Its no secret that i have a thing for vegan punk kids. What can i say, i love vegans, tattoos, and good hardcore. So it shouldn’t come as a shock that i have a crush on Rise Against. Not only are they vegan punk kids in a hardcore band, but they are also from the midwest (Chicago) and made their fame the old-fashioned way - touring the hell out of the US and the UK. But i’m not here to talk about a crush. I wanted to bring attention to the video for their hit song, Ready to Fall.

The song reached #19 on the charts, but corporate media outlets weren’t quite as happy to support the message behind the lyrics. They were perfectly happy just co-opting subcultures. The problem with artists, however, is that some of them can be downright pesky with their principles. And despite their appearance in the mainstream (MTV, commercial radio, signing with Geffen, and co-headlining the Warped Tour), Rise Against has refused to completely turn their backs on the politics that birthed their genre.

As you can read in the interview with WireTap and Rise Against singer Tim McIlrith, the band stays committed to using their music and performances as a way to educate and activate their audiences. As McIlrith states, “I figure if people aren’t being challenged, then we’re not doing our job.” And obviously their latest video challenged some people.

The original video didn’t make it to MTV or VH1. It was censored. Not because of its horrendous depiction of wimmin or racial stereotyping or excessive “obscene” lyrics. The obscenity was showing documentary footage of animals in slaughterhouses, old-growth forests being clearcut, dead birds in oil spills, melting ice caps, animals in cages, dead deer, the Japanese dolphin slaughterings, and other scenes of everyday life. Although, i believe the only contested footage is that involving dead and tortured animals. I’m not one for censoring, but this is particularly appalling to me. But it comes as no surprise.

The media outlets are not trying to protect their audiences. They are trying to protect their financial interests. And anyone who remembers the backlash of Oprah’s guest, Farmer Lyman (i believe), coming on her show to talk about why he gave up raising and slaughtering cows, will know why MTV thought twice about airing the video. If you don’t remember that particular episode of Oprah (after all, i think it was almost a decade ago that it aired), the gist is that Oprah’s response was “well I’m never eating beef again.” That single statement was enough for the cattle industry to scapegoat their declining sales and stock values onto one powerful persyn, so they sued Oprah. In the end Oprah won by defending her right to free speech, but ever since, corporate media outlets have thought twice about letting any sort of animal rights message into their respective mediums. To air a video that showed the systematic killing and torturing of animals (from Bambi to Dumbo to Moby Dick), would have meant that MTV would be investing in even more $500 an hour lawyers’ assistants. But MTV had more than the cattle industry to fear.

Let’s face it, MTV isn’t about art. Its not about the vision of using art to change the world. Its simply entertainment. Its a numbing mechanism. That’s why the cable station’s number one advertiser is none other than the U.S. Army. In your numbed out stupor, an exciting image of cliff hanging, helicopter rides, and group jaunts in exotic locations pops up in front of you, promising you the life off the couch that you always wanted. And by always i mean since the ad started. And the best part is that all of this is not only free, but somehow your dream of skydiving will actually pay for you to go to college. College is boring, so it can wait, but at least you’ll know that after you jump out of that plane you’ll land right in your new dorm room.

Well, the Army doesn’t like competition (duh). And people who challenge corporate and government policies are competition. So its either a video made by a group of kids or billions of dollars in ad revenue. You pick. Remember, you don’t have any principles, you only care about money… and lots of it.

You know which one MTV picked. But that didn’t stop Rise Against. They compromised and submitted a censored version of their video. Then they did what anyone with a video that no one will air does, they put it on YouTube and the band’s website. Here is what the band has to say about the video on their website:

“Ready To Fall” is the most important video Rise Against has ever made. This video transcends our band and our music and talks about a much bigger picture, a picture that affects each of us. I hope people check this video out and then share it with their friends and loved ones. We are all witness’ to the suffering that our planet and it’s people endure, the only question now is: what will we do about it?

Ah, the hopeful romanticism of hardcore:) They already had the popularity. And the thought of getting something that was “uncensored” was just too good for The Kids to pass up. So the original video became a hit despite the initial compromise. (BTW, you can watch the uncensored video below)

What i love about this story is how a group of artists sticks to their principles and how the internet has finally started to show some self-worth. As much as i hate how the NSA and others are using online social networkings sites to spy on and profile us, these sites are definitely changing the face of media. They bring new hope for the phrase, “don’t hate the media, become the media.”