Category: Blog 6

The artworks I’m choosing are multiple artworks from different artists, which all highlight the same topic that I want to highlight. ‘Hellboy’ by Lil peep, which  is a mixtape that that express how the artist felt nd the things he had been going through such as depression, suicide, and drug abuse. ‘XO Tour Llif3’ by Lil Uzi Vert, which is a 3 time platinum record that talks about a heartbreak which caused the artist to abuse drugs and fall into a deep depression. And lastly, ‘Good Bye and Good Riddance’ by Juice Wrld which is an album that is filled with drug use and some people can be seen it as a glorification of his use of drugs but that’s not really case.
All of these three artworks share the similarity of the ideas of depression, suicide, and drug addiction/abuse. They aren’t glorifying these issues, which most people believe they are, but they are expressing how it affects their lives. They are conveying a problem within the music industry that many people tend to ignore. This is the reason I want to write about these artworks, to spread a positive message.

The artist I chose for the Art and social conditions assignment is J.Cole at the moment I do not have a specific album or song that I will be researching and elaborating on. He is an artist that speaks about issues that happen through his music. It is very much relatable to people, and speaks ons social issues from his perspective and also puts himself in other people’s shoes. The way he raps and rhymes is very smooth in a way that it is not hard to decipher. The lyrics he says carry lots of weight meaning they are very influential and reflective and impactful. It can also be very storytelling-like which gives his music an easy going flow. He has many songs with different situations but they all are very eye opening and meaningful. 

This artist’s work attempts to create a voice that exposes the truth about societal issues young people of color endure.

Proposal: 

Recently I have been watching the series “Fresh Off The Boat”, this series opened my eyes to the stereotypes typically put on Asians. The series is composed of an all Asian family who recently moved to the suburbs of Miami from China Town in Washington D.C. they experience their new lives surrounded by a new culture, new traditions, and a new environment. 

Fresh off the boat, uses the views of this Taiwanese families to see how they adapted into a “white neighborhood”. We can see how they are perceived by the white families and they are treated. From subtle racism jokes to assuming stereotypes. For example, the father was talking to a white man, and this white man assumed he was a bad driver based on the stereotype and made a joke about it. Another example is how Eddie’s principal assumed that the new Chinese student was going to automatically going to get along with Eddie because they are of the same race. They in fact did not get along.

Thesis: Media has a great impact in pushing racial stereotypes

 

 

The title of the artist I decided to write about is Micheal Jackson, specifically his song made on June 16 1995 called “They Don’t Really Care About Us.” As most people may know, Micheal Jackson is an American singer and songwriter along with a dancer. He has been crowned as the King of Pop, and it’s argued that he is one of the most influential figures within the 20th century when it comes to music. Here in the song “They Don’t Really Care About Us.” Micheal Jackson speaks about the injustice the government places on all types of people. He emphasizes the idea that higher government officials, and politicians, have no care for the people under them. Micheal Jackson even shines a light on police brutality, racism against African Americans, Jewish people, and just minorities as a whole within America. I chose this song because although it was made decades ago, in 1995, the ideas he speaks about in the song are all still relevant in 2022. The government really does not care about the people they govern. Poor and disease-ridden communities continue to suffer, while the government does nothing about it and allows the people to continue to suffer. If the government can profit off of anything, they will make sure they are able to do so, sacrificing anyone without hesitation. Micheal Jackson’s work is a clear attempt to expose the truth about the government treats its people. How much the government really cares and the efforts the government will go through to deal with problems that plague their people, such as police brutality, racism, etc.

The work of art I plan to focus on is the song, “Shook Ones Part II” by Mobb Deep. This song was released in 1995 by the hip hop duo, Mobb Deep that are from New York City. Like most songs, there is a story told in the lyrics. A lifestyle that is still being lived today. It gives us insight on what it is like growing up in an urban community, specifically in New York City. Mobb Deep, originally from Queensbridge, Queens New York, they lived through a time in New York where policing was at a high, for example the introduction of stop and frisk in New York City.

