# "Schizo Psycho"



## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

Composer Aaron Gervais, a man successful enough to have his own website(!), recently put a piece online called "Schizo Psycho". I thought the title was a bit crude. Here's a brief exchange between us which, if you really have nothing else better to do, you can chime in on.

*Me*: I get the reference to multiple personalities [a feature of the piece], but calling it "schizo" seems a little on the tactless side to me...

*Him*: You're being way too PC. It's a play on words, there's nothing tactless about it.

*Me*: In fairness, I would only be too "PC" if I said the title was rampantly offensive, which I didn't. I said it was a little tactless, which it is. I'm not saying that it's morally corrupt and ought to be changed - I don't care that much. It's just that using "Schizo" in such a manner exploits certain stigmatised connotations of a health condition. Maybe you could also write a piece called "Spaz Jazz".


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

What's the play on words, that they both end in "o"?


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## Guest (Jan 28, 2012)

I thought it was the GOP's new theme song.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

If the guy wanted a 'play on words' for a piece of music, 'Schizo Scherzo' would be _marginally_ cleverer.

Hey _Kontra_, I just realized that the cabal that pulls the GOP's strings could be called The Evil Empire. Reagan would be annoyed.


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## eorrific (May 14, 2011)

Well, if the piece refers to multiple personality, I don't understand why the composer calls it Schizo Psycho in the first place.
Multiple personality disorder is definitely not equal to neither schizophrenia nor psychosis.
I think the composer is being overly defensive of his uninformed title he had chosen. What a ****!


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

A schizophrenic psychopath eh? Does the schizophrenic psychopath play the composition as well? "Schizo Pshycho" performed by Schizo Psycho. Hmmmm...... Interesting.


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

"Schizo Pshycho?" Does he have a speech impediment?


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Crudblud said:


> "Schizo Pshycho?" Does he have a speech impediment?


Schizo Psycho typo. :lol:


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Well I briefly looked at his website and this piece is thematically related to the Hitchcock film _Psycho_, and Bernard Herrmann's memorable score (a favourite film composer of mine). I will listen to Gervais' piece when I have the time.

I am not too bothered by the title. At least it's kind of relevant to the music, eg. the inspiration behind it. I think the titles chosen by today's avant-garde and experimental composers for their works can be baffling to listeners who don't have a program in front of them, or some explanation coming from the composer. Many times they are quite specific and have meanings that are (like some people find this) not understandable just from the title. You have to read a paragraph's worth explanation (sometimes more if they're more verbose) to get a basic grip of what the music is about or based on, etc.

It was not necessarily simpler in the old days though. On the weekend, just listened to my disc of Debussy's preludes for piano, 24 in all. Throughout that, there are various quotes from composers as diverse as Stravinksy & Brahms, one of the pieces has Spanish vibes reminiscent of Chabrier's famous _Espana_, there's _God Save the King _in there, & at the end of the last prelude a quote in a kind of pentatonic scale of the French national anthem, the _Marsellaise_.

It's not different to Gervais, he just chose a title that was like a combination of two things, maybe unrelated strictly speaking. That last prelude by Debussy is_ Feux d'artifice _(fireworks) which is related to the national anthem, fireworks would be done on for example the national holiday. It's this kind of thing Gervais seeks to do as well, it seems, and many composers still do it...


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

I don't think you understand what I'm objecting to, Sid. Whether or not it suits the music, I think "Schizo" is being used in a flippant, disrespectful way, in the same manner that children call each other "Schizos", hence my comparison with calling something "Spaz Jazz" or a "Mong Song".


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

Or my personal favourite "Paedo Preludio."


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## regressivetransphobe (May 16, 2011)

You're not being too PC but he's not being too tactless either. Everybody gets lemons!


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Sid James said:


> Well I briefly looked at his website and this piece is thematically related to the Hitchcock film _Psycho_, and Bernard Herrmann's memorable score (a favourite film composer of mine). I will listen to Gervais' piece when I have the time.
> 
> I am not too bothered by the title. At least it's kind of relevant to the music, eg. the inspiration behind it. I think the titles chosen by today's avant-garde and experimental composers for their works can be baffling to listeners who don't have a program in front of them, or some explanation coming from the composer. Many times they are quite specific and have meanings that are (like some people find this) not understandable just from the title. You have to read a paragraph's worth explanation (sometimes more if they're more verbose) to get a basic grip of what the music is about or based on, etc.
> 
> ...


I must say I agree with you. I don't see anything exactly _wrong_ withe the title. I mean, I've seen worse... (eg "******* ****" by member Crudblud here)


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

Crudblud said:


> Or my personal favourite "Paedo Preludio."


Interestingly, there is still lively debate over whether or not the Greek word explicitly meant what we think it to mean today. There are certainly cases that don't fit the presumed bill, like Aristotle and Alexander. Also, Plato defines homosexual Greece quite well, coming down on people who were sexually abusing those under their tutelage. It goes without saying, that everyone agrees that Sparta abhorred the practice, while Crete was infamous for it.

As for me, when the word is used without explicit description of a sexual relationship, I take it to be a mentor relationship akin to the Middle Eastern guru's relationship with his students (a parent child relationship borne out of a tutelage choice).


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Lukecash12 said:


> Interestingly, there is still lively debate over whether or not the Greek word explicitly meant what we think it to mean today. There are certainly cases that don't fit the presumed bill, like Aristotle and Alexander. Also, Plato defines homosexual Greece quite well, coming down on people who were sexually abusing those under their tutelage. It goes without saying, that everyone agrees that Sparta abhorred the practice, while Crete was infamous for it.
> 
> As for me, when the word is used without explicit description of a sexual relationship, I take it to be a mentor relationship akin to the Middle Eastern guru's relationship with his students (a parent child relationship borne out of a tutelage choice).


