KELLY
When i was a senior in high school in 2008 all the students i knew had heard of the comedian Kelly Liam. Kelly started the character kelly as a joke, but actually became a musical artist in the process. kelly Liam is a male comedian who dresses up like a female teenager who makes really silly songs that revolve around her show fetish and crazy family. Many people started buying kelly cds, shirts, and singing his most popular song " Shoes" as they walked down the halls to class. I remember listening to all of Kelly's songs and becoming more open minded to different types of musical artists. Kelly's songs never failed to give me a good laugh during a hectic day at my boring highschool. What i noticed when i was reading the section on drag queens in the Popular culture text book by Guins and Cruz i choose to do my blog on the drag king called King Tuff n Ruff, but i wanted to talk about my favorite drag, kelly, in relation to how the openness of sexuality is becoming more acceptant in our society. On page 424 of the Popular culture text book by Guins and Cruz, A woman named Lynn Breedlove is being interviewed and states that ' There are different stages in revolution. The first stage is identity. That means you all have to get together very narrowly and limit yourself to hanging out with people who are exactly like you. Once youre secure in who you are, and who your friends are, then you can start reaching out and building alliances. Once you have alliances you have power, Because there's numbers' ( 424, Cruz and Guins) Many people have realized this truth and have become more open to individuals being who they are and accepting individuals who are drag kings, queens, homosexuals or anything else.
One of kelly's songs that shows the growing acceptance of others in our society iss called " let me borrow that top" In the video, her aunt somes over with her girl friend and starts talking about how they are intimate with each other and then Kelly becomes distracted when she sees her next door neighbor who has just went shopping ans purchsed a shirt that she wanted to have. The video represents the growing acceptance of homosexuality and drag in our society along with the subcultures that are created by Kelly fans. Here is a link to view the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPDl2g8Upvk Kelly also became and still is a huge commodity. Many people have been drawn to her hilarious music videos and skits as well as her apparel and CDs that she sells. Once Kelly Liam started to gain more fame as being the teenager/singer Kelly, she started to appear in different locations to host concerts and give autographs.
Why are individuals in our society drawn to Kelly? Is it because she gives us a taste of what is contrary to the typical musical artist? I believe that it is because more individuals are becoming more open to the differences of others and appreciating their differences. Also because as i quoted from Popular Culture earlier individuals that learn to accept themselves and who they are can being to accept others for who they are.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
Nicki Manaj and Star Trek Rerun, reread, rewritten:Fan writing as textual poaching
Nicki Manaj
According to the book called popular culture by Cruz and Guins." The popularity of Star Trek has motivated a wide range of cultural productions, creative reworkings of program materials from children's backyard play to adult interaction games from needlework to elaborate costumes...The ability to transform personal reaction into social reaction, spectorial culture into participatory culture, is one of the central charcteristics of fandom. One becomes a ' Fan' not by being a regular viewer of a particular program but by translating that viewing into some kind of cultural activity by sharing feelings and thoughts about the program content,by joining a 'community' of other fans who share common interests."( 251, Cruz, and Guins) The blending of fans of a particular show, musical artist, movie, or another person or thing in the media is quite common today. One of the most popular female rappers in the hip hop indusrty, Nicki manaj, is an artist who is continuosly, talked and raved about by fans on many internet fan base groups on networking sites such as Myspace.com and Facebook.com. Nicki Manaj is a hip hop artist from New York that i consider to be truly bizarre because she is everything contrary to the typical female hip hop artist. The way she dresses, raps, and the themes in her music videos are all very different and creates questions such as " How did she come up with this music video? What was she thinking?" in most viewers. She also causes a personal and social reaction in hetr fans by her music. Some are influenced by her costumes and decide to dress like her, some are inspired by her rap lyrics and decide to enhance their rap lyrics to be a bit like her lyrics, and others are inspired to not be afraid of being different. One of my favorite songs from Nicki called Itty Bitty Piggy.This song was when Nicki was obtaining more fame and was less bizarre than she is now but the song is better than all of her other songs. Here is a clip of her music video:
