Assignment 1-3-6 Hip-Hop Summary

The theories that best relate to my pop culture topic are the stereotypes that surround the artists, and culture as a whole.  I realize that there will be stereotypes everywhere no matter how well we are doing in life.  Stereotypes are based off ignorance and lack of understanding.  Say for instance because I wear a black hooded sweatshirt with the hood pulled up people will look at me as a thug or degenerate. 

Even when I’m driving down the street on a daily basis I’m constantly judged because of the type of vehicle that I drive.  I have constantly had this question posed to me “Are you a drug dealer”?  When I get approached with that question I could react one of two way, I could either laugh it off or I could get offended that someone would ask me that question.  Most of the time I laugh it off and explain to them that I just like having a nice car.  But more often than not people will stereotype me because of that, regardless of the fact that I’m a hard working individual.  So, stereotyping someone regardless if it’s positive or negative has an impact on the way that society views certain individuals.

Some of the most important findings while analyzing my topic were the facts that heroes exist not only in this culture but the viewpoint of the person identifying them as heroes.  People look up to celebrities in such a way that it’s almost envious.  Media chooses to place these individuals on a pedestal.  And to me that’s outlandish.  We have to stay focused on what’s real, and not put so much emphasis on celebrity, because most celebrities aren’t focused on us.  They only portray a certain image because that’s what they do for a living. 

I don’t think any differently than I did before I analyzed this topic; it just shed more light on situations that I didn’t look at before.  I’ve always felt a certain way about this topic, but to give a non-biased analysis was a little difficult.  But it has opened my eyes to different perspectives and viewpoints that I didn’t look at otherwise.

Assignment 1-2-2 Journal Article Analysis 9-12-12

In the article Cinematic Carcerality: Prison Metaphors in Film it explores that various ways that prisons are shown to compare certain elements of life.  The use of prison metaphors in film gives insight into how prisons are depicted in everyday life, also “highlights that, even in the “free” world, people may be confined or restrained” (Alber, 2011, p.218).  This is an important reflection on how some people view their lives on a daily basis.  Furthermore it develops an ideal that although there are situations in which a person feels “trapped” by their circumstance that this form of imprisonment isn’t far from natural thought.

The article further elaborates on the different views of movie depiction of imprisonment as it relates to life.  For instance we’ve all heard the saying that once you get married you now have the old ball and chain, this is another example of using a prison metaphor.  That statement suggests; that marriage is something that will have/keep you trapped, and that once a person decides to marry that they will be stripped of their freedom.  Other examples are “when a film use similar colors in order to encourage us to link certain entities” (p.219), using both the visual and auditory to paint a metaphorical picture that further envelopes a person’s thinking of what a prison is and does. 

For example, “the film The Shawshank Redemption represents the prison as both a womb and a tomb. On the auditory level, the voice-over narrator Red (Morgan Freeman) compares the new fish, who have to undress during the course of the induction process, to new-born babies (‘‘They march you in naked as the day you were born, skin burning and half blind’’), while later on, he argues that the prison takes the inmates’ lives away (‘‘They send you here for life and that’s exactly what they take’’). In this case, the metaphorical reading is evoked by the interplay between the auditory and the visual level. The tenor (the prison) is presented visually, while the vehicles (the womb and the tomb) are present verbally.

This interpretation of prison is relevant to pop culture because it relates to normal life, sometimes people tend to feel that aspects of their life are like prisons, such as jobs and relationships they feel stuck and trapped by the monotony of those situations.  And this is why those metaphors shed light and help to deal with those situations a little better.  Therefore I agree with the author that most films usage of metaphors is relevant in the way that society views prisons. Cold, decrepit, and isolated are all ways that we view prisons, and there are people in society that view their home life, work and their lives in that same manner, so it’s very fitting that movies and television portray this environment the way that it does. 

