Category: All-Star Blog Spotlight

(0:16-0:29)- Stan’s girlfriend walks in to talk to him, noticing that he has cut his hair to appear more like Eminem. After she calls him by his real name, “Stanley” he loses his temper, pulling her in the bathroom and storming out. This clip from the beginning already shows his obsession with the rapper, as he has begun to change himself to look like a copycat of Eminem.

(1:00-2:07)- Stan is seen writing letters to Eminem as he is sitting in a room with what looks to be a shrine for Eminem. The lyrics in this clip are about how Stan is going to name his daughter Bonnie, just like Eminem. The lyrics about Stan relating to Eminem for the first time, as they both had friends who committed suicide, shows a normal fondness for someone’s idol, as he can deeply connect with Eminem. However, the tremendous amounts of photos and posters of Eminem hung around shows us how great his obsession is.

(2:19-2:25)- The letter written for Eminem by Stan is dropped on the floor, proof that Eminem was never purposely ignoring his fans although this later results in Stan’s breakdown.

(2:44-2:52)- Stan begins to get more upset after the concert since Eminem never stayed after the show to sign things for Stan and his little brother. However, the video shows that security was the one preventing the rapper from meeting his fans, even though he did try to reach out to them.

(3:05-3:17)- The lyrics, “P.S. we should be together soon” are sung by Stan, as he glues a photo of Eminem onto his girlfriends face, in a picture of the two of them. He even talks of how upset his girlfriend gets that all he focuses on is Eminem. This is a new level of his obsession as he keeps trying harder and harder to get closer to the rapper, by even hurting his closest relationships.

(3:30-4:40)- One night, Stan’s girlfriend gets up as he sleeps, and goes down to the basement and finally finds his shrine to Eminem. She realizes how consumed he is by his feelings towards the rapper. As she begins to look through all the photos, Stan suddenly comes up to her, furious with rage, he takes her out of their home and throws her into their car trunk. It’s at this point that his obsession and rage have reached the maximum and he is ready to end it all since the only thing he found worth living for, Eminem, has never gotten back to him. The lyrics are severe now, as Stan sings, “You ruined it now, I hope you can’t sleep and you dream about it”, and “Hey Slim, that’s my girlfriend screamin’ in the trunk. But I didn’t slit her throat, I just tied her up, see I ain’t like you”, as he commits suicide by driving off a bridge with his pregnant wife. He makes sure to note how Eminem is the reason for these two tragic deaths.

(4:41-4:50)- Eminem finally is seen writing back to Stan, however it’s too late. He writes of how he is sorry for not getting back earlier, but how he is concerned for Stan, and that he has read all the letters and believes his fan should get help. However, in the end he realizes that it is in fact Stan that was the man responsible for the tragedy he had previously heard about in the newspapers.

(4:52-4:56)- Stan’s little brother is seen at the grave, with an older woman who is visibly upset. The little brother looks like a younger version of Stan, and Eminem as well. The anger in the woman’s face makes me believe that she is reminded by the death of Stan every time she looks at the little boy due to their resemblance.

(5:40-end)- The music video ends with the crime scene of the accident being shown, as they discover the bodies and rule it a double murder. They also discover a tape, one that belongs to a man named Stan. This discovery leads to Eminem finally knowing that this man was this obsessive fan of his.

Purpose- The music video and lyrics both tell the story of an obsessive fan named Stan, who gradually grows more insane as he tries to get in touch with his idol, Eminem. He begins by reaching out to him and sending letters and talking about how fond he is of the rapper, and how he has posters of him all over his house and how Eminem is the reason for him waking him up every morning. After this, his insanity progresses as he starts to express anger towards Eminem for not answering his letters or signing an autograph for his brother. He talks of how he can relate to Eminem’s past, as they both had absent fathers, and how the rapper’s music makes him feel better after Stan has to deal with a bad day. Lastly, Stan loses it, getting extremely angry and ranting about how Eminem never got back to him, and how because of this, he has decided to drunk drive, speeding to his death. He finishes by talking of how his girlfriend is gagged in the trunk of the car, and says goodbye before he drives the both of them off a bridge. The song ends with Eminem’s perspective of finally reading the letters and getting back to Stan. He addresses all of Stan’s comments and concerns and talks of how concerned he is for Stan, pointing out that he doesn’t want him to end up like the man who drove him and his pregnant girlfriend off a bridge. The video ends with Eminem realizing that this mentally ill man that everyone has been talking about actually is Stan, his biggest fan.

