ABSTRACT
This chapter entitles 'Sexist Pulp ads attacked', the Independent on Sunday (IoS) reported public reaction to the posters advertising Pulp's new album This is Hardcore and described the advertisements as part of a turn away from political correctness towards a new 'anything goes' realism. The poster shows the naked upper torso of a woman face down on a red leather cushion, in an awkward and ambivalent posture, with lipsticked, half-open mouth. The whole approach that 'This is Hardcore' represents critique that entails an element of complicity is a dangerous strategy: The balance between the two subject positions can easily collapse, and the 'defence' that an offensive representation is intended ironically or critically can be used to cynical and exploitative ends. A recurrent theme in the musical references is the relationship between fantasy and reality. Critique involves the recognition of oneself as implicated in the problem: it may have to be uncomfortable if it is really to engage its audience.
