Conflicts between Political Boundaries and Ethnicity

Ethnicity and political boundaries are two very similar ideas but have a different definition. They both separate things, humans, countries, states, etc. Ethnicity separates humans and is easily confused with race but not everyone that is Hispanic is Catholic and not every Catholic is Hispanic. What makes a person part of an ethnicity is not only what religion they practice, but also where they are from, the language they speak and other similar factors. Political boundaries, to me, are simpler to define. A boundary is put to separate things from each other. In the case of a political boundary, it is a way to separate land owned by different communities or populations that govern themselves and do with their land differently than other countries or states. A perfect example of an ethnic group that doesn’t fall nicely within a political boundary is the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland. Originally, the 1937 Constitution of Ireland gave the Catholic Church a "special position" as the church of the majority. As with other predominantly Catholic European states, the Irish state underwent a period of legal secularization in the late twentieth century. In 1972, the article of the Constitution naming specific religious groups, including the Catholic Church, was deleted by the fifth amendment of the constitution in a referendum. Now-a-days 85% of Irish are Roman Catholic but the predominant religion is Christianity. When ethnicities and politics cross, huge conflicts arise. In the U.S. abortion is one. Catholics don’t believe in abortion but some politicians are pro-choice. This divergence between what a religion and what a politician believe in can influence a whole country. 

Ethnic groups and politcal boundaries

Cultural values, beliefs, and ideals are all qualities that ethnic groups share and that distinguish them from other groups. These groups also commonly share history, kinship, religion and language. Political boundaries are only imaginary lines that can separate countries, states, or provinces within countries from one another. These boundaries do not necessarily enclose different ethnic groups. The United States, for example, has a large quantity of those boundaries in the country itself but also within its states. If an ethnic group crosses one of these political boundaries it can create political tension or conflict. One of the ethnic groups that does not fit within a specific political boundary is the Kurdish people, which are an Iranic ethnic group. They live in many different countries throughout the Middle East, like Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Russia, and Lebanon. They also live in the United States and Western Europe.  When ethnic groups are crossed with politics ethnic conflicts or sometimes even ethnic wars can start. The most extreme outcome of ethnic groups and political boundaries being crossed is genocide, which is an attempt to put an end to an entire ethnic group. Also, the emigration of a large amount of ethnic group members has resulted from political conflicts. Rwandans, for example, moved into close by African countries after the Rwandan genocide of 1994. This created a huge number of displaced refugees.  Another example of conflicts arising is when an ethnic group minority in a state wants to have their own nation, state, or homeland as protection against persecution, which may create ethnic separatist and secessionist movements that cause political conflict.

Political boundaries.

I would have to say that a political boundary is the existing line that seperates states and counties. I would also have to say that a political boundary is also the rules, regulations, ans laws that control what the country or community is able to do, say, and believe. An example of a political boundary from the past is the Louisiana Purchase. At the time, the United State's purchase of Louisiana was considered unconstitutional. Thomas Jefferson went ahead and made the purchase in order to remove Frances presence in the region and to protect the United States trade access point to the port of New Orleans and free passage on the Mississippi River. Before the purchase, the political boundaries of the U.S. stopped at the state line around Louisiana which was considered French territory. After the purchase, our political and social views were able to influence the lifestyle in the community that lived within Louisiana. Now, I do believe that we should be careful who we hand leadership over to. I believe that the united states laws are becoming more and more  complex and that we are in danger of having our values devalued, our lifestlyles controlled and our believes locked away under law. Thats just me though. Areas that will always clash between political boundaries and Ethnics is tradition. With laws changing and new limits set, things that we have always felt were right are now wrong in the eyes of the Man Made law. Example, Faith in school or in public.

Ireland

A political boundary separates one country from another. It outlines the jurisdiction of these regions and governs the people contained within them. In Northern Ireland, which is owned by England, there are two major groups that are struggling against one another. The (English) Protestant unionist community wishes to remain a part of the United Kingdom, while the (Irish) Catholic nationalists want to separate from England and have Ireland as a whole be united. This situation has come to be known as “The Troubles.” Three decades of violence plagued this region, beginning in 1969. The Catholics were discriminated against, and staged a civil rights movement. They formed the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) and modeled their peaceful demonstrations after those of Martin Luther King Jr.’s movement in America. However, many of their marches turned into riots as the Protestants struggled to maintain control. The violence peaked in 1972 when over five hundred lives were lost—half of them were civilian casualties. In 1973, the Sunningdale Agreement was reached, and the “Council of Ireland” was designed for power to be shared between the groups. While this encouraged them to work together, the Protestants eventually won the majority of seats and ended the agreement. The cycle of protests, hunger strikes, cease-fires, negotiations, and breaking of agreements continued throughout the decades. Between 1969 and 2001, 3,526 lives were lost to “The Troubles.” While the conflict is all but resolved, the violence has slowed down considerably. Crimes are committed behind closed doors rather than having all-out riots in the streets.