Being from New York City, there has been change but not enough. Growing up in the South Bronx, most of the lyrics in the song stay true to what life is like today in New York. Despite the clear differences in boroughs and timelines, there is a clear need to change the culture of life in New York

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoYZf-lBF_U

 

 

 

The title of the art piece I intend to use for this Argumentative Research Essay is “One Piece”. One Piece is an amazing anime and  manga written by Eiichiro Oda. The manga and anime (animanga) is the longest animanga to date and is argumentatively the best one known to man. The manga began in 1999 and is still on going. At first glance, One Piece appears as a goofy, funny, and comedic show for children. However, after watching the first few episodes you start to realize how deep the show goes. The concepts carried in the stories, the progression of characters and their development, and the issues we see in real life being touched on in the show make the show what it is. It makes every one of the 1043 manga chapter and every one of the 1014 episodes worth the wait and worth the watch. The show touches on many familiar topics such as gender inequality, corruption, racism, slavery, human trafficking, drugs, absolute monarchy, poverty and genocide. It shows how these things affect people and their environment and the main character, Luffy, represents a force that challenges those concepts. Throughout the show we see Luffy, a pirate, travel with his crew across the world in search of a treasure called the “One Piece”. On their journey, their chip lands on a plethora of islands with different forms of civilization. From monarchies to democracies and even tribal settings. In each setting, Luffy and his crew face a new challenge that embodies at least one of the previously mentioned concepts. Luffy and his crew then have to face these challenges and solve the problems that come with them. Aside from facing those issues, there are different parties in the show of One Piece. The show encapsulates the real world in a way where it exhibits numerous parties. Meaning everything isn’t black and white, but rather there are numerous shades of grey that depend on one’s perspective. For example the World Government is a party that controls the media and are seen as the embodiment of “justice” to the average citizen although they are corrupt and do many questionable acts. This is exactly why I chose this art work, because of its complexity and the authors ability to challenge so many topics.

Thesis: “Eiichiro Oda’s manga, One Piece, exhibits social issues and challenges we face in real life such as gender inequality, corruption, racism, slavery, human trafficking, drugs, absolute monarchy, poverty and genocide.”

I have been researching some important topics to talk about in my paper but the idea was just right there in front of me and I haven’t realized it yet. Until now my topic would be on one of my favorite I am pretty sure everyone love this show because it’s tending worldwide. Euphoria it’s a show about teenagers speeding their young life with problems that most young people face in real life. It portrays problems like drug addiction, childhood trauma, and mental health. Issues that teenagers may face right now.

Euphoria can be a show that most young adults can relate into their lives because it talks about serious issues that other directors may not like to talk about especially issues where some viewers can find disturbing. This show brings real life issues to a perspective that can make people understand that they are not alone and everyone goes through these challenges and one may take it for advantage or abuse it. Mental health is one of the important issues that is shown in the show where teenagers feel that they are not worth it and it messes themselves up by getting into problems like drug abuse or being in a toxic relationship with one another by experiencing  childhood trauma or anything that reflected them to act this certain way.

The piece of art I choose to work on was the song “Suicidal thoughts” by Biggie. This artist managed to properly depict the mental health and it directly correlates with the concept of how important your childhood surroundings are gonna be  towards your adult hood. Also, how essential it is that being a young black man in America comes with certain traumas that can greatly impact the rest of your lives. He gets into the nitty gritty of his regrets  as a husband and as a son while goes into the extremes of his depression. He doesn’t want to accept this love from his surroundings due to ingenuineness. He is scarred from the mistakes hes made in his past, yet willing to lay it all out on a song.

As soon as I noticed what the topic was really asking for, immediately this was my first choice, I love that this wasn’t a generic suicide prevention song and actually ends in the deepest end of the hole. Death.

A potential thesis; This artist work attempts to shed light on his personal mental health issues and leads Segway into a deeper conversation about suicide in black men.

After much consideration and thought, I have decided to use the movie “Crazy Rich Asians” as my research paper topic. This film was a 2018 romantic comedy featuring an all-Asian cast by Jon Chu. To many, this film served as a big step into Asian representation. I think it digs deeper into this idea of the lack of oppurtunites and I’m not too sure where I want to go with this paper yet but that’s why I think it is worth the research.

The main reason this film was so popular was because of the cast members but it is just as significant to notice that not all Asian actresses and actors make it that far. I chose this film so that I could dive deeper into how Asians are portrayed in film vs reality and that because of that, not many will truly know the behind-the-scenes of Asian Americans as influencers, celebrities, and in Hollywood. In the film, there are great highlights of Chinese culture and day-to-day activities that resemble life as one of us but it misses out on a lot as well. I think the film is a great way to express and show such culture but I think there is much more that needs to be done. This film is not actually progressing in Asian representation, it is just the illusion that it is. This artist’s work attempts to expose the truth behind multi-racial casts and their essential representation in the film industry. I want to also focus on diversity and people of color rather than a film industry full of the same ideas and content by white creators.