In relation to Star Trek, many fans create their alternative endings to the movie. There are many alternative endings for star trek posted on youtube.com.Some fans also blend together to appreciate the movie in networking sites as well. "Some fans are drawn gradually from intimate interactions with others who live near them toward participation in a broader network of fans who attend regional, national, and even international science fiction conventions...for some women, trapped in low-paying jobs or within the socially isolated sphere of the housewife, participation within an (inter)national network of fans grants a degree of dignity and respect otherwise lacking.For others, fandom offers a training ground for the development of professional skills and an outlet for creative impulses constrained by their everyday work lives" (252, Cruz and Guins) Star Trek fans are creating subcultures just by being fans of the movie they all enjoy. In addition to joining networking sites for fans of the movie, a lot of fans create Star Trek toys, gadgets, and apparel. The fans of Star Trek not only create a subculture by being fans of the movie, but they also create a sub culture of people who buy Star Trek products. The purchases of these products also lead to the production of poducts becoming fads.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5k5JOvOMlMQ
Why are so many fans drawn to rewritting? Mimicing? and joining groups on facebook and myspace in which they can all talk about either the movie or singer they like? Are they drawn to creating subcultures? I think that subcultures are created unintentionally. The mingling of people who are fans of Star Trek and Nicki Manaj which formed into a subculture happened solely by individuals wanting to expand on something they like and enjoy.
King Tuff-N-Stuff in relation to Drag Kings: masculinity and perfomance
KING TUFF-N-STUFF
Have you ever heard of the muscial asrtist called King Tuff-N-Stuff? She performs music in the genre of blues. She has perfomed in places sucfh as New York and California. What makes her quite different from many other artists in the media today is that she is a drag king. In the book called Popular culture by Guins and Cruz, A drag king " is a female (usually) who dresses up in recognizably male costume and performs theatrically in that costume" ( 429, Guins and Cruz). Today drag kings are becoming more popular and are becoming a big part of pop culture in our society. Now there are shows that are being marketed that promote the performances of drag kings and queens. "In the 1990s, drag king culture [became] something of a subcultural phenomenon. Queer clubs in most major American cities feature drag king acts: for example, there is a regular weekly drag club in New York called Club Casanova whose motto is ' the club where everyone is treated like a king! There is also a monthly club in London called club Geezer and a quarterly club in San Francisco called club confidential...although drag kings seem to have become a major part of urban queer scenes, there are no indications that drag king culture is necessarily about to hit the mainstream anytime soon" ( 430, Guins and Cruz). Even though Drag kings have not become a major part of mainstream culture, the performances of drag kings have still become a part of culture in our society and are slowly increasing in growth. Recently there was a drag king and queen show at Georgia state university that many students attended and enjoyed. Drag king and queen performances attract the attention of Homosexual as well as heterosexual audiences.
Drag performances question stereotypes that preside in our society. Questions arise in response to drag performances such as what qualities are supposed to be held by a man or a woman? What is necessarily masculine and feminine? Are men and women solely confined to follow societal views of what is considered masculine and feminine? ” In TV sitcoms such as Seinfeld, for example, men apply comic pressure to the assumed naturalness of maleness and a truly mess, fragile, and delegitimized masculinity emerges. In one particularly memorable seinfeld episode highlighting abject male inadequacy, for example, George confesses to Jerry: 'I always feel like lesbians look at me and say, ' that's the reason I'm not into men!' Such woody Allenesque proclamations expose momentarily the instability of mainstream fictions of fortified male masculinities." ( 431, Guins and Cruz). Not only do television shows suggest that men and women should have certain qualities or adhere to certain characteristics, but the commercials between the television shows suggest the same those ideas as well. For example, commercials for Brawny paper towels and Mr. clean mopping solution suggests that men are masculine and strong by the male images they use to represent the product. The commercials are also targeted to women and suggest that if you buy those products you will get be able to get you house clean by using a tough and strong product. In relation to King Tuff- N- Stuff, she also wants her audience to see her as a tough and masculine drag king. In her songs called ' 3 hour man" and “jump into action" ahe shows that she wants her audience to view her persona as being masculine and far from the stereotypes held for a woman. Her most popular song and only musical video for the time being are called “3 hour man". Here is a link to her music video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_RaRGdbKQ8.
