Accidental Racist

The song “Accidental Racist” by Brad Paisley and L.L Cool J was made to be a big deal, first of all, because this song fused two completely different music genres together. According to Chuck Klosterman’s reading, country music is supposed to sort of be stories about the average Joe and simple, everyday life, while Staples’ argument about hip hop states that it is mostly about murder, misogyny and materialism. Clearly these two genres appear as though they wouldn’t mix well, but then again, not all country songs and hip-hop songs are always about these kinds of things.  This means that Klosterman and Staples’ ideas about the two could be considered stereotypical. “Accidental Racist” breaks through the stereotypes of both genres by creating something that is very different and unexpected, but even so, the song is still controversial because the lyrics themselves bring cultural stereotypes into play.

In the song, Brad Paisley describes himself as looking the part of the typical southern cowboy: wearing a white cowboy hat and a confederate flag t-shirt, while L.L Cool J describes himself as wearing a gold chain.  Both these statements are stereotypes of the typical southerner and the typical person of hip-hop culture because not every person categorized in either cultural group dresses the way these two men do. Another reason this song is such a big deal is people reacted very negatively to the fact that it brought up the issue of slavery very bluntly. Some people were angered by the fact that this may have re-opened an argument that was already long forgotten, and some people were just the opposite. L.L Cool Jay states in one of his lines, “If you can forgive my gold chains, I can forget my iron chains.” Some were angered by this statement because they thought it was radical to agree to forget about something so important to our history in exchange for not being judged by the way one dresses. Personally, I thought the song had good intentions within its message, and people shouldn’t be offended by this attempt at guiding two different cultures to better understand each other. As a song, though, I thought “Accidental Racist” sounded bad and the two genres did not fit very well together the way it was created.

"Intertextuality"

After learning about "intertextuality" from the "Bootleg Culture" reading, I realized that there is a ton of it out there, and I can't always say that I know exactly who wrote what, made what, or said what first! For example, just the other day, I heard this new song on the radio called "Dark Horse" by Katie Perry and Juicy J...or so I think. When trying to look the song up to add to my "Spotify" playlist for enjoyment purposes, it came up with a list of many versions of this song by different artists. I had no clue, and still have no clue, which one was even the original and who came up with it in the first place. Although the other versions were just as cool as Katie Perry's, it was sort of unsettling to me not knowing which one was really even "Dark Horse" the authentic.

This kind of "intertextuality" shows up everywhere in life. One popular example I can think of is with kids t.v shows vs. products made from them. For example, SpongeBob is a very popular t.v show, and not only is it that, but its characters come in snacks, plush toys, clothing, books, board games, video games, etc. and you never really know if the original creator of SpongeBob and the television series had anything to do with the designing or creating of any of them. This goes the same for other similar children's shows such as Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or Dora The Explorer. Some of the items sparked from these shows may not even be made by a Disney or Nickelodeon corporation, or even have to credit the person who originally thought of the characters or show ideas. There are so many items out there like this now that some people may not ever know, or even care where ideas originally came from, so long as they still get what their asking for.

 

Looking back at this first semester so far, I feel that what I have learned most, when it comes to popular culture, is how big of an influence the media really has on our lives. For example: the media can influence our relationships, what products we choose to buy, and more importantly how we feel about ourselves individually and as a culture. When it comes to relationships, Chuck Klosterman’s “This is Emo,” did a good job explaining how the media influences our relationship expectations. He explains that romantic movies (like the notebook) or even Disney movies often give us these unrealistic ideas of what romantic relationships are supposed to be like: with firework worthy kisses, surprises at every corner, and a happily ever after. In real life, we are affected by this because we learn to expect these ridiculous things from our partners that in reality just don’t happen every day. Therefore, we get disappointed and chase to obtain something that may not even exist outside of these movies.  After reading the Decoding Victoria’s Secret reading, I realized that sometimes products themselves aren’t even advertised. When it comes to woman’s underwear, a sense of sexiness and attractiveness to men is sold more prevalently than the actual undergarments. This shows how influential advertisers can be on our product choices as they play with our emotions and insecurities. Lastly, the media is very influential in the way we look at ourselves and our expectations of ourselves as a culture. For example, The Dove Study created a video showing a very attractive female model and what goes on before the model would be shown to the public. After extensive editing of an already beautiful woman, she then artificially embodied the stereotypical features of what the industry finds attractive. When people see models that all appear to look a certain way, they become self-conscious and believe that this is the way they and people of our culture are supposed to look like as well. I never realized how influential the media can be on our daily lives, but after being sort of put into check by these readings and videos, I noticed that I myself fall victim to this influence as well.

Masculinity and Violence

In our culture masculinity is often portrayed as the same as toughness. It almost seems to be as though you just are not considered a man if you can't stand tall and hold your own in a situation where your mental and\or physical strengths are tested. More often than not, movies\television shows, etc. give these men the opportunity to prove their masculinity (toughness) by placing them in physical altercations in which violence is always the answer. For instance, many superhero men in the movies or comics are shown as buff, handsome, athletic, etc., as opposed to their usually scrawny looking enemies. Automatically, kids who watch cartoons or read comics will assume the good guy is going to win because he looks tougher and therefore manlier than the bad guy. What better way to prove this theory than to place them in some sort of physical battle with each other in which there are lots of "POW's" and "KA-BLAM's", usually coming from the superhero’s fists. Then, the superhero (the good guy) generally triumphs over the bad guy, giving off the impression that he must have been tougher and therefore a superior man compared to the opponent. Seeing things like this could make boys in our culture believe that in order to prove their manliness, they must not only look the part of a strong\buff man, but act the part too…when the time comes. I would have to side with the APA in saying that the media could be influencing violence in kids. I wouldn’t go to the extreme in saying that young men would go watch these cartoons and immediately go beat someone up to show that they are tougher than someone else, but if someone were to question their manhood; that is: challenge them to a fight, they would probably be more likely to agree in order to prove a point.  Superheroes would never walk away from a fight with their enemy. If they choose to walk away, then they send a message that the other is superior and they are the weaker man. As boys seem to always be looking forward to that day they can be recognized as a man, it is likely that they will take the opportunity as often as they can to prove themselves worthy. If the media is showing fighting and violence as an easy way to get this recognition, then why wouldn’t they “knuckle-up” at first chance?