Jerusalem

A political boundary is a line that separates countries, state, provinces, or communities. It is of a legal matter and has been created as a means to enforce political ethics on a region. Simply because there are political boundaries does not always mean that the cultures within are the same. Sometimes a political boundary can interfere with an ethnic boundary. In our textbook, it defines ethnicity as “a group that is bound by a shared identity and common ancestry, that is, by a combination of lived experiences and genetic materials.” Personally, I believe that one’s ethnic identity is largely influenced by their religion. In most parts of the world and throughout many major religions, it plays a huge role in an individual’s ethnic identity. One example of a political boundary interfering with ethnic boundaries is the city of Jerusalem in Israel. The city of Jerusalem is important to Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. I am only going to touch base with Judaism and Islam identities and how they are connected through conflict of their ethnicities and political boundaries. First, Jerusalem is important to the religion of Judaism because the Temple was originally built there which made it the capital of the religion. In fact, today Jews still face Jerusalem to pray. Second, Jerusalem is religiously significant to Islam because the Prophet Muhammad was taken from a temple in Jerusalem and made his ascension into heaven where he spoke with previous prophet and eventually came back down to earth to share his wisdom. Obviously there is a lot of religious history to the city concerning both religions. Religion is one of the main reasons that there is political conflict within the city. The history between the two cities has been going on since 1936. Basically today Israeli’s are in control of the city and Palestine’s have been fighting for the rights to the city. One major political war outbreak took place in the Gaza strip. Israeli’s bombed the strip where the Palestine’s live. Throughout history there many lives have been lost over this political and ethnic boundary.

WEEK 11

What is the difference between ethnicity and political boundary? Find an example of an ethnic group that does not fall nicely within a political boundary. What sort of conflicts arise when ethnicities and politics cross?

Political Ad music

In searching for political ads, I found both positive and negative ads for President Barack Obama as well as Governor Mitt Romney. The music in these political ads were very influential to the message it was trying to send. With there being both positive and negative ads, there were also positive and negative music that went with them. All the ads that were shown in support of a particular candidate where represented in positive music while all the ads that were meant to bash the opposing candidate were presented with negative music. Trying to imagine these political ads without their music is hard to do. If we remove the music from the ads, granted we still have the words, the impact of the ad in its entirety is much less significant. The music for campaign ads, like other commercials, is meant to evoke specific feelings towards what is being advertised. Without the music, it is much more difficult to draw out these emotions. This especially applies to situations where a person might be multitasking. While words can drone on in the background without being completely comprehended, music can draw much more attention and the person will still get the major point being conveyed. The pattern I have noticed with this is that around ninety percent of the ads are bashing the other candidates, and occur in the beginning stages of the campaigns. Towards the end of the race, the ads have more positive messages trying to gain the support of the voters.

2012 Presidential Ads

The background music for these ads certainly set the mood for the candidates' messages they are trying to put out for their audience. The music in the first video on youtube I watched was really fast and upbeat violin music. It was putting Romney down. It compared what he had said in 2002 when he ran for govenor of Massachusetts to what he is saying now about being president in 2012. It basically showed that he essentially has done absolutely nothing to increase the number of jobs in Massachusetts. By this time the upbeat music switched from violin to upbeat, yet gloomy piano music. It is a very negative ad for Romney's reputation. As a matter of fact, a lot of the Romney ads I searched for were negative and put him down. I found more positive ads supporting Obama than I did for Romney. I found an ad for Obama that was really upbeat and people in the background were cheering and the music was loud and enthusiastic to Obama's message. Music plays a huge role in these election campaigns. As I mentioned before, it sets the mood for the points they are trying to put across to their viewers.