Overall, the media in our society may suggest that men and women are confined to certain characteristics, but many individuals who are creating subcultures and blending into other subcultures are letting society know that men and women aren't confined to upholding certain characteristics such as a man being masculine and a woman being feminine. Thankfully, our society is becoming more accepting and open minded towards other views about how women and men should behave.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Subculture and popular performace in relation to Bjork
Subculture and popular performace in relation to Bjork
According to the text entitled Popular culture by Raiford Guins and Omayra Zaragoza Cruz, subcultures can respond to situations/events that they are not completley satisfied with. For example, " The post industrial landscape of newyork city and the depletion of social services in the 1970's, coupled with structural inequalitiesexperienced by African American and Hispanic communities within urban environs created context of dwindling low-income housing, a trickle of meaningless jobs for young inner-city residents, hip hop style is black urban renewal; In breif Rose establishes a relationship between culture and traditionally economic/material bases renewal"( 351, Guins and Cruz) This quotaion explains how the hiop hop clothing style was produced from the economic difficulties experienced by the African American and Hispanic communities. The hip hop clothing style was looked at as a way of renewal. The clothing style then developed a subculture of people who soley wore hip hop clothing. A subculture is a culture that has been created from another culture.The hip hop clothing style has also blended with the punk rock clothing style and has created another subculture.Hip hop and rock have been blended musically and since it has been blended together in music it created a new musical Genre. For example, when the musical groups called Aerosmith and Run DMC created the song "Walk this way" it created a new musical Genre of Rock and Rap combined.
The musical artist called Bjork created a subculture by blending the musical styles of dance and rock together. Her music contains dance beats along with typical rock chords and they create a unique sound when played collectively. Bjork was born on november 21 1965 in iceland. She began her career in music when she was only 11 years old. Throughout her life she blended the forms of music that were in the genres of rock, electronic, jazz, classical, folk, and African beats.When she became familar with those genres she combined all of those generes she created a subculture of her own. I consider Bjork to be a bizarre musical artist because of the combinations of musical genres which are displayed in her music and also the way she dresses, perfoms, and conducts her music videos.Many people compare her sense of style to Lady GAGA, but i find her style to be a bit less foward and extreme then Lady GAGA's sense of style. Bjork's style contains originality and thought. It is not a replication of Lady GAGA's in any shape or form eventhough her musical style is compared to her's quite frequently.The music videos she creates consists of bizarre themes and are far from " normal". some of her most famous songs are called " Army of me" and " All is full of love" They are also the most bizarre videos. Here is a link to the video called Army of me :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyEJxzQM24Q&feature=related
According to the text entitled Popular culture by Raiford Guins and Omayra Zaragoza Cruz, subcultures can respond to situations/events that they are not completley satisfied with. For example, " The post industrial landscape of newyork city and the depletion of social services in the 1970's, coupled with structural inequalitiesexperienced by African American and Hispanic communities within urban environs created context of dwindling low-income housing, a trickle of meaningless jobs for young inner-city residents, hip hop style is black urban renewal; In breif Rose establishes a relationship between culture and traditionally economic/material bases renewal"( 351, Guins and Cruz) This quotaion explains how the hiop hop clothing style was produced from the economic difficulties experienced by the African American and Hispanic communities. The hip hop clothing style was looked at as a way of renewal. The clothing style then developed a subculture of people who soley wore hip hop clothing. A subculture is a culture that has been created from another culture.The hip hop clothing style has also blended with the punk rock clothing style and has created another subculture.Hip hop and rock have been blended musically and since it has been blended together in music it created a new musical Genre. For example, when the musical groups called Aerosmith and Run DMC created the song "Walk this way" it created a new musical Genre of Rock and Rap combined.
