and any bunch of guys (we are talking about the editors here) who can get so many beautiful naked women must be cool, so let us be like them. There is a sense of power gained from things, such as women, alcohol and success while being lazy, all of which Stuff encourages you to acquire.
All that needs to be examined to grasp this concept is to look at what our culture values. Power is a most treasured possession, and sex comes very close. People don't always know what they want, and this gives them a way to feel good.
I think that the perfect looking women in their bikinis impress guys, and give them something to fantasize about. The secret hypnosis tricks that make women do what you want, when you want, makes guys feel powerful and releases the threat of women standing up for themselves and their wants and needs, as opposed to other decades.
The fact that our society has such a mixed definition of manliness means this is an attitude that has to be adopted to feel power. If you have no direction, this affirms your masculinity, assuming that the magazine is popular because it latches onto men's insecurities.
If anyone were to honestly read Stuff, they would realize that it values having a woman (or many) that you can do anything you want with, as well as being good at sex, and having a lot of it. The magazine values being big and manly, dressing well, looking good, being funny and athletic.
You could try to make this magazine sound more respectable, but the photos of almost naked women, beer ads and news of the latest video games speaks for Stuff's true values.
All of this news is terrifying because it is brainwashing the men who read Stuff. Stuff puts poor morals and nasty men into our society.
This is quite a gloomy prospect for young women who realize they will be dating these guys. If there is an article on how to make your girlfriend get off your back for playing video games, or become amazing at getting people into bed with you on the first date, it causes psychological disturbance to females.
The advertisements in Stuff are directed at young men for whom sex is a large part of life, and who like to drink and watch sports. It seems to attract a male audience from about 16 to 26 although the advertisements are designed to appeal to men much older than that.
The two hair-loss remedy ads are surprising; it seems to be only targeted at youngermen. There are many ads for various kinds of alcohol as well as cigarettes and tobacco products. Other ads are for electric razors, sex guide videos or books, credit cards and cars.
The attitude that the magazine sells, is that of a partying comical 'ladies man' that is almost misogynistic. This attitude and lifestyle is further enforced by the ads.
There are so many kinds of alcohol and cigarettes listed, with pictures of guys drinking with their buddies. There are articles with large pictures of women in bikinis, as well as quotes such as 'being blond and beautiful makes life so much easier. It's not fair, but that's life'.
I would say that the advertisements are aimed at men with a lower paying job, like someone working while going to school, or in this case, just not getting a great job that could be a career. I say that because of the numerous video game ads. Are video games not meant for kids and teenagers? What kind of respected older man still has a Playstation? And why would a woman want to date such an immature man if she is in her 20's or 30's?
This magazine must have an appeal if it is so wildly successful and has such a large audience. The headline "become a sex genius!" attracts young men's egos, and has the idea of building confidence. The truth is that sex can sell anything in our culture.
Guys want to learn about sex. They want to learn how to perfect their sarcastic humour, and any bunch of guys (we are talking about the editors here) who can get so many beautiful naked women must be cool, so let us be like them. There is a sense of power gained from things, such as women, alcohol and success while being lazy, all of which Stuff encourages you to acquire.
All that needs to be examined to grasp this concept is to look at what our culture values. Power is a most treasured possession, and sex comes very close. People don't always know what they want, and this gives them a way to feel good.
I think that the perfect looking women in their bikinis impress guys, and give them something to fantasize about. The secret hypnosis tricks that make women do what you want, when you want, makes guys feel powerful and releases the threat of women standing up for themselves and their wants and needs, as opposed to other decades.
The fact that our society has such a mixed definition of manliness means this is an attitude that has to be adopted to feel power. If you have no direction, this affirms your masculinity, assuming that the magazine is popular because it latches onto men's insecurities.
If anyone were to honestly read Stuff, they would realize that it values having a woman (or many) that you can do anything you want with, as well as being good at sex, and having a lot of it. The magazine values being big and manly, dressing well, looking good, being funny and athletic.
