Quote:
Originally Posted by Uke
Of course those kids have no culture. That's why they are always imitating someone else's. And its not just the bored or ADD kids that fit that bill. There are plenty of A students that participate in extracurricular activities that still imitate the dangerous or violent attitudes. .
|
But the vast majority are not.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Uke
As far as country kids understanding the power and responsibility of firearms, look at Columbine. Those weren't urban kids. Their actions were all about feeling powerful.
|
Nope. The Columbine kids were part of a group they called the Trench Coat Mafia? and they were into Goth culture if I'm not mistaken; that's completely different than what you'd consider country.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Uke
Its fine in most minds to enjoy a good gangster flick. The characters are men that they admire. Gangsta rappers admire them as well and many have adopted names just like them. When Joe Pesci shoots, stabs or tortures a guy, its a classic scene. When Don Corleone has a horse head left in a bed, its a classic scene. When Al Capone distributes liquor despite prohibition and bloody gun battles ensue, its classic. When rappers sing about it, its somehow terribly wrong though. In some strange way, a rapper named Scarface rapping about cocaine is somehow more harmful to kids than Al Pacino dropping his head into a pile of it on his desk. .
|
That's because bored children are more influenced by rap videos with flashy six second sound bites than they are by 2 hour films on the life of Al Capone. Rap videos appear on MTV - a station marketed to youngsters, not the Classical Movie Channel.
Do you see what 10 year olds are watching on T.V? Chances are its an MTV video.
You're less likely to find them "pontificating" over the use of symbolic intimidation in a Capone movie. This sounds more like a 20 year old film major at your local college.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Uke
I like Wynton Marsalis too. Did you know that most of the great jazz musicians could play not only classical music but all kinds including country? Did you also know that jazz musicians had to endure very much the same scrutiny and criticism that rappers do today? And the jazz artists were polite and properly dressed. Why then do you think that they were judged, criticized and even shunned? The answer is obvious if you can be honest with yourself. You can like whoever you want to, Tom. That doesn't change what I've said or the fact that its the truth..
|
Yesteryear is the past; jazz musicians no longer undergo the same scrutiny they used to. They are revered by many today, even by rappers. Personally, I thought Miles Davis's last album Doo Bop was a nice fusion of hip hop and jazz - but that's Davis just showing his ability to adapt, a talent that the best jazz musicians have.
Anything that is new or different will meet with resistance from critics; that's a universal truth understood by innovators, whether they are in music, automobile manufacturing, sports medicine..etc. Add another complicated factor to the issue (color/race) and it makes innovation that much more complex. At the same time, the reward of such a successful innovation makes it sweeter.
The truth is,
we're one of the few countries in the world that are non-homogeneous and still able to innovate or create, across racial lines despite the friction between them.
Take George Washington Carver, the agricultural chemist whom found over 300 uses for the peanut and over 100 uses for the sweet potatoe, soybean and pecans. I bet he faced criticisms and scrutiny. You know there were men lining up to take shots at him, some of them probably not nearly as talented as he, but by God they had an opinion to uphold and they did.
If he were alive today, he might have already solved our fuel problem..lol.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Uke
Many people here like to pretend that things have changed, but they haven't. Bigots and assholes had double standards back then, and they still have them today. Its how they keep their egos intact.
|
You're right, Uke. But the existance of bigots and assholes in regards to race issues are going to be a constant in life.
There's always going to be someone who says,
"Who they hell do you think YOU are!?" maybe in different wording or in action.
If you think that its horrible here, how about in countries where there is genocide between ethnic/religious lines take Darfur, Iraq etc.
People here have it much better.