You certainly know what genre of music don`t care about morals, and where they talk about murder, violence and treat a woman as a sexual object. This is, of course, an opera. Yes, opera. Jose killed Carmen because she stopped loving him, the main character of "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk district" corrupts Katerina, and then they go together to kill people. There are more suicides in operas than in the other genres of music.
source: https://cdn.britannica.com/63/19263-004-C63ED192/Emily-Soldene-death-scene-Carmen-production-opera-1880.jpg
But 40 years ago, a genre appeared in the world, which in terms of violence can equal the Opera - it was the Rap genre. It seems that all rap is about violence and disrespect for women. But here's the question: is the level of violence rising because of rap or vice versa-rap reflects violence in society and spills out all the aggression in the lyrics?
At least once the art has become exceptionally good. In the 30s, this happened in the USA, one of the most conservative countries in the world.
Previously, the Hayes code was in effect in American cinema - it is a set of prohibitions, which were accepted by the film studios and distributors themselves. In movies, you couldn't show sexual images, even in the form of shadows or silhouettes, sexual behavior was not allowed, realistic fights and even more murder. Drugs, childbirth, race relations,insulting the feelings of believers and much more, not to mention homosexuality. The laws even applied to cartoons. Betty Boop, for example, in the thirties the dress has become noticeably longer, and the shoulders are closed.
source: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/bettyboop/images/c/c0/Betty_Boop_Hays_Act_Hays_Code_Pre-Hays_Code.png/revision/latest?cb=20190127131320
But most importantly, it should be obvious to the audience who is a good hero, who is a bad one. But everything always comes to an end. In the fifties there were television and movie theaters on wheels, where to see thrash. Also, more and more Americans were interested in independent Italian and French cinema. The main characters in the films of Godard and Fellini sometimes turned out to be prostitutes. In the movie "Blow-up" of Antonioni has a lot of erotic scenes. And the audience loved this movie. The fact is that the main characters in those films were complex. Villains have much more emotions than superheroes.
Does it provoke violence? Or does it reflect violence in society?
Artist Chris Bourdain in 1971 asked a friend to shoot him in the shoulder.So he said that violence has become an integral entertainment of Western civilization. As much a part of it as an American pie with a cup of coffee.
source: https://cdn8.openculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/27225045/shoot-burden.jpg
These are two related processes: culture reflects society and is a part of it. For example, modern rap is the saddest in history. Rappers are increasingly reading about depression, fears and anxieties. Kanye West in his tweet says that rap about mental health is no longer taken as a joke. And perhaps for a reason, a year ago, Kendrick Lamar for the album "DAMN.", full of existential searches, won the prestigious Pulitzer prize. Before that, it was awarded only for classical or jazz.
source: https://static.billboard.com/files/media/02-kendrick-lamar-Pulitzer-Prize-2018-a-billboard-1548-compressed.jpg
We live in a time when there is a lot of violence in films, murders, black humor in comedies, and a lot of obscene words in music. The golden age of the porn industry has come. Bad things in modern culture can be listed for a long time. But the fact is that we live in the safest time in history - the rate of violence and murder is several times lower than during the 20th century.
Does rap provoke violence?
Can art be absolutely kind?
Why do we love scoundrels so much?
Very interesting article, although after the introduction I was hoping to find out more about opera brutality hahah.
ReplyDeleteI believe that art without violence, dirt, naturalism and evil does not exist. Oscar Wilde in "Decay of Lying" wrote: "Life imitates art much more than art imitates life" and I think it is a good quote to reflect on this subject.
Does rap provoke violence?
Of course, rap, trap and their derivatives have been in the top mainstring music for many years, but they are not the only genres in which the theme is violence. I think it depends more on artist / band expression than music genre.
Why do we love scoundrels so much?
I think that each of us has something of a villain and that is why we subconsciously identify ourselves not only with the positive heroes, but also with those who are their opposite.
Thank you, beautiful quote and a really good point!
DeleteI think that there is no direct answer to the question about violence provoked by rap music. For sure we can’t say that rap is music with a peaceful approach and is for everyone but only a small part of rap songs is violent. All other songs may be interpreted in that way but it’s not always the case. Sometimes there is a hidden message and its meaning has a slightly different overtone than violence.
ReplyDeleteAs for the question about scoundrels, I think that such a phenomenon has grown because this kind of people does represent something different than nowadays world shows us as a sample of casual life. In some way they are outstanding and as we know, it always attracts more people.