Genre- The song is Hip Hop/Rap but the music video can be seen as a thriller video or a drama.

Context- Eminem wrote this song as he was and even now is one of the most well known rappers in the world and has to deal with crazy fans all the time.

This post stands out to me because I really liked how I went into detail on the meaning and background of the song as well as divided it up as each event took place in the music video and the lyrics. I don’t listen to this song very often anymore but I do look back and remember when I often played this song.

Coates presents many points in his writing, “The Case for Reparations”. He talks about how the system set black people up to fail. It all began during slavery times and are still in place till this day. He states that the men who came together and founded America promised freedom and equality for all. But in fact America began in “Black plunder and White democracy”. He then goes to say that black people were “plundered of their bodies, plundered of their families, and plundered of their labor”.  The slaves were used to profit America and in the end led America and whites to be successful. Slavery played a big role in the income of white people while blacks were forced to work for free. When Black people were freed from slavery, White people set the governmental system up against them. Black people did not have the luxuries that whites had and they had to work much harder to get something than a white person. Segregation was forced unto black people and it made it hard for them to live in the suburbs or in homes just as white people did. The banks would deny them loans simply because they were black. Being black and owning a home where whites lived lowered the value of other whites homes. Anytime a black person was able to live in a suburb or an area that whites lived they were harassed until they moved out. They would destroy their property and even harm them and nothing was done about it. Black people did not the have the opportunities that white people did. The system was set up against them and when they were able to achieve certain luxuries they were not allowed to have it because of the racism they dealt with. All of these things which were set up against black people still affect them today in America. Predominantly white neighborhoods are higher value and are typically upper middle class or the upper class. Predominantly Black neighbors are lower value and are typically middle class or below. Although the system has changed somewhat black people are still affected by the earlier system and still the current system. The earlier system already did damage on blacks and the damage was never undone. Because it was never fixed and black people were never given reparations black people are still faced with some of the same issues and are stuck where they were left off.

This reading stood out to me because of the points that were made. It shed light on the fact that black people still face certain issues in society and have not been compensated for it all. All that was left behind slavery was racism, discrimination and a corrupt governmental system. Throughout history black people were pushed around and treated terribly and yet accountability has not been taken. For all that black people have gone through they deserve reparations. Black people built this country for free. Forced to come to America and work for nothing. For years black people have struggled in society and still do. Reparations for all the treatment and abuse is something the government never did and never intended on doing.

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Cult of Personality by Living Colour

Youtube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xxgRUyzgs0

The Cult of Personality is a song written by the band Living Colour in 1988. This time period was a time of high tension and great uncertainty. Additionally, the artists experienced the terrifying events of the cold war which increased their disgust for leaders since a great deal of lives and funds were wasted. As illustrated at 4:35 in the piece, it displays the Vietnam War with a quote from Kennedy stating “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country”. Furthermore, Kennedy is mentioned at 0:54 when he is compared to Musolini in reference to their control over their followers. These examples illustrate how leaders use the manipulation of their followers beliefs and personality to maintain power. Nevertheless, at 0:12 and at 4:43, the song repeats this message by showing a series of masks representing that although leaders have different appearances and agendas, all leaders are the same in that they use their followers for their own motivations.

The audience of this piece is children. As shown in the start of the video, there is a girl who is watching the television screen and is being exposed to these events. Moreover, at 0:30, the female’s eyes appear on top of an image where everyone is a white male in the same outfit and completing the same activities. Therefore, when there are no dissenting views, it is dangerous to the country because it becomes more radicalized and could possibly become a fasicst state. At the end, the girl is shaking her head to show her disapproval of the events that occurred. As a result, Living Colour desires for children to analyze and oppose these events since they have the ability to prevent them in the future..

The genre of the video is 1980’s rock music. This stylistic choice was made in order to attract many listeners and to demonstrate the turmoil through the music. In the 1980’s rock music was the most popular type of music. Consequently, this artistic decision enticed a larger portion of the population in comparison to if the song was composed by an orchestra or electronically which allowed the band to spread their message to a greater number of people. Additionally, the high tempo and high dynamics of the music forces the listener to internalize the context of the piece and understand the danger of the times. 