You could try to make this magazine sound more respectable, but the photos of almost naked women, beer ads and news of the latest video games speaks for Stuff's true values.
All of this news is terrifying because it is brainwashing the men who read Stuff. Stuff puts poor morals and nasty men into our society.
This is quite a gloomy prospect for young women who realize they will be dating these guys. If there is an article on how to make your girlfriend get off your back for playing video games, or become amazing at getting people into bed with you on the first date, it causes psychological disturbance to females.
The Return of Weezer
By Raki Singh
By Raki Singh
On a cold Monday afternoon, seven thousand fans began to line up for a soldout rock concert in the outskirts of Toronto at Arrow Hall. Despite the dreary skies, rain, and a six hour wait time, the mood of the crowd was high. People played hackey sack, chatted, made hot chocolate runs, and even sang songs.
These fans were waiting to be a part of the first real Weezer tour since the May 15, 2001 release of the second self-titled album commonly called the Green Album. Somehow after a five year hiatus and after their sophomore release became a commercial flop, Weezer has returned more popular than ever.
Weezer's story begins in 1993 when the band was formed by front-man Rivers Cuomo and roommates, bassist Matt Sharp and drummer Pat Wilson. A second guitarist was added by the name of Jason Cropper to make the quartet complete.
The band played in the Los Angeles club scene where they inked a deal during the post-Nirvana grunge phase with Geffen Records in 1994. The band was signed virtually after their first sound check.
Their debut and first self-titled album (known by fans as the Blue Album) was $20,000 dollars over budget and underwent an unexpected change of second guitarists replacing Jason Cropper for Brian Bell. Despite the setbacks, the Blue Album became a huge commercial success, going triple platinum.
Weezer's mix of power pop melodies and lyrics, heavy guitars with punk energy, and 70's metal guitar solos spawned three mega hits. However, what made them different from their influences of The Pixies and Cheap Trick was their geek image and quirky humour.
The band members, particularly lead singer and songwriter Rivers Cuomo, did not seem like typical rockstars. Rivers came off as more of a normal, shy person. Weezer was composed of a group of guys that spent their time doing their homework, listening to music, and playing Dungeons & Dragons. Their fans loved them for it.
The first single, titled "Undone (The Sweater Song)" was a modern rock hit in 1994 and the last single "Say it Ain't So" became a hit in 1995. What really set the band off was the second single entitled "Buddy Holly." The video was pushed by Geffen and received a lot of airtime on MTV.
The Buddy Holly video which spliced footage of the band performing into the old sitcom Happy Days was directed by Spike Jonze and was very original for its time.
Critically, Weezer's first album was met with mixed praise. Many critics believed that the album was only selling due to the funny videos that rotated on MTV. Rivers began to believe the critics and the second album was released in 1996 without any clever videos.
Named for Rivers's favorite character in the opera Madame Butterfly, Pinkerton showed that Weezer matured immensely. Weezer chose to produce the album themselves and results were staggeringly different than the Blue album. Pinkerton was darker lyrically, tighter musically, and rawer emotionally than its Blue predecessor. The musical style took more risks and the lyrics were deeply personal.
In many ways the darkness of Pinkerton reflected the band's history up to that point. While the Blue Album was becoming a hit, Rivers isolated himself from the band at Harvard. He had surgery to lengthen one leg that was shorter than the other. The surgery left him with wearing a leg brace for a year and taking painkillers. Guitarist Brian Bell said in a Rolling Stone article entitled "Weezer's Cracked Genius":
River was on painkillers. It was painful for him to hold his guitar in a certain way, so most of the songs are written in the first position. I would almost have to egg the songs out of him…It was a deeply personal album, full of stories of lying girlfriends and confessions…"
Pinkerton received much more critical acclaim than the band's first album but it commercially tanked. The first single "El Scorcho" never really took off and Geffen Records tried to promote the album's song "Good life," but by the time it was released MTV had changed. It no longer supported guitar based punk-pop.