I would disagree with the statement that rap provokes violence. We shouldn't paint everyone with the same brush, as each person lives in a different environment, educates and shapes differently, belongs to a different social group, etc... It's normal for people from pathological environments ("street people"), that they will identify with artists who hate the police, who talk about depression or praise intercourse. Personally, I like rap, but listening to it, I never felt any emotions that could lead me to make bad decisions.
ReplyDeleteI think there are cases where art is actually absolutely kind, but as you mentioned in the article, the audience likes good characters and bad guys. Most of the world's productions are based on the fight between good and evil.
The third question is interesting. On my example, I can say that I am bored with stories where "good always wins", where the protagonist meets smaller or bigger obstacles on his way, but at the end nothing specific happens to him. That is why I am always looking for productions that bring huge challenges to the main characters, and they aren't always able to win.
I have listened rap music all my life, and I also never felt anything bad about it. But there are many people who think that rap provokes violence and not happy that for example their children listen rap. There was even created a warning label “parental advisory” in 80s, that is placed on audio recordings in recognition of profanity or inappropriate references, with the intention of alerting parents of material potentially unsuitable for children. Unfortunately there are many people that make bad conclusions about rap even before listening it.
DeleteMusic constantly accompanies people and is an important factor shaping his functioning. Its impact on the cognitive and social functioning of an individual is emphasized more and more rapidly. Unfortunately, different genres of popular music, especially rap, hip-hop, and metal, are more associated with negative than positive patterns of behavior. However, I believe that each case should be treated individually. What values the work presents depends on the author, not the genre of music he performs.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, whether a film, painting, or sculpture is positive or negative depends on the recipient. It is hard to imagine any art form that could be limited by something. At this point, you can be outraged that art shouldn't arouse unhealthy feelings or scandalize the audience. Art should be acceptable to many and in line with their expectations. But such a claim is the easiest way to censor and limit another human being. Because no one will ever be completely satisfied with everything. There will always be cause for complaint and indignation about a work of art. There will always be some bad feel under the influence of some artistic creation and there is no solution to it. On the other hand, art must evoke all kinds of emotions. It couldn't give us only joy, contentment, and pleasure. It has to show us the different corners of our minds and hearts so that we can know ourselves and our limits.
In my opinion, in negative characters, we are most attracted to their way of thinking, their reasoning, motivation, or willingness to know what drives them to the actions they commit. The vast majority of them are not one-dimensional characters, they usually have an interesting past, which in many cases affects their fate. Such heroes are also usually the most mysterious and unpredictable characters who drive the plot with their actions and provide viewers with a thrill that is so important in a book or film.
I agree with you. In your comment about negative characters I like that you wrote about motivation. I think that we are starting love scoundrels when we understand their motiovation.So in this way we can identify ourselves with them.
DeleteDoes rap provoke violence?
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the stereotype of rap being brutal and vulgar music is mainly due to the social groups in which it was once encountered. In the past, rap was associated with gangsters, street children and generally marginalized people, but in my opinion, this music was popular in these settings because it sometimes presented the problems of this social group. Rap has often touched upon topics that society has overlooked and hidden under the rug. Police violence, drug problems, rape or mental illness. These were taboo subjects that made people dislike of this type of music because they revealed the sad and brutal truth about life among certain social groups.
Can art be absolutely kind?
No it cannot and in my opinion it should not be only kind. Art should evoke various emotions, not only positive ones. If art were only "nice" it would be boring and lose some sense. It should arouse some controversy and raise topics often overlooked by society.
Why do we love scoundrels so much?
In my opinion, the main feature that attracts us to negative characters is their way of thinking, and the process of how such a person has become "evil". In movies, the theme of a good hero is often boring and worn out, now popular is the theme of a character destroyed by society in order to show how false and corrupt it is nowadays. The process of how a person is slowly destroyed by the society in which he lives is very interesting and popular in the current pop culture.
Personally, I do not think rap music provokes violence more than other genres. I am not that into rap music myself, but I can say I know the topic a little bit. The fact is, there is no more violence than in metal, rock or even pop music. The one thing coming to my mind about violence in rap is a vast amount of obscenities.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion art cannot be absolutely kind, what is more, it should not be. As one of commentators mentioned above, art should arouse all kinds of emotions, not only pleasant ones.
As of scoundrels, I simply think they are more entertaining in art than regular characters.
When I was writting this article I also thought that rock and pop music have not less violence than rap. So I totally agree with you.