The musical artist called Bjork created a subculture by blending the musical styles of dance and rock together. Her music contains dance beats along with typical rock chords and they create a unique sound when played collectively. Bjork was born on november 21 1965 in iceland. She began her career in music when she was only 11 years old. Throughout her life she blended the forms of music that were in the genres of rock, electronic, jazz, classical, folk, and African beats.When she became familar with those genres she combined all of those generes she created a subculture of her own. I consider Bjork to be a bizarre musical artist because of the combinations of musical genres which are displayed in her music and also the way she dresses, perfoms, and conducts her music videos.Many people compare her sense of style to Lady GAGA, but i find her style to be a bit less foward and extreme then Lady GAGA's sense of style. Bjork's style contains originality and thought. It is not a replication of Lady GAGA's in any shape or form eventhough her musical style is compared to her's quite frequently.The music videos she creates consists of bizarre themes and are far from " normal". some of her most famous songs are called " Army of me" and " All is full of love" They are also the most bizarre videos. Here is a link to the video called Army of me :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyEJxzQM24Q&feature=related
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Merchants of cool and Lady GAGA
LADY GAGA
What is cool? How do we actually define what is cool in our society when the youth of our society has so many definitions of what is cool and what isn't cool? According to the documentary called " the merchants of cool" the youth determine a lot of what is marketed in our society and what is in the media today. What i wonder about is how the singer and songwriter Lady GAGA became a part of pop culture and how many teenage girls view her songs and her extremely forward and bizarre appearance as cool. She has been spotted hanging herself at a VMA performance, covered in a meat wardrobe, and walking around singing with blood stained clothing. She continuously keeps her fans off guard with her frequently changing appearance and her music which is also a tad bit away from the norm. What also makes Lady GAGA bizarre is that she makes political and religious statements. Recently she has been trying to promote ending the don't ask don't tell policy and has been advocating worshiping satin. Even though she is continuously doing something bizarre at her performances and in her music videos, she also has values and beliefs that she decides to stand up for.
If teens in America didn't find Lady GAGA somewhat appealing she wouldn't be as popular as she is. She also wouldn't be rich and famous if it wasn't for the youth of our society gravitating to her and continuously purchasing her CD'S and various items that she produces. In the documentary, " Merchants of cool" a representative from the soda company called sprite explained that they were profiting because of teenagers and because of hip hop that helped endorse their product. Since most teenagers like hip hop and hip hop artists were endorsing sprite the sales in sprite increased. The documentary also explained how companies pay teenagers to tell them what things in the media that they find appealing and the things that they find unappealing. The studies they do on the teenagers helps build what our society deems as cool. Since youth in our society has proclaimed Lady GAGA to be cool, she is accepted in our society despite the fact that she is a proclaimed devil worshiper and continuously reveals that she isn't 100% sane in her musical performances, musical lyrics and appearance.
The documentary showed that all of the fads, musical styles, clothing, and even food that exist because the teens of today contol what is considered cool and uncool in our society.The subcultures in our society all put an effort into creating the mix of things that preside in our society and culture today. In the documentary, the students that stood out were the srudents that were the students that were choosen to be interviewed and asked their opinion on what things they consder to be cool.
