'I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got'

I was a 12-year-old when I saw Sinéad O'Connor rip a photo of Pope John Paul II on Saturday Night Live. It was weird only because I didn’t really think much of her music and I didn’t understand the political and religious tension in Ireland of that time or the past 300 years. 

I remember being “outraged” because I equated the Pope with “goodness.” I remember others being outraged and Joe Pesci saying he would have “smacked” her if he were host and ripping a photograph of O’Connor.

Yet, 21 years after the fact, O’Connor’s action makes a lot more sense. I wonder if people, generally, feel differently about ripping the photo knowing what we know of the Catholic church? Neither O’Connor or the church have done well since.

Despite their own “outrage,” NBC did not cut away from O’Connor nor did they edit the West Coast feed. They could not buy that kind of coverage.