DeleteDoes rap provoke violence? In the past, rap was definitely associated with "niggas" the sounds of gunshots in the background and the melorecitation of "pussies dancing for dollars" or whaever. Today it has changed a bit. Even the Polish Seba has become progressive. Rap moved to maintsteam and artists began to experiment with other genres, a perfect example of which is, for example, Kanye West's album "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" with beautiful inserts personally played by West on the piano. Surely you heard the track "Ruanaway"? Beauty music video btw.
ReplyDeleteWhy do we love scoundrels so much? An old Polish proverb says that "the bastard loves the most" XD
Does rap provoke violence?
ReplyDeleteDefinitely not. I do not think that rap causes violence ... for example, when I am sad, I can turn on sad music, including rap as well, but not vice versa. When I feel good, I don't listen to sad music to make me feel bad, it only works in one direction, so I don't think that rap or other music provokes violence. If a person is inclined or predisposed to violence, anything can push him to it, not only music.
Can art be absolutely kind?
Of course it can, no one forbids!!! But art is not mathematics, there are no strict rules, formulas, principles of behavior, etc. Everyone does art as he wants and only we, as the public, decide whether we will watch or listen to it, we decide which reproduction of art will be popular. If in our time "bad" art about "bad" things or "bad" deeds is gaining huge popularity, then rather the problem is not in art but in us ... I think this is also the answer to the third question.
I don't think rap provokes violence. In my opinion, rap shows what reality looks like. Life is not always a bed of roses, some people struggle in their lives and rap is a great option for them to reflect their emotions. It is important to interpret rap songs correctly and not to get too much excited by our emotions. Btw I think children tend to misinterpret their emotions, that’s why they shouldn’t have access to such music.
ReplyDeleteI don’t agree that art can be absolutely kind. In fact, art that presents something controversial usually teach us best lessons.
I guess, the tendency to fall for scoundrels derives from the desire to break away from our safe boundaries and everyday reality.
Does rap provoke violence?
ReplyDeleteFor non-rap listeners - yes it does :) But seriously i don't think any genre does. If you want you can say every thing can provoke to violence. If you look only on lyrics you might think so but most of it are pure metaphors ( maybe except Cannibal Corpse :) )
Can art be absolutely kind?
Yes but in that case no one will watch/listen to it or treat it like a meme (Arka Noego for example). Now if you want to promote your work you need to break through the market by something. And the best way is to create something controversial, and what is more mind-blowing than violence, gore and other forbidden things
Why do we love scoundrels so much?
I guess, because they are our mirror image - they are people we sometimes want to be after bad day, but we don't have courage/will to be.
I don't think that rap provokes violence. It's a kind of music but it's not related to violence more or less than other music kinds. A lot of hip-hop artists tells that it's all about telling truth. And I think that rappers are less afraid of describing real facts.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that art can be purely kind. Art is the way of describing our world without words and our world certainly is not purely kind.
Hmm, and I don't know what to tell about the last question. Probably it's because a lot of people don't do things that look bad in eyes of society and are excited about individuals that do that.
That was very intresting articale to read and reflect on to. But I have to disagree - in my opinion it not like rap or any other form of art creates/provokes violence, because, for me art is the reflection of what surronds the artist or his/hers own inner thoughts and situations. And as always when it comes to art - so much depends on our perspective and analysis. If we want to see bad/negative events, we will focus on listening to sad/depressive songs in general. Sometimes art can be kind and positive but i do appriciate that we have both spectrum possibilities
ReplyDeleteAs for the last question - this one really got me thinking. In my opinion we adore bad fictional characters so much because they seem more "human" for us. In the end in our normal life we're not perfect, we have dark thoughts and dark times and it's easier to identify oneself with someone also not perfect.
It seems to me that the times of violent rape are rather gone. Unless I don't know street rap, I don't know about these trends. The music I have heard is more about social problems, nowadays or ridiculing certain extreme behaviors. The music has developed so much that rap has become popular with more people.
ReplyDeleteThe art has to address all topics. Art develops. Thanks to it we can draw attention to a given social problem, for example. It definitely opens our eyes.
I have no idea why we like the forbidden or rebellious most. I recommend the film from 1955 "Rebellion without a cause". Definitely must have to watch it, in reference to this topic 🙃
Why would rap music provoke violence? I don't think that any song or music style provoke it. It depends on a person who listen to it and his mentality.
ReplyDeleteArt can be anything, kind, controversial or brutal. It depends on a thing that we want to adress, but to be honest controversial art solds the most nowadays because it gives people something to talk about, and we live in times where people have various opinions.
