Musical Signifiers in Funk

I found it really interesting how African Americans used traditional African drums as a signifier of Black pride and separatism in funk music. Do you believe that any artists today use musical signifiers in this way to make certain social or political statements? If so, what artists?

White ethnics is New Hollywood

Let me preface this by saying that the Godfather Part 1 and 2 are hands down my favorite movies of all time. That said, I found some of the points Professor Decker made in his lecture today to be really interesting although I don't necessarily agree with all of them. I thought it was particularly notable that there was such a dichotomy between what those films represented to Italian Americans and the general American public. On the one hand, many thought that the sympathetic portrayal of the Italian American mafia in the films romanticized that segment of society and actually made ethnic Italian culture more palatable to the masses. However the Italian American community saw just the opposite and felt that the films portrayed their culture as thuggish and criminal. How do you guys think the Godfather movies actually portrayed Italian American culture? Can you think of any other prominent examples of white ethnic representations in film back then or up until today? And are do you think the issue of white ethnic groups being portrayed in a controversial manner by the media today (Jersey Shore anyone?) has as much of an effect on the perception of those groups by the general public as it did during the New Hollywood era?

New and Newer Hollywood

Today in lecture Decker discussed how Hollywood in the 60s became somewhat racier. He discussed how the family structure was portrayed differently in movies such as the Godfather, and how uncensored violence appeared. Do you think that this shift toward more sex, violence, and dysfunctional relationships in movies and TV is having a negative impact on society, or do you guys think that its simply acknowledging what already exists? And that maybe acknowledging it makes all those "bad things" less hidden, and secretive, which no doubt gives them an appeal.

Going with the trends

Although I am not surprised that the aura of a more chaotic society during the 1970s affected the film world, it is interesting to hear Pauline Kael write that "One can't just take the new cult movies head on and relax, because they're too confused." I think what she is talking about is that movies became so rich with meaning, symbols, and intense topics that people could not simply go to the movies to "get away" and relax anymore. So while it is to be expected that the influences of the counterculture (the way they dress, the way they act, drugs, etc.) would be translated into film, I guess I never realized that it came to a point where, as Pauline describes, the movies became too intense to the point where movies in general became an alienating and cynical experience. Can the opposite be said of today? Are there too many "light" films that lack critical topics and just pride themselves on how humorous they are?

Bob Dylan at the Grammy's

In case you missed it, this is a video of the 2011 Grammy performance by Mumford and Sons, the Avett Brothers, and Bob Dylan. I thought it was very interesting to see these newer artists, which are considered folk or folk rock, play with Bob Dylan, who was there at since the beginning of the folk movement.

Dylan comes in around 6:00 to start off Maggie's Farm while the other bands play the instrumentals. Overall, I really just liked the performance so I wanted to share it.

Perception of Movies Then & Now

I'm not sure if its just me or my family's opinion of this film, but I was personally shocked by the article that talks about the movie "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" in such a negative light ("The Current Cinema: The Bottom of the Pit, from the New Yorker).

Growing up, I always heard about this movie as a classic piece of American filmography, a great, timeless movie that would be watched for years to come. I'm not sure if the opinion held by Pauline Kael, the author, was widespread at the time, but it still surprised me to read that in 1969, the year the movie was released, someone wrote something like the following about a movie that we now view as classic.

"'Butch Cassidy' will probably be a hit; it has a great title, and it has star appeal for a wide audience...Yet, hit or no, I think what this picture represents is finished. Butch and Sundance will probably be fine for a TV series, which is what I mean by finished."

Obviously comparing something to a TV series or insinuating that it could be a made for TV movie is not a complement. So what I wonder is how movies that are being produced now are going to be perceived in the future. Are the some of really bad ones going to be seen as classic later? Will people insist that their children watch "Step Up: 3D" ? Or did no one else grow up hearing that "Butch Cassidy" was a great movie?