Rivers felt rejected; the album's reception felt like a personal attack. The entire band was struck when, during the Pinkerton tour, the heads of the fan club and friends of the band were killed in a car accident.
The band faced a lawsuit over the album's name by a security company. The whole experience soured Weezer's sophomore release. Interestingly enough, the story around Pinkerton didn't just end there; slowly the album began selling to younger and new Weezer fans that had matured alongside the band. Pinkerton also appealed to a larger fan base.
Original Weezer fans were drawn to songs like "El Scorcho", "Pink Triangle", and "Across the Sea" while emo enthusiasts and even metal fans were drawn to anthems like "Tired of Sex", and "Why Bother?". The raw emotion and darkness present in the album appealed to teens who were themselves experiencing emotional riots.
Slowly the album trickled to the gold mark. It was better to the fans that Pinkerton wasn't a huge album. It let them have their own private piece of gold that wasn't popular. The fan-following of Weezer became almost cult-like, worshipping Pinkerton.
Rivers himself still does not acknowledge Pinkerton as a success. He calls the album "sick and diseased." He doesn't even want to play the songs during concerts to his adoring fans.
From the end of the Pinkerton tour to about the beginning of the millennium the Pinkerton fan base silently continued to grow but the band had completely dropped under the radar.
In 1998, bassist and fan favorite Matt Sharp officially quit the band to head his own band, the Rentals. This led to numerous breakup rumours which were put to rest when new bassist Mikey Welsh was recruited. Mikey has recently been replaced by newest member Scott Steiner after Mikey left with an undisclosed condition.
The band grew apart but did manage to record a few tracks that were very uncharacteristic of Weezer. Abandoning melody, they were more experimental and dreamier. These tracks were eventually shelved by Rivers and not released. Afterwards, Rivers dropped out of Harvard with only two semesters to go and moved back to L.A. where he began to write song after song. He amassed over 300 songs which he keeps recorded with a personal decimal system.
In 2000 the band released a couple Christmas tracks to radio stations and over the website to tease fans of the upcoming album. They began to tour with the punk show Vans Warped tour and then did a Yahoo Outloud tour (named by the band as the Corporate Sell-Out Tour).
The results were phenomenal: they were selling out almost every show. In Toronto, the Weezer show sold-out in approximately five minutes.
Weezer then went back to the studio and recorded the Green album, which was released May 15, 2001, reuniting Weezer with old producer Ric Ocasek. The latest album resembles the Blue album in many ways right down to the cover and its eponymous title. The band even reunited with director Spike Jonze for their second Island in the Sun video. The second self-titled album hit the Billboard charts at number four when it was first released.
The album contains ten tracks and has currently released two singles, the first being a harder track called "Hash Pipe" and the second being a mellower track called "Island in the Sun."
The Green album is much more straightforward than any of the previous albums and has a much more clean studio feel to it when compared to the Blue album's gritty pop rock roots.
Clocking in at just over 28 minutes, the Green album is the exact opposite to Pinkerton's wild emotions and musical daring. Rivers put it best when he said in Rolling Stone:
"This record is purely musical. There's no feeling, no emotion."
This seems to be the direction that Weezer is heading. They want to become more like the early Beatles and Beach Boys, creating songs which have survived without any personal revelation.
The Green album was met with positive criticism and quickly reached platinum status.
The band went on Green promotional tour (Hooptie tour) to pump up fans for the new release.
Radio stations were given tickets to award to fans who called in. At Toronto's Edge 102.1 radio station the contest was met with frenzy. Many fans did crazy things to get their hands on Weezer tickets. People starved themselves, painted themselves green, some even had luncheon meats thrown at their bare bottoms.
While fans of Pinkerton may be a little disappointed with album's lack of emotion and personal lyrics many fans have fallen in love with much of the Green Album. During the current sold-out Midget tour, fans have been clapping along with "Photograph", hip hipping with "Island in the Sun" and rocking out to "Don't Let Go."