Even though lady GAGA is a bit off key and extremely contrary to what the majority of society says is the norm, she makes great music. I enjoy listening to some of her songs called Alejandro, Bad romance, and poker face. She continuously brings an interesting twist to her music. Here are some links to one her music videos:
Friday, September 24, 2010
Subculture and Marilyn Manson
Subculture and Marilyn Manson
" Oh my GOD! look at the piercings on his body?" " look at his clothes...all black! HE"S A GOTH!" " Hes a satin worshiper!" " He may be weird, but he makes good music!"...These are the comments that ive always heard in high school about singer and songwriter Marilyn Manson. His real name is Brian Hugh Warner and he began his musical carrer in 1989. His persona is contrary to everything that our mainstream society considers normal. From the way he dresses to the lyrics of his songs he represents a break away from the majority and is therefore part of a subculture. A subculture is a group of people that contain a culture that is different from the main culture in a society. Many other people dress the way he does in our society and can relate to his music and the way he carries himself. According to the book entitled Popular culture By Raifored Guins and Omayra Zaragoza Cruz, Dick Hebdige states that " Subcultures are generally condemed, in mary Douglas' words( 1967) as ' contrary to holiness' and levi-strauss has noted how, in certain primitive myths, the mispronounciation of words and the misuse of language are classified along with incest as horrendous aberrations capable of ' unleashing storm and tempest' ( levi-strauss, 1969). Similarly spectacular subcultures express forbidden contents ( consciousness of class, consciousness of difference) in forbidden forms ( transgressions of sartorial and behavioral codes, law breaking, etc) They are profane articulations and they are often and significantly defined as ' unnatural'. The terms in the tabloids press to describe those youngsters who, in their conduct or clothing, proclaim sucbultural membership ( 'freaks', 'animals..who find courage, like rats, in hunting in packs) would seem to suggesr that the most primitive anxieties concerning the sacred distinction between nature and cutlture can be summoned up by the emergence of such a group. " ( 356) Based on the facts in popular culture, it is safe to say that our society doesnt like when people question what is considered normal and are contrary to what society deems as normal, but then again who is to say that dressing in all black isnt the norm? Is it so wrong to have body piercings? or sing about suicide? what is normal? Why are the people who aren't like the majority considered freaks and animals like the tabloids proclaim?
Subcultures make up our society and if there weren't subcultures everyone would be the same and our society wouldn't be diverse and filled with unique individuals.Marilyn manson is a great additon to our society and contributes greatly to the subculture that he has created. He is a great musical artists and he isnt afriad toexpress himself in his representation and his music. Some of the songs that i like that he has created are entitled personal jesus, sweet dreams, and beautiful people. Here is a link to some of his music videos enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ypkv0HeUvTc&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl6fyhZ0G5E
" Oh my GOD! look at the piercings on his body?" " look at his clothes...all black! HE"S A GOTH!" " Hes a satin worshiper!" " He may be weird, but he makes good music!"...These are the comments that ive always heard in high school about singer and songwriter Marilyn Manson. His real name is Brian Hugh Warner and he began his musical carrer in 1989. His persona is contrary to everything that our mainstream society considers normal. From the way he dresses to the lyrics of his songs he represents a break away from the majority and is therefore part of a subculture. A subculture is a group of people that contain a culture that is different from the main culture in a society. Many other people dress the way he does in our society and can relate to his music and the way he carries himself. According to the book entitled Popular culture By Raifored Guins and Omayra Zaragoza Cruz, Dick Hebdige states that " Subcultures are generally condemed, in mary Douglas' words( 1967) as ' contrary to holiness' and levi-strauss has noted how, in certain primitive myths, the mispronounciation of words and the misuse of language are classified along with incest as horrendous aberrations capable of ' unleashing storm and tempest' ( levi-strauss, 1969). Similarly spectacular subcultures express forbidden contents ( consciousness of class, consciousness of difference) in forbidden forms ( transgressions of sartorial and behavioral codes, law breaking, etc) They are profane articulations and they are often and significantly defined as ' unnatural'. The terms in the tabloids press to describe those youngsters who, in their conduct or clothing, proclaim sucbultural membership ( 'freaks', 'animals..who find courage, like rats, in hunting in packs) would seem to suggesr that the most primitive anxieties concerning the sacred distinction between nature and cutlture can be summoned up by the emergence of such a group. " ( 356) Based on the facts in popular culture, it is safe to say that our society doesnt like when people question what is considered normal and are contrary to what society deems as normal, but then again who is to say that dressing in all black isnt the norm? Is it so wrong to have body piercings? or sing about suicide? what is normal? Why are the people who aren't like the majority considered freaks and animals like the tabloids proclaim?