The Angry American

We talked a lot on Friday about country music and patriotism, which was exemplified by the song Zach played at the end of class, Toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue". This song was off one of my favorite country albums from elementary school so I thought I'd post it here. I'd actually never watched the video before, but it ended up being perfect for this discussion. You can see Toby himself mingling and playing music for the soldiers among with a LOT of other patriotic themes and images. Safe to say country musicians are still connected to patriotism?

Americans

We talked a lot about what being white meant, and what being a "white ethnic" meant, on Tuesday. In today's lecture, Professor Fink talked about the country music movement and its strong ties to white Southern culture. This got me thinking–it's interesting that cultural differences among what people consider established "white Americans" exist as well. The disparities among WASPs, even, are fairly evident if you compare the cultures of those from Alabama with those from New York City. More disparities emerge, of course, with the incorporation of different ethnicities into the patchwork of American culture and values. It just made me think how slippery the term "American" was, and how there really was no set of values that you can ever use to determine whether someone was truly an American or not. What the heck is, exactly, an American?

No Dogs. No Greeks.

When Professor Decker showed the class the New Yorker cartoon, I asked the person sitting next to me if I was considered a white ethnic. Ironically, the next thing we learned was that, yes, Greeks were considered white ethnics. Almost immediately I began to remember my grandfather's famous immigration story:

After arriving in New York and taking the train to Chicago, my grandfather was alone, poor and hungry. He had nothing to his name but $20 and a Greek-English dictionary. He tried to go to a restaurant, but in the window there was a sign that said "No Dogs. No Greeks."

When I first heard this story I didn't understand why Greeks were discriminated against. I didn't think Greeks ever made up a significant population in the United States. Tuesday's lecture was an unexpected affirmation of my family history. Furthermore, my grandfather knows more about United States history than many people I know — not unlike the message of the second cartoon in which the white ethnic shows national pride.

And now I'm wondering, again, if I'm a white ethnic, or if the times have changed. To a certain extent, I don't think the term has died off entirely, or at least not the concept. I still have my Greek folk dancing outfit somewhere...

1952 to 1970s? Has Much Changed?

In the concluding remarks of Professor Fink's lecture today, he explained that country music became associated with backlash politics and the silent majority. As I thought about how Merle Haggard and other "hard core" country musicians helped associate the country sound with that of the good old days before the influence of the counterculture, I was amazed by the genius of politicians like Richard Nixon. Then, I remembered that this was not the first time that promoting politics had been mixed with a form of entertainment. Basically, Merle's "Okie from Muskogee" reminded me of the 1952 political cartoon/ad for Eisenhower that we watched at the beginning of the year. It showed an elephant, donkey, other animals, and a farmer walking in a parade-like scene. The farmer was supposed to relate to everyday Americans and suggest that they were voting for Eisenhower. This ad and Eisenhower's strategy of appealing to the common folk won him the election. The way "Okie from Muskogee" and other country music was used to suggest that an easier way of life could be attained through voting for Nixon is hardly different from Eisenhower's tactic through that particular ad in 1952.

Here is the link for the 1952 Eisenhower ad: http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1952

Grand Ole' Opry

As a country music fan, I found today's lecture really interesting, particularly the part on the Grand Ole' Opry. I know that Professor Fink said that the Opry closed in 1974, but the Country XM station I listen to plays music from the "Grand Ole' Opry" almost every day. So I decided to look a little bit further into it.

Even after music was no longer played at the Ryman Theater, the Grand Ole' Opry lived on as a country music show and radio program.

You can see this week's lineup (filled with current country music stars) here: http://www.opry.com/shows/ThisWeek.html

I have always been fascinated by how country music continues on without ever really making any massive changes in style. I always say that if you stop listening to country radio for a few years, when you come back you will still recognize like 60% of the music being played.

Here is a video of the Charlie Daniels Band playing "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" at the (modern) Grand Ole' Opry. This song was first released in 1979, but you it is still played on many current radio stations regularly, which is how I heard it in the first time, probably like 7 years ago.

Also, you can recognize many of the same cues that we talked about in class today that signify country music, specifically, the playing of the fiddle.

