Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2017/12/07/joan-jett-in-new-blondie-video.html
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Joan Jett? I’ve been hearing great things about her recently! https://boingboing.net/2015/10/21/the-jackie-fox-rape-disclosure.html
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Great sound.
And, a lot to take in, visually. That video is content-rich.
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If all the memes in that video were stitched together they’d reach the moon!
Two of the coolest women on the planet.
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I was just thinking that like Joan… you know another thing you could do to empower women right? Right?
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The coffee cups was a nice touch, for the old punk rocker in me.
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“Island of Florida finally disappears” is my favoruite of the bits I managed to read.
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Politics have become the new pop culture phenomena…
This is how you completely neuter the under-25 vote. I liked punk too. I still do. But Paul Ryan says his fave band is Rage Against the Machine. Yes, really.
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“Two girls, two cups”?
I’m digging scientific notation (five day forecast) in a Debbie Harry video.
ENVIRONMENTAL COLLAPSE = BEE DECLINE = NO FOOD = WE’RE FUCKED
Good rock/pop song from two super talented performers.
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“Man from Mars through with bars and cars.”
Love it 
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This is the same Joan Jett who stood there while Jackie Fox was getting raped and later denied it?
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I am not a fan of Joan Jett, but Jackie Fox harbors no ill will toward her though she is critical of her lack of support. Remember that Jackie and all the other bandmates were kids when the rape happened, they didn’t know how to handle what was going on and it’s easy in hindsight to say how they should’ve reacted.
I know some people watching the online drama unfold have been discouraged by the lack of support I’ve received from my former bandmates. To which I can only say that I hope you never have to walk in their shoes. My rape was traumatic for everyone, not just me, and everyone deals with trauma in their own way and time
So the criticism being levied by fans at Joan is understandable but things aren’t as black and white as we’d like it to be. But she does follow with:
… I only wish that if my bandmates can’t remember what happened that night — or if they just remember it differently — they would stick simply to saying that. By asserting that if they’d witnessed my rape, they’d have done something about it, they perpetuate the very myth I was trying to dispel when I decided to tell my story. Being a passive bystander is not a “crime.” All of us have been passive bystanders at some point in our lives.
If we have any hope at all of putting an end to incidents like these, we need to stop doubting the accusers and start holding rapists, abusers and bullies accountable. What we don’t need to do is point fingers at those who weren’t to blame for their actions.
Ultimately Joan is doing a disservice to Jamie, we all know that. Jamie Fox knows that, but the one to be held accountable is not Joan Jett. In my daily life she occupies zero part of my thoughts and i’m happy ignoring Joan, i’m fine with that.
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been waiting yonks for some high def blondie
I’ll see your Paul Ryan and raise you, George Osbourn name checking NWA.
Here’s George bustin’ out some gang signs, old skool tie style.
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wow - this would be a HUGE HIT on MTV ---- well, if MTV still played Music, had VJs, took requests —
nah, just another reality show.
awesome vid.
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Seriously? No way, you made that up.
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And?
Ooh, let’s go one step further, shall we?
“I think by the time people realized there was something deeply wrong happening they had been there for a while and it probably felt a little strange to suddenly speak up and do something, especially when they looked around and everyone was trying to look cool,” she said. “They looked around, the adults weren’t doing anything, the people in the band weren’t doing anything, and they just didn’t want to speak up in case they were misinterpreting the situation.”
–Jamie Fuchs
Fuchs’ response seems pretty reasonable; look, we knew something wrong was happening, nobody else was doing anything, bystander effect kicked in, we were scared girls in a room full of adults. I get it. Hell, I’ve sort-of been in the situation where someone was being assaulted (not sexually, thankfully) and yeah, when a group of you see it going down, everyone does just sort of freeze in shock. Anyone who hasn’t been in that situation probably shouldn’t cast judgement.
But then there’s Joan Jett’s response.
I have been accused of a crime. Of looking into the dead yet pleading eyes of a girl, unable to move while she was brutally raped and doing nothing. I have never been one to deny my mistakes in life and I wouldn’t start now. If I were guilty, I would admit it. There are so many excuses I could make being only one month into my sixteenth year at the time that people would understand but I am innocent. When I return from Sweden I will seek a qualified polygraph examiner to put to rest any and all allegations. I will make public the questions, answers and results of that test. I will prove I am telling the truth. I will not allow anyone to throw me under the bus and accuse me of such a foul act. I will fight for myself. It is the only thing I can do and I’m glad to do it.
– Joan Jett
So instead of taking Fuchs’ approach, which was to admit that, yes, it happened, and yes, it was wrong, and so on, Jett’s response was to call her a liar.
I read through the comments to see what the official BB response would be and it’s pretty disappointing tbh but not surprising given that the decision was made to post it. You’re right, of course, Kim Fowley is the one who was totally at fault, but at this point he can’t be held accountable at this point because he died of cancer two years ago. I suppose the nice thing is that if he was still alive, Jackie could come forward, as could Micki Steele, and he’d be rightly ruined in his old age.
I’m still not watching that damn video, though.
