One thing that last class got me to thinking was the way in which music artists, and artists in general are made into other-wordly idols. For me, videos that perpetuate this idolization over and above any kind of social activism/work are irresponsible and egotistical...
my sliding scale examples would have the "Muse" video on one end, and "Rage Against the Machine" on the other...
Rage know that they have an opportunity to get people thinking- to use the hyper-accessible vehicle of the music video to catalyze action/knowledge-building on the part of the (often young) viewer...for me this is the place of the artist in society....
the image of artist as a misunderstood, anti-social m misanthrope --or else (again, misunderstood) genius --although it may have its place, undercuts the more useful/ more 'true'? image or perception of the artist as social activist/ concerned citizen and everyday joan who has got a creative way of standing up and saying what she's got to say...
as Hamilton poet, David McFadden, suggests that the poet's 'job' is to put his finger on the global heartbeat, I believe that a music/ music videos/video artists need to actually do something useful for the world to even be worth a listen/view....
a bit rushed--maybe more elaboration later
L
1 comment:
I think the reason that I like unknown music more then a lot of mainstream music is because it allows the music and lyrics to speak for themselves. There is no idolization of the musicians or glorifications in videos, because for most of them they don't have enough money to make video's lol.
I really liked the Rage Against the Machine video not only because it showed so many different images of different social and political activists, but also because it did not focus on the Band. I think videos are more effective if they tell a story instead of being a close up of the lead singer the entire time. There is too much sex appeal directed towards the band and their videos these days instead of being all about the music. Half the time I don’t even know if people listen to a certain band because their musicians are hot, or because they truly like their music. NOT that I don’t find a lot of music artists good looking, but to be honest I wouldn’t even be able to pick out the lead singer of my favourite band if he sat beside me in class.
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