[Beth Curran]

Lord, yes.  Prepare to put your money where your mouth is on some of
these issues. Pictures has had a big effect on my 8 year old, who quite
reasonably asked, if civil disobedience was so important, why wasn't I
doing any of it myself? <gulp> Look out Gov. Taft, here we
come........... - Beth
-----Original Message-----
From: powderworks-admin@cs.colorado.edu
[mailto:powderworks-admin@cs.colorado.edu] On Behalf Of
earthsunmoonmomma
Sent: Wednesday, August 21, 2002 2:35 PM
To: powderworks@cs.colorado.edu
Subject: [Powderworks] Mini Workers/20,000 Watt RSL DVD

I was viewing the 20,000 Watt RSL compilation today for the first time, 
and my 3 year old son and 5 (turning 6 on Monday) year old daughter came

into the room as soon as they heard the music. They both love the Oils' 
music and sing and dance along whenever I listen, but I was really 
struck by my daughter's reaction.  She has seen a few clips of live 
performances and Black Fella White Fella, but no "videos" per se. 
 During the video for Pictures, she started asking lots of questions 
about what was going on, why are the trees being cut, why are they 
carrying those people away, etc. During The Dead Heart she wanted to 
know what the song was about, and we talked about indigenous people all 
around the world and injustices that have been done to them.  By the 
time it got to Beds are Burning, she turned to me with tears in her eyes

and said "Please turn it off, I can't watch any more Midnight Oil, it's 
so sad".  We have talked before about some of the issues the songs are 
about - she is quite a sensitive earth child and has an innate love of 
nature and a fascination with the native people of North America, but 
the images in the videos were just too strong for her.  I probably 
should have been more aware of that before letting her watch.  

We talked about how some songs are fun to sing and dance to, and some 
songs are about serious subjects, and how there are lots of people who 
want to change things that aren't right in the world.  I just found it 
interesting that Midnight Oil opens up such an opportunity for talking 
with my children about so many things, and that there are not always 
easy answers.  Anyone else have any similar stories?

Andrea

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