The purpose is to persuade the listeners that politicians and leaders come in many forms, and they attempt to use their supporters’ view points and personality for their own benefit. At multiple times in the piece, 0:30, 0:43, and 1:15, the video illustrates the extreme similarity of the people, and how it is used to radicalize the country. Furthermore, at 2:46, the song juxtaposes Martin Luther King Jr who wears the same outfit and has the same hair as his constituents with white police officers are dressed in the same manner with the same hats and weapons. Living Colour blends the lines between good and bad, and portrays that both individuals who are considered “good” or “bad” exploit their supporters. Nevertheless, the influence over their followers leads to radical behavior from their opposition demonstrated through the assasinations of both Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy as shown in the song through the quote “When a leader speaks that leader dies” (2:46).

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This post stands out to me because I have never really analyzed music in a thematic fashion. Personally, I have only listened to music just for pleasure and because it sounds good. Consequently, this activity made me realize that music has a deeper meaning and could be used in a political fashion to create change and inspire the lives of its listeners. I liked that the activity obligated me to think critically and analyze a different work in a new manner. Additionally, I am satisfied to how I adapted to the new challenge of analyzing the arts and perceiving it in a critical method.

Can something be not your fault, but still your responsibility? Germans still hold themselves accountable for the atrocities that were committed during WWII. They understand what they as a people, did wrong and they continue to teach it to students to prevent it from ever happening again. Teaching students about the Holocaust is a requirement in German schools. Most German students have been to a concentration camp or Holocaust museum. They came to terms with what their forefathers have done and accepted their history, so why doesn’t America?

Coates explains that America has a serious issue with not coming to terms with its history. Instead, we are taught that “America should not be liable for something that happened a hundred and fifty years ago since none of us currently alive are responsible”-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Throughout the years, since America’s birth as a nation, America had committed many atrocities all over the world, but we still continue to glorify our nation without looking at the bad. What does it mean to call our nation the best and the greatest if we don’t have the nerve to accept all the bad we’ve done. “The idea of reparations is frightening not simply because we might lack the ability to pay. The idea of reparations threatens something much deeper—America’s heritage, history, and standing in the world…reparations—by which I mean the full acceptance of our collective biography and its consequences—is the price we must pay to see ourselves squarely”. Coates says that’s the reparations that America needs to give, but we won’t because it threatens our internal belief that we are the best, we are the greatest nation in the world. America needs to come to terms with its racism and racial inequality or else it will continue to be plagued by the racial tension we continue to see in the current day. The reparations do not have to be monetary, in fact, it will most likely never be monetary. The reparations America needs is the acceptance of its past, to pave the way to a better, more united future.

This blog post which I wrote for blog 11/11, is by far, my best post. I liked how I weaved in my quotes into my writing. This made it so my sentences flowed very well and didn’t seem too choppy. I think I answered the question of the blog, can something be not your fault, but still your responsibility, fully and with many details. This blog post explains how because Americans today are silent and don’t want to take the responsibility to learn about their history in detail, many issues continue to plague our society. In this blog post, I made the comparison of American society to post-Nazi German society and I was able to explain my point thoroughly. Overall, I feel that I wrote very well and I incorporated external information here the best.

I chose my blog post titled “Decoys of Racism” mostly because I just honestly liked the tone and style of this post in particular. I like the diction I use throughout it. This is probably one of my shortest blogs from the course, but I think that the tone I use throughout it is heavily effective, which makes up for the length. Additionally, I liked that I brought current events into the discussion. To be honest, other than that, I’m not exactly sure what exactly about this piece it was that I liked, I honestly think I just like the way the tone makes me sound.

“Did the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s usher America into a new era of colorblindness, or did it simply generate formal norms of colorblindness that mask ongoing racial domination?”

I feel that far too often, when I hear people trying to prove their non-racist tendencies they retort saying, “I don’t see color.” I always found that to be ridiculous, because everyone sees color. The question is whether or not you make judgements based on the color you see. Much like saying “I am friends with POC”, the statement used in defense is so empty, and is meant to push the focus somewhere else. This article, pointed out how, far too often, when presented with racism, whatever level it may be at, it seems the first instinct of any white person is to point the blame or focus somewhere else. To try to calm the situation down, but never to fix it. As the question in the quote asks, was America really moving into a new era of not judging on color, or was it pushing into an era where it looks like something is being done, but nothing really is? Heartbreaking news came in the case of Breonna Taylor as one of the cops involved was finally indicted of a crime, but it was for shooting bullets into the neighbors homes, rather than for the murder of an unarmed woman. Once again, in the face of judgement for racist motives, the choice was made to look for a decoy, rather than look for a solution.