Betel nut beauty
The case was never decided—the parties settled out of court—of copyright infringement when Kuo Ying-Nan and Kuo Hsin-Chu, pictured here, sued Michael Cretu (M.C. Curly) for sampling their recording of “Jubilant Drinking Song,” in Enigma’s #4 hot 100 song “Return to Innocence.” When Mr. Kuo first heard the song on the radio, he reportedly liked the new version, and looked forward to performing it at the 1996 Olympics opening ceremony (“Return” was used in advertisements for that summer’s events). The Kuos belong to the Ami tribe on Taiwan and are betel nut farmers. In Taiwan, and around Asia generally, betel nuts are chewed for their mildly stimulant effect, especially by truck drivers. They’re sold by scantily-clad women in kiosks all around the island. You can see a slide show of Tobie Openshaw’s photographs of these lovely vendors. There has been some concern that the Betel Nut Beauties, as they’re referred to, are on the first rung of the ladder that leads to prostitution and promiscuity. Tobie’s experience with the women, as he very thoughtfully describes on his Flickr site, is that they are often trying to get out of their situation, going back to school and so forth, in other words, attempting a “Return to Innocence.” Sorry, I had to do it.