The band seems to be bristling with confidence and creative energy. The recent Green and Midget tours have showcased many new songs. In fact, they have showcased more than a complete album's worth of music.
Weezer has even decided to go ahead to begin recording a new album. They are looking to release it early for the New Year. The band believes that upcoming album will have more of the same Blue and Green power with some of daring that made Pinkerton fans so happy.
Rivers has said: "The fourth album is going to bring back the rock...Let me clarify that, we are going to bring back the heavy metal."
These fans were waiting to be a part of the first real Weezer tour since the May 15, 2001 release of the second self-titled album commonly called the Green Album. Somehow after a five year hiatus and after their sophomore release became a commercial flop, Weezer has returned more popular than ever.
Weezer's story begins in 1993 when the band was formed by front-man Rivers Cuomo and roommates, bassist Matt Sharp and drummer Pat Wilson. A second guitarist was added by the name of Jason Cropper to make the quartet complete.
The band played in the Los Angeles club scene where they inked a deal during the post-Nirvana grunge phase with Geffen Records in 1994. The band was signed virtually after their first sound check.
Their debut and first self-titled album (known by fans as the Blue Album) was $20,000 dollars over budget and underwent an unexpected change of second guitarists replacing Jason Cropper for Brian Bell. Despite the setbacks, the Blue Album became a huge commercial success, going triple platinum.
Weezer's mix of power pop melodies and lyrics, heavy guitars with punk energy, and 70's metal guitar solos spawned three mega hits. However, what made them different from their influences of The Pixies and Cheap Trick was their geek image and quirky humour.
The band members, particularly lead singer and songwriter Rivers Cuomo, did not seem like typical rockstars. Rivers came off as more of a normal, shy person. Weezer was composed of a group of guys that spent their time doing their homework, listening to music, and playing Dungeons & Dragons. Their fans loved them for it.
The first single, titled "Undone (The Sweater Song)" was a modern rock hit in 1994 and the last single "Say it Ain't So" became a hit in 1995. What really set the band off was the second single entitled "Buddy Holly." The video was pushed by Geffen and received a lot of airtime on MTV.
The Buddy Holly video which spliced footage of the band performing into the old sitcom Happy Days was directed by Spike Jonze and was very original for its time.
Critically, Weezer's first album was met with mixed praise. Many critics believed that the album was only selling due to the funny videos that rotated on MTV. Rivers began to believe the critics and the second album was released in 1996 without any clever videos.
Named for Rivers's favorite character in the opera Madame Butterfly, Pinkerton showed that Weezer matured immensely. Weezer chose to produce the album themselves and results were staggeringly different than the Blue album. Pinkerton was darker lyrically, tighter musically, and rawer emotionally than its Blue predecessor. The musical style took more risks and the lyrics were deeply personal.
In many ways the darkness of Pinkerton reflected the band's history up to that point. While the Blue Album was becoming a hit, Rivers isolated himself from the band at Harvard. He had surgery to lengthen one leg that was shorter than the other. The surgery left him with wearing a leg brace for a year and taking painkillers. Guitarist Brian Bell said in a Rolling Stone article entitled "Weezer's Cracked Genius":
River was on painkillers. It was painful for him to hold his guitar in a certain way, so most of the songs are written in the first position. I would almost have to egg the songs out of him…It was a deeply personal album, full of stories of lying girlfriends and confessions…"
Pinkerton received much more critical acclaim than the band's first album but it commercially tanked. The first single "El Scorcho" never really took off and Geffen Records tried to promote the album's song "Good life," but by the time it was released MTV had changed. It no longer supported guitar based punk-pop.
Rivers felt rejected; the album's reception felt like a personal attack. The entire band was struck when, during the Pinkerton tour, the heads of the fan club and friends of the band were killed in a car accident.
The band faced a lawsuit over the album's name by a security company. The whole experience soured Weezer's sophomore release. Interestingly enough, the story around Pinkerton didn't just end there; slowly the album began selling to younger and new Weezer fans that had matured alongside the band. Pinkerton also appealed to a larger fan base.