Subcultures make up our society and if there weren't subcultures everyone would be the same and our society wouldn't be diverse and filled with unique individuals.Marilyn manson is a great additon to our society and contributes greatly to the subculture that he has created. He is a great musical artists and he isnt afriad toexpress himself in his representation and his music. Some of the songs that i like that he has created are entitled personal jesus, sweet dreams, and beautiful people. Here is a link to some of his music videos enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ypkv0HeUvTc&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl6fyhZ0G5E
Friday, September 17, 2010
Bucket head in contrast to Disney's corporate action
Bucket head in contrast to Disney's corporate action
As stated in Popular culture by Guins and Cruz, Disney, an American film company, continuously works hard to project their films from piracy. Disney “filed 28 suits against more than 1,322 defendants. One of the largest actions was in 1991 when Disney filed against 123 California companies and 99 Oregon companies for unauthorized use of characters in various types of merchandise.” ( 184, Guins and Cruz) In the music industry, musical artists could file suits against copy right violators of their music as well. For example, if Bucket head, an extremely unique, non stereotypical, and bizarre musical artist (that continues to wear a fried chicken bucket on his head during his performances), finds out that another musician has decided to use Bucket head’s song that he created without his permission on his or her next CD he could sue for copyright violation.
In contrast to most musicians, Disney is a bit extreme with their copy right values. “Disney sued the academy of motion pictures arts and sciences when performers dressed as snow white characters were used in the academy rewards presentation without Disney’s permission” (185,Guins and Cruz) I don’t think that Bucket head would sue if a bunch of people started conducting their performances with buckets from the nearest fried chicken fast food restaurant on their heads. Bucket head is a musician from the mid-70s and who made it his goal to inform others of how badly treated chickens are on chicken farms and how he experienced living on a chicken farm. He has a great goal in mind, but he still comes off as being a bit bizarre since he is different from the majority of other musical artists and because his persona is unordinary. One of his most popular most popular songs is called Night train.Im sure bucket head would love for others to spread the word of how chickens are treated and breed in prepration for slaughter and selling.Disney on the other hand would not want other people dressing up as some of their characters to promote something without their permission. Even the US postage service that provides stamps couldnt have "free use" over Disney's characters just to celebrate American animation. Why wouldnt Disney want free advertisment from fans and the us postal service? What exactly are they trying to protect? Their image? Their characters from misuse?
Disney might be a bit over protective with their claims on their characters that they have created, but they have every right to be and Bucket head who may or may not be overprotective with the copyrights of his songs and persona has every right to be as well. here is a clip form one of Bucket heads perfomances: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-woe3SCAaA
Thursday, September 9, 2010
La Roux and Commodity
LA ROUX
What is commodity and what is it doing to our society?? Well according to dictionary.com commodity is defined as something that of use, advantage and profit. Commodity is actually a big part of our society. It is how we can attain clothing, food, shelter,vehicles, and many other physical things.
Commodification has also become a huge part of our culture. According to the text entitled popular culture by Raifor Guins and Omayra Zaragoza Cruz commodity is the basic unit of exchange. Using commodity is how we function in our society. For example, when we want to buy concert tickets we pay the cost of the tickets with money in exchange for the tickets, and if we want a new CD we do the same. People are also viewed as commodities in capitalism. The truth in that statement is shown in the music industry. Producers want to profit from musical artists and get as much as they can from the musical artist they are producing, Music promoters want to get money from promoting the musical artist, music agents want a percentage of the profits earned from a show done by the musical artist. The musical artist gives his or her talent to production companies and the world so they could profit in exchange for the ability to be a musical performer and earn profit as well. In addition to people being commodities, the commodity of culture is continuously occurring since the start of industrialization and due to increasing production it has changed our society. This is related to bizarre musical artists because many artists from other countries and cultures are coming into the United States and are giving us a part of their culture, which is shown in their musical styles, in exchange for the ability to perform in the U.S, increase their fan base, and attain income.
