shut up and sing

Around three years ago the modernist, bluegrass singing Dixie Chicks were on stage in London and the band's Natalie Maines made comments about being ashamed that George Bush came from Texas. There was someting of a furore in the USA and the once popular band plummeted. Radio stations in the US stopped playing their songs and there were pictures of their CDs being destroyed in the street.

Now they have returned with a recent new album and a film called 'Shut up and Sing' which includes footage from the London gig, Iraq war footage and the subsequent protests. Quel surprise that some of the major networks have decided to ban the commercial for the film too, although local channels are getting it played. NBC says the adverts are 'disparaging of President Bush'.

So a film about pop musicians being blacklisted for speaking their mind on a topic which is fairly widely discussed is now being blacklisted. Is this just publicity, or are their other forces at work?