Janis Ian - At Seventeen (Live, 1976)
Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 1:54 amThat song says a lot about the struggle of young people to fit in and find their own place in a judgemental world. It's a fragile time and that's why we have laws to protect young people from being abused during that vulnerable time in their lives.
Since I suspect you're commenting about Tad's ban, I'll offer a comment of my own. I suspect Tad would identify with those "misfit" feelings at 17. I think it's a shame that he was probably shunned and possibly ridiculed (or worse). But when he became a 30 year old man and decided to enter into a homosexual relationship with a 12 year old boy, he took advantage of that same fragile time for his own benefit. That's when he completed the cycle and became the abuser. He may have tried (and is still trying) to convince himself that it was good for the boy. But at the age of 12, that boy didn't have the maturity to make that kind of decision. That boy was the confused, shunned "misfit" from that song. Tad took advantage of that confused, shunned misfit. That's disgusting to me.
In a sense, the US Hawks is being founded by a large percentage of "misfits". But that's not all bad because the United States itself was founded by many people who didn't "fit in" with what was happening in Europe. But even misfits need to hold each other accountable to some standards. I believe that Tad took advantage of that boy and is justifying it with the same logic that he uses to justify everything else he says or does. That's where I drew the line.
It's certainly sad to watch young people shun and bully their outcasts as described in this song. But the only thing worse than that case is to watch adults taking advantage of those outcasts for their own pleasure. That's abusing someone who's already been abused.