Well, paedophile definitely has one proper definition.


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Well, paedophile definitely has one proper definition.


??? I don't quite catch your meaning. Either you mean that I'm going against the general strain in saying that our modern use of the word may be anachronistic, or you are saying that it has a definite usage today?


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Lukecash12 said:


> ??? I don't quite catch your meaning. Either you mean that I'm going against the general strain in saying that our modern use of the word may be anachronistic, or you are saying that it has a definite usage today?


Paedophile: person who is sexually attracted to children.  That's it really.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Lukecash12 said:


> ??? I don't quite catch your meaning. Either you mean that I'm going against the general strain in saying that our modern use of the word may be anachronistic, or you are saying that it has a definite usage today?


Before you said Dr. Mengele did good, now you're saying that paedophile in your book can have good connotations (because of something from ancient Greece like thousands of years ago). I just don't get it, if you asked someone on the street about Dr. Mengele or paedophilia, 9 times out of 10 the response would not be positive...


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Polednice said:


> I don't think you understand what I'm objecting to, Sid. Whether or not it suits the music, I think "Schizo" is being used in a flippant, disrespectful way, in the same manner that children call each other "Schizos", hence my comparison with calling something "Spaz Jazz" or a "Mong Song".


Well I too am no fan of disrespect towards people living with disabilities. Whenever someone speaking to me, in real life, uses these kinds of words (even jokingly), I don't accept the joke. But I think in works of art, it can be different, dependent on context and content of the work. I mean esp. in films, the guy who made _Borat_ - Sacha Baron Cohen - is of Jewish heritage, yet it's full of politically incorrect jokes, he breaks every rule in the book. But it's a kind of send up of narrow minded thinking, it's just showing this type of thinking for how ridiculous it is. In that context, I'm okay with the use of such words. In everyday conversation, I don't like it, not because I'm PC but because it's disrespectful.

I can understand what you say, & I've still yet to hear Gervais' piece, but semantics if taken to the extreme becomes ridiculous, just as on this thread and also by another member in response to threads I have done, this person twists what I'm saying in simple English into some jargon and gobbledigook. But that's more about facts, what you're critiquing is a work of art, so it's going to be up for debate more, I guess...


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

Sid James said:


> Well I too am no fan of disrespect towards people living with disabilities. Whenever someone speaking to me, in real life, uses these kinds of words (even jokingly), I don't accept the joke. But I think in works of art, it can be different, dependent on context and content of the work. I mean esp. in films, the guy who made _Borat_ - Sacha Baron Cohen - is of Jewish heritage, yet it's full of politically incorrect jokes, he breaks every rule in the book. But it's a kind of send up of narrow minded thinking, it's just showing this type of thinking for how ridiculous it is. In that context, I'm okay with the use of such words. In everyday conversation, I don't like it, not because I'm PC but because it's disrespectful.


Yes, I can understand all that and have no objection. With this piece though, I think it's fairly obvious from the piece description that his thought process was basically, "multiple personalities = schizo --> schizo psycho LOL".


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

Sid James said:


> Before you said Dr. Mengele did good, now you're saying that paedophile in your book can have good connotations (because of something from ancient Greece like thousands of years ago). I just don't get it, if you asked someone on the street about Dr. Mengele or paedophilia, 9 times out of 10 the response would not be positive...


I'm saying that the word "pedastery" has been taken and used in an anachronistic fashion: what we use it for today is not what they used it for in ancient Greece, at least in terms of what I'll argue over with other people who study ancient Greece. The sexual abuse of children is not something that I said has good connotations, however the "pedastery"/mentor relationship of ancient Greece is a foundation that facilitated our modern ideas of tutelage. Did you know that Thomas Edison had a younger man, who had studied mechanics, move in with him in Canada, so that he could mentor the young man and they could originate one of the world's first airline companies?


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

Lukecash12 said:


> I'm saying that the word "pedastery" has been taken and used in an anachronistic fashion: what we use it for today is not what they used it for in ancient Greece, at least in terms of what I'll argue over with other people who study ancient Greece. The sexual abuse of children is not something that I said has good connotations, however the "pedastery"/mentor relationship of ancient Greece is a foundation that facilitated our modern ideas of tutelage. Did you know that Thomas Edison had a younger man, who had studied mechanics, move in with him in Canada, so that he could mentor the young man and they could originate one of the world's first airline companies?


I think there is a confusion in this thread over the distinction between paedophilia and pederasty.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

Schizo Psycho. Overkill?

View attachment 2888


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Polednice said:


> I think there is a confusion in this thread over the distinction between paedophilia and pederasty.


Language changes over time. What they mean now is what most people understand them to mean. Not as in Ancient Greece or whatever. Everyday concepts like this are just too basic for some people around here, it seems...


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

Sid James said:


> Language changes over time. What they mean now is what most people understand them to mean. Not as in Ancient Greece or whatever. Everyday concepts like this are just too basic for some people around here, it seems...


It's interesting that you're laying the charge of confusion on other people, when you were the one initially perplexed by my little divergence into ancient Greece. It hadn't been my attention at all to correct the vocabulary of the person I originally quoted. Sorry that we're a bunch of smarty pants; This stuff entertains me. And it's certainly helpful, when reading classical literature, not to have the notion that Aristotle sexually abused Alexander.


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