White Ethnics

I found the idea of white ethnics extremely interesting. I have always wondered why the classification of "white" is so widespread, while a lot of white people do not have that common of ancestry. What is interesting to me is that people throughout history who are not completely white have been considered to be the race that is not "white." The outlash of the white ethnics of the 60s is very interesting, because it seems to have been very difficult to obtain that "white" status.
Does this still have an effect today? Are people still scrounging to be some sort of ethnic? Why?

The Marginalization of Country Music

In the intro to "Creating Country Music", I thought it was interesting that it said many whites already established in the music industry looked down upon country initially, on account of their desire to distance themselves from the cultural background associated with country. Do you think this fact has any connection to the contemporary marginalization of country music outside of it's traditional fan-base?

"Walk the Line"- Portrayal of 1960s country

By: Holly Di Maggio

After today's lecture when Professor Fink showed us the image of Johnny Cash, I instantly thought of the movie "Walk the Line" starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon as Johnny Cash and June Carter. The movie is based on the life of Johnny Cash and is an excellent portrayal of "outlaw country." A major portion of the film shows Johnny Cash's journey as he tries to get his music produced while dealing with drugs, alcohol, and family issues. The movie captures the life of one of the major country artists during this time period and gives the audience a realistic sense of the music industry during the 1960s.

1968 Democratic Convention Chaos-Inevitable?

Both "The Chicago Convention: Furies in the Street" and "Continuity and Change In American Politics" do a good job of setting the stage for the 1968 Democratic Convention. They describe the candidates at the convention, the political decisions leading up to the convention, and what actually happened at the convention. It is mentioned that in addition to the issues of "law and order," the Vietnam War, and race issues that there were major changes to the structure of the Democratic Convention occurring in 1968. For example, the very nature of the Rules Committee was being challenged. It is important to remember that conventions in the political process are relatively new and not included in the Constitution. Therefore, aside from the important political and social issues that would unfold at the convention, the readings made me think that it was about time for the structure of the convention to be called into question. No wonder there was so much chaos! Thus, I believe that a combination of structural changes in the convention process when matched with the splintering of opinions within the Democratic party caused this inevitable "explosion" at the 1968 Democratic Convention. What do you think? Was this explosion of chaos inevitable or Mayor Daley and the Chicago police have taken precautions to prevent it?

Random Fun Fact

In the movie Forrest Gump, the character takes part in many historical moments, one being the George Wallace assassination attempt. The footage shown in the film is actually real footage that was taken by CBS photographer Laurens Pierce, who caught part of the shooting on film.

Chicago, 1968

I was always fascinated by the violent riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention because it is such a departure from what we think of American politics to be like. It's as if our whole democratic process broke down in this violent event. Here is a video with some good footage of rioters and the troops trying to keep them in line, followed by reactions to the violence by the politicians at the convention. (There are longer pieces of footage also on YouTube if you want to check it out, but this one was a better quality and in color!)

George Wallace, Also

Watching the documentary, I couldn't help but think that George Wallace embodied all the things that make people resent politicians. What does the success of George Wallace say about Americans? Can the phenomena of George Wallace happen again today via a different candidate and/or different issue? How would his story have ended if he didn't get shot, and how would it have affected America? I suppose there isn't an answer to this.

I also feel compelled to say that his life was strangely like a novel. The plot diagram of his life is almost unbelievable.

George Wallace

In your own opinion, do you believe that George Wallace was truthful in his remorse displayed to black southerners after the assassination attempt? He was firmly against civil rights and, years later, seemed to have a complete change of heart. Do you believe Wallace was being genuine in his apologies, or was his sincerity to African Americans just another ploy to attain votes?

Wallace Documentary

The documentary did a really good job of showing Wallace's transformation into only a politician and back. I was really shocked at his transformation from someone who spoke for black southerners to a man who was staunchly against civil rights. Wallace was willing to put his ideas and compassion aside for votes. What kind of politicians do this? Do you think that a lot of politicians still do this today?