Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Donny Rhine

IS 501 Final

I thoroughly enjoyed the wide scope of everyone’s presentations. I did not think that everyone would choose something that is not mainstream to popular culture. I chose John, Kelsey’s, and Taylor's presentations because I say a common theme of outsiders in them. Johns Black Metal bands are exclusive to only a small following that want to be outsiders, while Kelsey chose German gangster rap. Taylor's view on minority women and their dynamics within conversation also showed themes of being an outsider or creating situations of being outsiders.

John’s presentation on the Norwegian Black Metal is a reminder to me that all music is made for the rest of the genre. Originally started to be a culture rebellion, the created their music to be as dark as possible to exclude outsiders. John’s description of the music that it is brutally passionate fits accordingly. Black Metal artists put just as much work into sounding as bad or distorted as possible as writing their music. By using low quality microphones and recording devices to produce the “necrosound” that they wanted. These sounds, along with the imagery used by a few of the bands are what have given the genre the stereotype of being Satanic or demonic. Which when John stated that the original bands that started the genre were Paganistic, rather than Monotheist, it surprised me. Which in a way I can understand in the way that Black Metal wanted to distance itself from the normal or mainstream metal. So they had to create a sound for themselves but also try to stay true to form of the music. This resulted in them taking extreme measures in insuring that their followers stayed exclusive.

Sticking with the theme of outsiders, Kelsey’s presentation reminded me of a few YouTube days that I had in my early German language classes. She presented on German gangster rap, which to me anything labeled gangster is comical. Though I did find it interesting the parallels between American gangster rap and German. We tend to think that the grass is always greener on the other side, but often times other places have the same problems or environments that we do. As with minorities here, many of the Turkish and other minorities over there are searching for their identities. Some of my experiences with German gnats rap were that the songs were light and catchy not the normal type that I see here. Though Kelsey’s example of Bushido and Advanced Chemistry shows that they often rapped about serious issues within themselves. Though I do know about the anti-Turkish sentiments that are in Germany, I did not know that it was prevalent in the rap genre, or that it had a Neo-Nazi following. Though I thought I was very funny that Falco is considered to be rap.

Finishing out on my reflection I want to touch on Taylor’s theme. Her presentation on women in minorities gave me new light on the dynamics between two people and their conversation. The different contexts or situations women are put in by men or fellow women direct the atmosphere of the dialogue, and can make a women change her way of response within the situation. As Taylor stated, when she talked to Elsadig Elsheikh, her manner was one of professionalism and distance. She said that when they talked, she sat upright and forward and had an air of respect and quietness. Though her conversations with Mrs. Betts and Mrs. Nieto, the conversations took on an air of laidback friendship, though respectful still. I find the difference weird because of the protocols that our society has put on women. Women are to be almost submissive in most instances when having dialogue with older generations, which in a way makes them outsiders. Also two or more women can create a “bubble” and essentially taking themselves out of the rest of what is going on around them making the rest outsiders. I say this in the sense that the women create their own niche that is exclusive only to them at that time. I have had some experience with this by way of a few communication classes that I took freshman year. Though to see Taylors point of view on how Mrs. Betts and her instantly bonded over jewelry (something that is beyond my comprehension, along with shoes and handbags) and that bond carrying over to the professional discussions on creating the class is intriguing. It makes me wonder if all women form a bond over a subject that helps transcend the boundaries of personal and professional dialogues.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.