I thought music videos were supposed to be a way of branching out in a different form, or to deliver a message that a song by itself could not. Or to promote a band in a decent way.
Here is a recipe for the modern-day music video, mostly seen in popular “countdown” rap, hip-hop or R+B videos:
-2 cups of shiny bling
-One expensive car
-1 cup of unattainable fantasies
-10 women in bikinis
-20 close ups of grils shaking their butt in the camera
-Alcohol
-Five scoops egotistical rapper(s)
-One swimming pool, mansion, or club to taste.
Stir ingredients together in a big diamond encrusted mixing bowl to create the ultimate, seen everyday video!
You know, I always wonder who is watching these videos. Some young children? Most likely. If children are viewing these videos, what is to become of their view of the world? What will become life, and what will become reality?
I think the most disgusting video out there is that Jessica Simpson “These boots are made for walking” video. I never had much respect for her in the first place, but even if I had an ounce it was all lost when I saw that video. It was absolutely sick, and sunk very, very low.
I’ve stopped watching tv now, except for on the odd chance a good documentary or something comes on. Things I see on tv are just depressing, especially music videos. But you know, I just have to think about what music videos are going to be like in the next 5 or 10 years. Are so called “artists” going to be the most dirtiest, exposed, sexual they can get just to sell themselves and make millions of dollars? But more so than they are today?
i completely agree with you but there is one problem, see music videos and music in general is an artform. And art is an expression and opinion of own’s view of the world or life or watever, now you are trying to look at this art logically, which won’t work because art is not logical, you can “feel” art, but not logic, i mean who’s passionate about 2+2=4? not even mathmaticians because you can’t, it just IS. Well just wanted to point that out, but i would agree with you though, it’s pretty sad nowadays how much crap they put on that little magic box
what, like that music vid. of jennifer lobez were she flashes the camera throughout the vid:‘i’m still jenny from the block.’? i haven watched t.v. for about 3years,because a)we PAY for this shit?it’s so full of commercials it shout be #!$%&# free!!!(the web site method.)
and b)i cant handle tube monitor emissions.
can you even concentrate on the lyrics if your oggeling someone’s privates that are being put on display? or do the lyrics exist to effect you at the subconscious level? i have bitched about T.V.(amoung MANY other things) constantly through the years, but i’m glad people are backing my arguements about T.V.I feel like i wanna staple these posts i see to T.V. executive’s faces…
by the way, i’m not sure just how bad it’s getting, but you might discribe some of it to me if you can type while puking.
Yep, TV is crap, however with that said, TV does pander
to the crowd. If people watch, TV will put it on. So stop watching.
That is the answer to bad TV. Stop watching. If enough people
stop watching, TV will change. I guarantee it.
TV is all about ratings. TV shows go away without ratings.
So don’t watch. That will change TV.
The semiotics are pretty straightforward - the design is that the audience make a repeated, habitual, one-to-one association between the images and the song. The images might not have anything to do with the lyrics (see the video for Toxic by Britney Spears) but that’s irrelevant. As long as one continues to identify the accoutrements of stardom or at least richdom with the beats and tones of the song then the video is successful. One buys the single, in part, to be reminded of these dreams, these images.
Mainstream rap culture is one of the sickest, most thoroughly stupid cultures in the world. It’s on a par with sports hooliganism and popular protest movements with regard of the values it tends to espouse and the hypocritical, chauvinistic terms in which it describes the world. Essentially it is moronic culture for moronic people and shows very little sign of the self-subverting dynamic most late capitalist pop cultures show.
I’m sure that I suggested this to you over a year ago and you disagreed but nevermind, I could have it wrong. This is perfectly true, if you watch more of the better TV and less of the worse TV then you can, quite quickly, change the nature of the programmes. TV is a wonderful medium when used properly, it’s just that about 90% of shows are wallpaper
You know my views on rap as a whole, but I would agree with the mainstream part of this. You people don’t even know how hard it is to spend more time with a group of guys -half of which act like these shows to the T- than anyone else in my life.
That being said however, I would like to pose a question…
The other day I saw a music video by Simple Plan (who… for the record I hate with every fibre of my being) in which they depicted various people going off to war and fighting. No real message, no direction to the video at all… just people over in what looks to be Iraq.
Now, while I know that Simple Plan have absolutely no backbones whatsoever, and continually get assrammed into submission by their producers and whatnot… my question is:
What is really worse? Materialism and the objectification of women, or desensitizing children to war and draft scenarios (the kids going to war were like 17ish), as well as (in this scenario) the obvious political message pertaining to Iraq?
Take this as a devil’s advocate type thing… I don’t really know what my opinion on this is, to be honest have of the reason I posted this is because I honestly do wish Simple Plan would just… vanish to some unknown island for the rest of their lives.
“What is really worse? Materialism and the objectification of women, or desensitizing children to war and draft scenarios (the kids going to war were like 17ish), as well as (in this scenario) the obvious political message pertaining to Iraq?”
I think that the massive unwanted pregancy and murder rates in black parts of town across North America and beyond will last way longer than the Iraq war.
Current trends in black culture will create misery that will last for at least several lifetimes.
Music videos aren’t “art”- they’re advertisements. Just commercials to sell CDs and concert tickets. There was a brief, naive moment right after their inception that the medium teetered on taking itself seriously as an art form in it’s own right. Then it woke up.
What I mean is that the rap dudes claim they’re just a mirror held up to the times, while others claim they’re helping to create the mess then profit from it. Hence the Escher reference.
Yes, well I’ve heard the morally bankrupt excuse, “if I don doit den some udda mon gonna,” rationale many times. That’s another short-sighted blackism that I can stand. You do not have to perpetuate negativity just because it exists. Those guys are like a virus.
To expand on that, black people will either melt into the population of white or slowly get killed, ironically by each other, or be sterilized by long prison sentences.
my ears are burning…
You people don’t even know how hard it is to spend more time with a group of guys -half of which act like these shows to the T- than anyone else in my life.