Political ad campaings

Think of how music has revolutionized the movie industry. If Steven Spielberg had not added music to “Jaws” it would have never came close to its success. Commercials are just short films. If you watch a commercial for a president campaigning, in the background you will hear music that rises and swells the pride we take in our country and it screams patriotism. The music screams out positiveness and uplifts your spirit. It is like a subliminal message to our brains to believe in this candidate. Part of campaigning is refuting your opponent. Sometimes they do this through the use of ads on TV. The ads are layered with music that makes a viewer feel anxious. The music is discordant and climaxes to a give the viewer a feeling of impending doom. Or comes in soft and slow making things sad shining some pity on the candidate. Without music in this, think about how this would seem? When that sad moment was happening would you feel the same sadness or pity? How about when he/she is telling you something patriotic? Without music would it have the same emphasis on you? Remember back to "Jaws," you know the shark is coming when you hear the music in the background. Each party uses the same music samples to influence the viewer's emotional response which tailors to the desires of the political campaigner. Music is tool used in elections to enhance commercials and move the emotions of the people to vote for the campaigner.

Music and Presidental Ads

The first ad that I watched was Obama's first official ad before he had ever became president. He was talking about change in the school system, change in the taxation, and change in healthcare. Although he never pulled through, the ad was positive. The music in the background sounded like a symphony playing. To me, the music made the ad sound hopeful. I think that they had applied this music for that specific reason. I don't think it would have changed the message of the ad if the music were taken out of the ad. The second as that I watched was Richard Nixon's ad against the Vietnam war. The background music was tribal sounding and mostly consisted of drums. This tied into the video clips and pictures shown of the war in Vietnam. I think that if the music were to be taken out, the video would have been less dramatic. Since the ad was about war and the need for new U.S. leadership, I would have to say that the ad was definitely negative.  I think that music in any ad is an important element to have. Music makes things seem more important or dramatic and is a very influential tool that can be used in several forms of media.

Presidential Ads

I decided to watch ads from both president candidates, Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama. Mitt Romney’s ad starts off with him talking about unemployment and the music is kind of gloomy but it also gives you a fast beat in the back, sort of intriguing sound. He goes on to talk about his policies and poverty around the world, at this point the music turned into a slower, piano type melody. Barack Obama’s ad was completely different, though the music was alike. Starting off with a round of applause from a crowd, the ad then goes on to the President’s success throughout his first term and the music is now a faster melody, giving a happy and successful feeling. The other ads I watched were alike these two, mostly positive ads. The music plays a big role on these ads, and is thoroughly thought through. If the music doesn't match the ad then the viewer won’t have a feel for what the candidate or person is saying. The advertisement depends on the music to grab people’s attention. An ad without music would be too plain. People would probably just hear the first few words and then daze off. The emotional feeling is completely gone. Visuals have a lot to do with this as well though. The patterns I noticed as I watched these ads continuously, was that whenever they would talk about subjects like poverty, unemployment, or abortion, the music would get sadder and slower but when they spoke about their policies and what they “are going to do for our country”, the music speeds up a little giving it a winning type feeling. Sort of like a ‘coming out of a recession’ feeling. 

WEEK 10

Watch some elections ads from candidates from multiple parties. Try to find both positive and negative ads. What effect or affect does the music have on the advertisement? Imagine it without the music. Does it have the same effect? Do you notice any patterns along party or positional lines? Searching the internet/YouTube to find videos may be more efficient than sitting at home watching for them on television.

Check this out

New staging doesn't change impact of "Les Mis"

Great reviews for the show in St. Louis. It looks like it will be quite different from what I was expecting. Different is good.

Hairspray

I chose to do my blog on the musical Hairspray. It was written by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan. The music is by Marc Shaiman and lyrics are by Scott Wittman. The musical is based on the John Waters film by the same name. The musical includes various upbeat 1960s-style music and downtown rhythm and blues which fit the story well since the plot is revolved around a dance show. It is about a teenage girl in high school by the name of Tracy Turnblad, and her one dream to dance on The Corny Collins Show. The show is actually based on the real show called The Buddy Deane Show. Eventually Tracy wins a shot to be on the show and she becomes an overnight celebrity. She soon realizes the racial tension that is on the show and soon starts a campaign to integrate it.  This story deals with several different issues and stereotypes. Race, for example, is a huge issue in the musical. There was only one day African-Americans were allowed on the show, which is “Negro Day.” Tracy doesn’t think this is right so she rallies everyone she can and starts a march against the television station on another special day on the show, “Mother-Daughter Day.” However, the police arrived on the scene and almost everyone is arrested. I have not seen the musical but I have seen the movie. I thought it was pretty good and would like to see the musical someday to be able to compare the two.

Billy Elliot

-Billy Eliot has won 10 Tony Awards in 2009 and including best musical. Elton john was the creator of music along with Lee Hall writing the lyrics and book. Lee also wrote the film’s screenplay.

