The 1975 fans around the world have woken up preparing for battle as once again their lord and saviour Matty Healy has opened his mouth and shown his true colours.
Previously some of his awe-inspiring views have included: questionable deleted tweets on Islam, stating dating Taylor Swift would be emasculating and using a variety of slurs.
This time he mocked and impersonated Chinese and Hawaiian people, encouraged impressions of Japanese people working in concentration camps (before joining in), made derogatory comments about women and I think most interestingly the traditional Scottish language of Scots, where he referred to it as medieval and agreed when the podcast host called it ‘retard English.’
The reason this is the most interesting aspect of his recent word vomit on ‘The Adam Friedland Show’ podcast is not a month ago he was standing up in Glasgow yelling about Scottish Independence at his concert.
The comments were more than well received in the Hydro in Glasgow as many young people are supporters of Scottish Independence. It came at a time when the UK government had been attempting to block Nicola Sturgeon’s push for another referendum and with the UK in an incredibly dire political situation, there has been more urgency from the SNP for the separation.
What Matty has stupidly done is expose that his cries of Scottish Independence were sadly done for clout and to make him, I don’t know, relatable?
Now let’s make one thing clear, I myself am not Scottish. I am English much like the defendant. Scotland has reluctantly adopted me as I study here at university with lukewarm arms but three years down the line I think I’m getting the hang of being the token English. Although being quiet during the Calcutta cup is still a struggle.
The English education system acutely misses out the part of history where we decimated our northern neighbours and instead skips to the Tudors. The Clearances and battles all were news to me when I arrived. I didn’t know Scotland had their own language let alone three before it was stamped out.
Suddenly Henry the 8th felt a bit trivial.
While the language of Gaelic has just about survived, Scots and Doric struggled a lot more. Despite Scots being officially classed as an indigenous language nowadays it is mainly seen in the works of Robert Burns.
After the union of England and Scotland in the 1600 and 1700s, the shift of political power went to the south and the use of Scots was discouraged by authority and education as was the notion of ‘Scottishness’. This trend continued and by the 1940s, the Scottish Education Department’s language policy was that Scots had no value: “it is not the language of ‘educated’ people anywhere, and could not be described as a suitable medium of education or culture”.
The harsh history of Scotland’s true tongue is a dark one and not one to be trivialised. It represents the death of thousands of people and the loss of a culture.
It is not to be joked about, let alone by an Englishman. The audacity to call an indigenous language medieval when the very reason it is not spoken today is because his country is ignorant beyond belief and this coupled with his apparent support of Independence where he clearly has no clue about the origins of it.
No one campaigns for the separation of Scotland more than those who still keep the traditional Scottish culture alive. The two are intertwined.
For example, the main thing Scotland begged for in the aftermath of Brexit was control of their fishing waters and their fishing trading. The Scottish fishing industry is vital not only in terms of the overall Scottish economy but specifically in the Highlands and Islands and West Coast where it is such a key component to their livelihood.
Matty Healy has never been genuine about whatever he stands for.
He is a nepo baby who has managed to worm his way out of cancellation after cancellation by his fans basically telling the world ‘no you don’t get him, this is his humour, it’s satire!’
I am tired of being told I am not intelligent enough to ‘get’ Matty Healy and his views masqueraded behind false activism where he says statements into an auto-tuned microphone and everyone acts like it’s incredibly revolutionary.
He once compared himself to a Messiah, a fact that I think no one talks about enough as he truly believes what he says is gospel.
The hypocritical nature of his advocacy for Scottish Independence and his offensive comments on the indigenous language of the people is a blatant show of what has been festering for years. He doesn’t care about these issues. This is a shame because there were so many young Scots excited that this topic was being talked about to a sold-out Glasgow Hydro by a man with a humongous platform.
While my friends were buzzing when he initially said this, I was sceptical of him using the topic to gain notoriety in the country, but as pointed out, it didn’t really matter whether he was genuine, it was now being talked about on a global level.
Unfortunately, this development shows how disingenuous his activism is. He cannot stand up on a stage and speak out against sexism, toxic masculinity, the Conservatives and everything in between and then go on podcasts and say the complete opposite under the guise of dark humour with no awareness of the ‘punching up’ system of comedy.
It’s disappointing from him but not surprising.
The 1975 and Matty Healy will headline TRMST later this year in Glasgow. I’m sure a forced apology will arise before then or maybe it won’t, after all, it’s our fault for just not being on the man’s intellectual level.
Featured Image Credit: Jordan Curtis Hughes
Film, Media and Journalism student who writes about things that catch her interest. Instagram @charlsutcliffe
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