Original Weezer fans were drawn to songs like "El Scorcho", "Pink Triangle", and "Across the Sea" while emo enthusiasts and even metal fans were drawn to anthems like "Tired of Sex", and "Why Bother?". The raw emotion and darkness present in the album appealed to teens who were themselves experiencing emotional riots.
Slowly the album trickled to the gold mark. It was better to the fans that Pinkerton wasn't a huge album. It let them have their own private piece of gold that wasn't popular. The fan-following of Weezer became almost cult-like, worshipping Pinkerton.
Rivers himself still does not acknowledge Pinkerton as a success. He calls the album "sick and diseased." He doesn't even want to play the songs during concerts to his adoring fans.
From the end of the Pinkerton tour to about the beginning of the millennium the Pinkerton fan base silently continued to grow but the band had completely dropped under the radar.
In 1998, bassist and fan favorite Matt Sharp officially quit the band to head his own band, the Rentals. This led to numerous breakup rumours which were put to rest when new bassist Mikey Welsh was recruited. Mikey has recently been replaced by newest member Scott Steiner after Mikey left with an undisclosed condition.
The band grew apart but did manage to record a few tracks that were very uncharacteristic of Weezer. Abandoning melody, they were more experimental and dreamier. These tracks were eventually shelved by Rivers and not released. Afterwards, Rivers dropped out of Harvard with only two semesters to go and moved back to L.A. where he began to write song after song. He amassed over 300 songs which he keeps recorded with a personal decimal system.
In 2000 the band released a couple Christmas tracks to radio stations and over the website to tease fans of the upcoming album. They began to tour with the punk show Vans Warped tour and then did a Yahoo Outloud tour (named by the band as the Corporate Sell-Out Tour).
The results were phenomenal: they were selling out almost every show. In Toronto, the Weezer show sold-out in approximately five minutes.
Weezer then went back to the studio and recorded the Green album, which was released May 15, 2001, reuniting Weezer with old producer Ric Ocasek. The latest album resembles the Blue album in many ways right down to the cover and its eponymous title. The band even reunited with director Spike Jonze for their second Island in the Sun video. The second self-titled album hit the Billboard charts at number four when it was first released.
The album contains ten tracks and has currently released two singles, the first being a harder track called "Hash Pipe" and the second being a mellower track called "Island in the Sun."
The Green album is much more straightforward than any of the previous albums and has a much more clean studio feel to it when compared to the Blue album's gritty pop rock roots.
Clocking in at just over 28 minutes, the Green album is the exact opposite to Pinkerton's wild emotions and musical daring. Rivers put it best when he said in Rolling Stone:
"This record is purely musical. There's no feeling, no emotion."
This seems to be the direction that Weezer is heading. They want to become more like the early Beatles and Beach Boys, creating songs which have survived without any personal revelation.
The Green album was met with positive criticism and quickly reached platinum status.
The band went on Green promotional tour (Hooptie tour) to pump up fans for the new release.
Radio stations were given tickets to award to fans who called in. At Toronto's Edge 102.1 radio station the contest was met with frenzy. Many fans did crazy things to get their hands on Weezer tickets. People starved themselves, painted themselves green, some even had luncheon meats thrown at their bare bottoms.
While fans of Pinkerton may be a little disappointed with album's lack of emotion and personal lyrics many fans have fallen in love with much of the Green Album. During the current sold-out Midget tour, fans have been clapping along with "Photograph", hip hipping with "Island in the Sun" and rocking out to "Don't Let Go."
The band seems to be bristling with confidence and creative energy. The recent Green and Midget tours have showcased many new songs. In fact, they have showcased more than a complete album's worth of music.
Weezer has even decided to go ahead to begin recording a new album. They are looking to release it early for the New Year. The band believes that upcoming album will have more of the same Blue and Green power with some of daring that made Pinkerton fans so happy.
Rivers has said: "The fourth album is going to bring back the rock...Let me clarify that, we are going to bring back the heavy metal."
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