AFS 2010 BLOG #3

Saundra Wells

Blog #3

AFS 2010

 

The chapter by Gina Dent on Black Pleasure Black Joy, presented many angles of pleasure one may get in this society and consider it to be a joy. The idea that one may find pleasure in the humiliation of another black person raises the question as blacks Why are so used to being degraded? Well when we were brought forcefully from Africa to be slaves in every sense of the word, we experienced the feeling of humiliation as disgraceful things were done to us. In this chapter Ms. Dent along with other authors on the subject of Black pleasure Black joy help to create some explanations as to blacks have accepted this plight and made it a normal way of life.

In this chapter Andre Lourde  author states “”as our deepest knowledge ,a power that , unlike others spheres of power, we all have access to, and that can lessen the threat of our individual difference.” Lourde was extending an explanation of the pleasure a woman may experience just being a woman and having the freedom to choose what she finds to be stimulating to her most inner being. Joy of course is more of a place we find ourselves when we want to feel elated in our being.

Just as in the video by Bell Hooks she commentates on the treatment of women and the feeling of joy within a black woman, it is not so much as a natural situation the black women are not given a fair chance within the media. The black woman is exploited and treated as if mistreatment is natural. The verbal and mental attacks are natural, because they are used to it. Even in the movies blacks are given parts that are considered to be how their “culture” is perceived. The idea that the sexual exploitations of blacks are okay because they bring in the money to the box offices, and make the producers lots of money. The role of blacks as dope sellers, car thieves and illiterate are okay because they (Blacks) can play these roles well because these are everyday happenings in their lives.

Another view of Black Popular Culture as noted in the chapter by Dent, “it has become increasingly clear that black criticism will have to begin to make use of the more sophisticated cultural analysis that depend on understanding the complexities of video imaging, the dynamics of representation, and reception theories.

In the video by Hooks, she has part that highlights the OJ Simpson trial. The excerpts from the trial actually shows the triumphant moment that Simpson was declared not guilty for killing his wife and another male friend. This tragedy was a terrible injustice to those family members who were forced to watch and relive the last minutes of their loved ones life. The whole trial per Hooks was “spectacle” it concentrated more on the person on trial (OJ) than on the victim (Nicole Simpson) of domestic violence. This clearly was exploited as a black thing and not as a perpetrator and victim. The whole trial was geared to place blacks against whites, all of the evidence that was presented was magnified as the police out to get another black person. When you think of the outcome of this trial you have no choice but to think of the lost concept of the trial, which was to prove that he was being set up by the police because he was black.

In the chapter on rap music the question of what should be done with rap music should it be “censored, studied, or struggle to change it?” This quote actually outlines the way that rap music affects the black community in one person’s opinion.

According to the opinion of Hooks, she states that rap music is “most obscene” and she considers it to be a “perfect paradigm of colonialism.” One that gives the young white consumers the opportunity to take out of rap what they want. The idea of the degradation of black females is big in rap music. It causes damage to “black life”, by elevating the terrible crimes of rape and sexual abuse of black females. The idolization of rap artists because of the money they make selling the lyrics that seem do nothing but cause demise of a female’s stance in the black culture. Although the white CEO’s are busy getting wealthy on the exploitation of the black culture. The idea that black rap artists have not redefined the mode in which they utilize these words to make money, because of the amounts of money they get for the abuse of words put to music.

We need cultural criticism today because of the ignorance that some people may have as to what damage their behavior causes to our culture. As stated previously the music industry is definitely one that has integrated depreciation to the black culture, and have been allowed to do so because of the money that has been offered to them. The need of cultural criticism gives a way for individuals to express their opinion on the actions of society. Critical thinking is an important life skill for people today to be able to express their opinions or thoughts on many situations that affect our society. To me cultural criticism is valuable because it can provide knowledge, understanding, and insight to those that want to be heard.

In society today we are in need of critical analysis on political matters that affect not just the black culture but other cultures also. The laws that are being upheld and set forth are making the society we live one that is questionable, for example the institution of marriage, the idea that the law cannot define whether or not a marriage is between a man and a woman or just between two people that find comfort within each other. The law is challenged and needs to define in order to create stability for the people of this society. Each culture is entitled to an opinion as to how the changes in law would affect them.