Week 5 Blog
Media and the links between masculinity
and violence
This week there were so many interesting topics to
choose from, I decided to discuss something I can relate well too and I found
it in the film called “Tough Guise” looking at the masculinity of our culture
and the role media plays between it and violence. The reason I can relate so
well is that I manage a hip hop artist and he happens to come from a poor
family growing up in a typical black urban area in Tacoma. Even though this
person is not black, he definitely has the “Black Cool-Pose” thing going on,
this behavior usually comes out in full mode whenever he is around other
rappers. I often observe my artist “Acting” out the typical tough gangster look
whenever he has a performance, or when he is hanging out with other Rappers.
When we travel for shows I see this so called “Cool-Pose” going on with all the
guys, the way they talk, act, and portray themselves to be “Too cool for school”,
I found myself laughing through that part of the film because it is so true.
Sometimes I have to ask myself “Who is that guy, cause he doesn’t act that way
around me at home”? After watching the film I can see how this whole idea of
acting out a tough gangster lifestyle has become so well known in the rapping
industry. I find it interesting that the film suggests this whole gangster
style came from films like the God Father and what the black youth took out of
those films and began to stereotype that type of lifestyle. I think watching
the film helped me to realize where this type of culture came from and how it
is all portrayed by the media, even middle class white boys look up to under privileged
blacks and want to be and act the same way with a “Cool-Pose” stance, acting
out by using their body language and slang talk. Music videos play such a huge
role in this industry, hyping up the whole “Gangster” lifestyle and all the
luxuries the fame surrounding it can bring. Now with children having TV’s in
their own bedrooms with no supervision on what they are watching, it is no
wonder this type of culture is in full swing, kids want to be just like P-Ditty
or for that matter Eminem, unfortunately violence is usually a huge part of the
whole gangster portrayal.
you have very good points it's so very true that white kids as well want to be cool and look up to those rappers it's all because of the media and how they portray those kinds of things.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all I would like to say that I enjoyed reading your blog this week. I agree with all that you are saying in regards to how the media is patraying this ganster life to be so cool, when in reality it's basically the poor drug selling society. It's funny to me how even wealthy kids that have good parents and a good families still want to have that rappers life style because society, media, commercials, billboards hype it up as if it were the best way to live. As a parent myself I want my child to stay away from that kind of life style.
ReplyDeleteAlso by reading this blog you stated that you manage a hip hop artist that great!
Your blog was extremely interesting, it's always fascinating when you can relate the topic to your own life. As a 25 year old I have seen many of my peers try and be cool. In fact when I was in high school many of the girls thought the boys would like them if they played "dumb" in school, which made their grades suffer. It seems so sad to me that anyone would have to feel they need to act to look "cool". Thanks for sharing! Very interesting topic!
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