It's rare that I'd be sympathetic to South Dakota ranchers complaining about Joan Jett, but somehow, Jett and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade have performed a magic trick. That is, they're insisting that the parade is a vacuum, and nothing that happens or exists outside of the televised spectacle matters.
[Macy's parade spokesman Orlando Veras] said that the annual parade in New York City is about entertainment, not advocacy, and that Macy's was making the change "to prevent any further distraction from our entertainment mission."The International Olympic Committee pulls this crap all the time, insisting that politics has nothing to do with their event, when it actually has everything to do with the event.
"The Parade has never taken on, promoted or otherwise engaged in social commentary, political debate, or other forms of advocacy, no matter how worthy," Veras said in a statement. "Macy's intention is only to provide a range of entertaining elements and performers free of endorsements or agendas."
Here's something for Mr. Veras and the Parade to consider: Joan Jett is widely understood to be queer. Her very presence in the parade, whether remarked upon or not, is as political a statement as the parade organizers' decision to include "clean" Broadway musical numbers and muppets waving at people on the sidewalk and the ranchers' request to have Jett removed from the South Dakota float because she's a vegetarian activist when she's not playing guitar and singing songs.
I'd prefer if the ranchers didn't oppose Jett, but they're being honest that one's politics don't end when one steps on a parade float.
(Image cc-licensed: "Hello Kitty" by Adnan Islam)