Fity Cent
a post by Calvin
“I’m going to the candy shop ...” a line not from one of 50 Cent’s hit songs, which need not be finished to realize that the song is heading in derogatory direction. But if one can’t tell by listening to the song, the visual images in the music video of scantily clad women will help get the message across. Apparently he’s going to the candy shop to take away the innocence of little kids. Well, maybe it’s not that bad since the radio stations have no problem playing this music at all hours of the day.
One of the most recent debates over 50 Cent was a few months ago when he was coming to Canada to tour. A politician tried to get him banned from crossing the border and touring in Canada for a few reasons; first being because of his criminal record, as well as the fact that someone was shot and killed a year earlier at his show in Toronto, and because of the glorification of violence that he portrays in his music. Does music have an influence on our actions and decisions? I think that although most Canadians would probably not want to start banning artists because of their lyrics, and infringe on peoples freedom to express themselves, I believe that most people would find 50 Cent’s lyrics offensive if they were to actually read the lyrics and not just be listening to a catchy tune. Does listening to music affect the way we think? If a person listens to music that glorifies violence, does a person become more and more desensitized to it? How does the portrayal of all these behaviors as being ‘cool’ affect the youth, or anybody, who listen to it?
“I’m going to the candy shop ...” a line not from one of 50 Cent’s hit songs, which need not be finished to realize that the song is heading in derogatory direction. But if one can’t tell by listening to the song, the visual images in the music video of scantily clad women will help get the message across. Apparently he’s going to the candy shop to take away the innocence of little kids. Well, maybe it’s not that bad since the radio stations have no problem playing this music at all hours of the day.
One of the most recent debates over 50 Cent was a few months ago when he was coming to Canada to tour. A politician tried to get him banned from crossing the border and touring in Canada for a few reasons; first being because of his criminal record, as well as the fact that someone was shot and killed a year earlier at his show in Toronto, and because of the glorification of violence that he portrays in his music. Does music have an influence on our actions and decisions? I think that although most Canadians would probably not want to start banning artists because of their lyrics, and infringe on peoples freedom to express themselves, I believe that most people would find 50 Cent’s lyrics offensive if they were to actually read the lyrics and not just be listening to a catchy tune. Does listening to music affect the way we think? If a person listens to music that glorifies violence, does a person become more and more desensitized to it? How does the portrayal of all these behaviors as being ‘cool’ affect the youth, or anybody, who listen to it?
posted by blair at 2/05/2006 11:32:00 p.m.
1 Comments:
Some good questions, I wonder if you have any answers. There is some literature on this in the social sciences because it is really a hot button topic at the moment. Because race is also tied up in the question, the ethics of the situation are not cut and dry. What is the relationship between the lived reality of a sub-set of society and the broader society buying into that lived reality even though broader society would never think of actually living that reality? Good essay topic.
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