Prisons by design are made to make people feel isolated, look intimidating and cold desolate places. This is done by design; by doing this they are letting you know that you’re no longer a normal member of society.  And the images that are portrayed an emphatic way of elaborating that metaphor into real life experiences; although they are different in nature they have the same definitive meanings.  Throughout history this portrayal has allowed society to give different meanings to the word prison.  No longer is it just a place, it can also be a state of mind along with an environment in which we socialize on a daily basis.  The interpretations that these films gives us are significant, “prison metaphors that describe a segment of the world outside prison in terms of imprisonment frequently correlate with social criticism and are used to shed a critical light on a certain aspect of society (e.g., class) by demonstrating how restrained people may be even outside the walls of the prison”. (pg. 217) 

Taken in context these cinematic metaphors also let us see things in a different light than we would normally see things.  Say for instance in a film a woman has sex with a man that she’s having an affair with, feels guilty about it when she sees that her husband has prepared an intimate candlelight dinner, and immediately rushes to take a shower.  Films make us believe that not only is she taking a shower to cleanse herself but also to cleanse away her spirit from that bad deed because in the shower she breaks down and starts crying.  This is just an example of the power of these cinematic metaphors, and how relative they are to society.

References

ALBER, J. (2011). Cinematic Carcerality: Prison Metaphors in Film. The Journal of Popular Culture, 44(2), 217-232. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5931.2011.00829.x

Assignment 1-3-4 Heroes and Celebrity

 Heroes and The Cult Of Celebrity 

               The theories that apply to my topic are that Rappers are heroes, and that they should be role models.  Rappers are looked upon in certain parts of society because they have become successful despite some of them being raised in less than perfect neighborhoods.  This is a sensitive subject in the hip-hop culture, because some rappers have very suggestive and explicit lyrics and are reflecting on the lifestyle that they came from.  Because society is mostly conservative they look at the lifestyle and think that because that person has lived that lifestyle that they shouldn’t be looked upon to provide positive examples for today’s youth. 

             Believing that hip-hop artists are heroes is stretching the meaning of hero.  I can understand why people would like to believe  that they are heroes because they have made it out of the “ghetto” into a better lifestyle than what they may have previously been in, but I feel that the hero translation has been lost a little in that logic.  To me a hero is someone who selflessly puts others in front of themselves, not someone who uses what they have to further advance themselves.  There may be motives that help give them that push, but ultimately it’s no longer about self.  A true example of this would be mothers.  Mothers give selflessly to provide comfort, security, stability and all of the essentials that their child would need.  Regardless of what the situation may be she always puts her children first, oftentimes this comes at the sacrifice of herself and her needs.  But she does this tirelessly without a second thought.  And that to me is the definition of a hero.  One who sacrifices their own needs and desires for those who are unable to do so for themselves.

           The cult of the celebrity is only as large as the popularity of the celebrity involved.  There is always an attraction to celebrities because most people wish to achieve what these individuals have achieved.  And people follow these celebrities as a way to live their life as though it was one’s own life.  And since imitation is the best form of flattery, since people are unable to imitate those celebrities they choose to follow them and emulate what they do. 

Assignment 1-3-3 Rituals & Stereotypes 8-29-12

In the Hip-Hop culture there are multiple stereotypes that are prominent forces to overcome by everyone who embraces this culture.  Regardless if you are a music artist, video model, or even a fan you are subjected to these stereotypes throughout society.  These negative factors are the foundation of the stereotypes.  Because of the fact that rappers rap about things that they have lived, seen or witnessed and most of those things were involving alternative activity.   Society has judged everyone who makes music like that as either a thug, hoodlum, ghetto and all drug dealers.  That is not always the case.  I believe that because the some of the music is that particular person’s testimony doesn’t make it right that society judges all rappers the same.  The fact that a few of the rappers that society has judged before are now successful and revered entertainers or businesspersons is evidence that everything is not negative.  Regardless of it’s in movies or music hip-hop culture is everywhere.  Hip-hop music is no more negative or aggressive than other types of music; it’s just that society has generalized that culture as having the most negative messages. 

Hip hop began as a way of expressing situations in a person’s life, and even addresses social issues from a different perspective, but being ignorant about the culture and people who are in it is no excuse for making stereotypes.  Although there have been tremendous strides taken in the advancement of understanding the culture.  If society would get to know and understand the culture in depth I believe these stereotypes will finally be put to rest.