One musical artist who I find a bit bizarre is La Roux. Her singing, clothing, make-up, and hair styles are all unique and original. She has a disco/electronic sound. Her persona is off the wall and it makes people gravitate to her more. She is an upcoming artist who is from London and is being produced by a man named Ben Langmaid. She was once known as an underground artist in London, but is now popular in the United States. Both the producer and the artists are giving their abilities/talents which are commodities in exchange for something. As Karl Marx explained many years ago, the expanding of modern industry= spreading of bourgeois ideology which is to develop a production like the bourgeois. The bourgeois is the class that owns businesses and that hires the working class. This relates to the music industry because the people who own the recording studio, record labels, production companies, etc want to produce/record with the musical artist that is most likely part of the working class to make some money off of them as beginning artists and possibly make more money off of them if they become more popular.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Ali project and pop culture
Ali PROJECT
According to Theodor W. Adorno from the book called Popular culture by Ruins and Cruz, " The culture industry fuses the old and the familiar into a new quality...In all its branches, products which are tailored for consumption by the masses and which to a great extent determine the nature of that consumption are manufactured more or less according to plan" ( Cruz and Ruins103) The music that is being produced by Ali project is a product from previous types of music which is why it is so accepted by American society. The techno beats, fast tempo, and bizarre music videos are what American society are familiar with and American society tends to gravitate to the things that are not considered the norm. America likes when musical artists appear bizarre and far from the norm. That is the reason why so many artists have became popular. Musical artists such as Michael Jackson, kelly, and Marylin Manson have all attained popularity because they are a bit face from the norm in their own unique way.
According to Theodore adorno "It has recently become customary among cultural officials as well as sociologists to warn against underestimating the culture industry while pointing to its great importance for the development of the consciosness of its consumers. It is to be taken seriously without cultured snobbism" ( Ruins and Cruz, 105) The musical artists of today truly do influence the society of today which is evident in the way american society gravitates to the artists that are contrary to the norm. In order to hear one artists who is influencing the society of today Here is a you tube video of a song called the domain of holy girls in english by Ali Project:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlLOoF0QlXk
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Introduction of Bizzare musical artists and popculture
Emilie Autumn and pop culture
According to the book entitled Popular culture by Guins and Cruz, " Culture is one of the two or three most complicsated words in the english language. This is so partly because of its intricate historical development, in several european languageas, but mainly because it has now come to be used for important concepts in several distinct intellectual disciplenes and in several distinct and incompatible syatems of thought....culture in all its early uses was a noun of process: tending of something, basically crops or animals....from the tending of natural growth was extended to a process of human development. " ( Ruins and Cruz 25 and 26) Popular, according to Guins and Cruz, has various meanings such as ' in great favor with the common peopleor full of the people" ( Guins and cruz, 58 and 59) When popular and culture are put together the meaning of the two words combined come to mean " The expression of the spirit of a nation or a people" ( Guins &Cruz, 59) The word popular culture and the society in which we live makes me think of musical artists and how they must express themselves using their lyrics and their persona. Musical artists are a big part of popular culture becuase they are a part of our society and represent the sulture of our society and the developing intricits of our society. I am interested in bizzare musical artists because they are unique additions to pop culture and change continuously. Usually things that are bizzare end up being well known and thats why bizzare musical artists relate to pop culture. Bizzare musical artists raise a series of thought provoking questions such as how they relate to the upcoming generations, what promps the artists to progress from the society accepted norm and how they may not be considered the norm.
I enjoy listening to one particular artist called Emilie Autumn. She is from the UK and is quite original. She is considered bizzare by many individuals because of her clothing style, musical style, and lewd/unusual lyrics. She raises questionable themes in her music which is sometimes masks by the happy beats in her songs. She is an inspiration for all individuals to be themsleves and accept themselves for who they are. She also inspires individuals to question what is considered the " normal" or "accepted" in our society.Here is a link to her music video of her song called Marry me in which she raises some historical themes which shock many different listeners:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8Szt6F7K20
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