I think that it is a state of mind for people that attracts them to scoundrels, just like Adam and Eve story, with the forbidden apple that they were not supposed to eat but the temptation was too big. It is the same thing that we want things that are tempting to us but mostly they are not good for us.
I listen to many music types - including rap. In my opinion, this type of music has an ipmact on violence as much as other types of music (of course, it depends on the performer and the music style). Many people may think that rap seems aggressive. It can be caused by the vocabulary used by the rappers, bands, ... ;) To be honest most rap songs nowadays do not have any sense and we can mainly hear lyrics about wealth, cars and drugs...
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion art can be kind :) Referring to the music, we can find many alternative artists who performs for example sung poetry. Unfortunately, they are not as popular as pop or rap stars.
We often prefer bad characters because of a more interesting creation than good characters. Additionally, a lot of people find some part of themselves in the scoundrels.
1. I wouldn't say rap music provokes violence, I think like any other form of art it's an expression of artist's experiences and some reflection of reality, It's certainly easier to identify with gangsta rap when you are a criminalist but there are so many sub-genres of rap music that it would be injustice to associate it directly with increase of crime.
ReplyDelete2. Liberty of art exclude assumption that it can be absolutely kind or anything. We can't put a sealing on art because we would limit creativity for the purpose of safety, comfort and functionality.
3 Why do we love scoundrels? I don't know , maybe we love characters with whom we can identify and those scoundrels are very often equipped with lots of positive features like cleverness, sensitivity, carisma , etc.
1. I wouldn't say rap music provokes violence, I think like any other form of art it's an expression of artist's experiences and some reflection of reality, It's certainly easier to identify with gangsta rap when you are a criminalist but there are so many sub-genres of rap music that it would be injustice to associate it directly with increase of crime.
ReplyDelete2. Liberty of art exclude assumption that it can be absolutely kind or anything. We can't put a sealing on art because we would limit creativity for the purpose of safety, comfort and functionality.
3 Why do we love scoundrels? I don't know , maybe we love characters with whom we can identify and those scoundrels are very often equipped with lots of positive features like cleverness, sensitivity, carisma , etc.
1. I am not entirely of the opinion that rap music causes violence. It seems to me that it depends rather on the human and his emotions and upbringing. In general, RAP mostly talks about the fate of the protagonist, in this case the artist, and the emotions he "fights" is rather a matter of self-expression.
ReplyDelete2. The art can be different, sometimes it is dramatic, sometimes it becomes a comedy :)
3. It seems to me that it has always been so in our human lives, that the best is this what is inaccessible and it is forbidden. We know it not only from today that forbidden fruit tastes the best. The same true concerns scoundrels. Each person's issue connected with scoundrels is often individual, so it is difficult to determine.
I would hardly disagree with the statement that rap music provokes violence. It’s true that this music genre often focuses on the subjects that you mentioned but I think that the audience is expecting it. Aggressiveness of rap can be result of the rhythm which goes well with violent lyrics.
ReplyDeleteIt’s difficult to define what the word “kind” means in terms of art. It is a field of human activity that relies on expression and it shouldn’t be censored. It reflects authors’ emotions which are not always positive.
I think that people are fascinated by scoundrels because they see them as forbidden fruits. They wouldn’t be their first choice while making friends but because of the fact that they are unpredictable they seem to be more mysterious and interesting.
It is possible that there are cases where rap has caused aggressive behavior. However, I think that rap is, first and foremost, simply a real life story of people brought up in such an environment. It is also the music of rebellion. People who want to say they are being treated unfairly. Or to show that now, after a long time of unfair treatment, they are on top.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, art is a beauty that can be perceived differently by everyone. One likes jazz and the other it is just elevator music. Someone is crazy about trash metal. Yes, I think art can be absolutely kind too
Without the bastards, life would be terribly boring :)
Wow, I wasn't aware that the opera genre has such background. Also, it seemed to me that the rules devised by Hayes only applied to film maker who wanted to win the Academy Award - The Oscars. I must add that I really like the music of Kendrick Lamar, I'm not a fanatic, so it's interesting to find out about the Pulitzer Prize from your article.
ReplyDelete1. I don't think, maybe some extreme cases of being in a bad mental condition, a bit like in the song "Stan" created by Eminem and Dido link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOMhN-hfMtY
2. Probably some people think so, I'm not. Sometimes artist need to show something through their art. Often this can be only a game not the truth just to visualize the real problem.
3. I'd like to know for myself. It seems to me that there is something intangible about them and that attracts many people, although I think that we grow out of it someday.