-The setting of this musical is in the 1980’s, in the town of Easington, North of England. Billy is the main character who is around the age of 11 that lives with just his father, grandmother, and brother. Who encourages Billy to dance is Mrs. Wilkinson who is the local dance class teacher. Billy Elliot is the story of a boy who doesn’t have his mother in his life. He goes to boxing practice and was told to give Mrs. Wilkinson the keys for the building and she would pay attention to him. All of a sudden he was drawn to what her class was and he started dancing. Mrs. Wilkinson suddenly sees Billy’s talent and encourages him to keep at it. He uses his money for boxing to do dance lessons instead. His father finds out and he was furious of having a son in dance. Mrs. W then secretly gives Billy lessons. She then convinces his dad how much talent Billy has and Billy then accepts a school to go for dance.

-The issue and stereotype of the musical is Billy’s father not letting him be in dance because it is for girls.

-The music is an upbeat jazzy type. The music matches to the actions of the musical. There are certain songs to where Billy is learning how to dance in ballet.

-I have seen the movie Billy Elliot. I would like to see the musical. I liked the movie because it had me hanging on the whole time I was watching it

Wonderful town

The musical that I chose is Wonderful Town. Wonderful Town was originally a book written by Joseph A. Fields. The musical follows the story of Ruth and Eileen Sherwood who travel from Columbus Ohio to New York City in search of love and fortune. Ruth, a journalist and her sister Eileen, who is in showbiz, encounter many interesting citizens in the big city. The story is about their crazy adventures in the city as Ruth searches for a good story that will land her a high paying job, while Eileen searches for love an a major role in the local shows. The only stereotype that are imbeded in the musical is The New Yorker accent. The idea of the musical is pretty easy to follow. The majority of the music in the show is swing dance. Alot of piano and brass music as well.  I think that it fits the show perfectly since Eileen is trying to find a showbiz role in Old New York City. I have not only seen this show, I have played a role in it. In highschool, I played the supporting role of the football player named the Wreck. The wreck was one of the tenants that was staying in the apartment complex that  Ruth and Eileen moved into. So, his story frequently intertsecs with theirs.  The Musical is quite enjoyable to watch and to be a part of. It has energy throughout the whole show complete with fun songs to sing and dance to. My favorite part of the Musical was probably my solo. When watching the musical, I would say the whole performance was hilarious. The story is captivating and the humor was high.

Contact

The name of the show is Contact, released on March 6, 2001 and premiered March 30, 2001 in the Vivian Beaumont Theater. The Broadway was written by John Weidman and directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman. The show is divided into three parts: the first piece involves a youthful relationship and a swing; the second is about an Italian restaurant in Queens in 1954 where the heroine, trapped in a loveless marriage, fulfills her romantic fantasies; and the third includes a 40 year old suicidal man who tries to engage a beautiful young woman in a yellow dress. In each story, the central character expresses a longing to make a romantic connection. The stereotypical idea I see in this musical is that a 40 year old “suicidal” man is trying to get with a beautiful girl in a yellow dress. This to me is an attempt by him to find a reason to continue living. A pretty girl in a yellow dress represents hope and life, while a suicidal man symbolizes lack of optimism and manhood, giving the woman power over the man. The music included is from the likes of Tchaikovsky, Stephane Grappelli, the Squirrel Nut Zippers, Royal Crown Revue, and The Beach Boys. The music matches the action because it gives a romantic type of feeling. I have not seen this musical; I've actually never seen a musical. Mostly because I don’t enjoy them and they don’t interest me. Therefore I wouldn't be interested in seeing it. 

Up,up, up to heaviside layer

It all started with T.S. Eliot’s book “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats.” Andrew Llyod Webber wrote the musical Cats based on T.S. Eliot’s book. The musical Cats started in New London Theatre in the West End on May 11th, 1981. It ran its production on the West End until 1991. It crossed the borders to the new world with the premier night on Broadway October 7th, 1982. It stayed on Broadway till September of 2000. Cats had the longest continuously touring show in American theatre history. Also it boasts a statistic of being performed in over twenty countries and translated into 10 different languages. Impressively, in Sweden the cast had to be bilingual. One night the cast would perform it in English and the next night in German. This musical is standard musical style and has almost a show tunes theme to the songs. The plot consists of the Jellicle cats celebrating at the Jellicle ball, the ball is really just a dump. While at the ball the cats audition to the wise leader Deuteronomy. They audition to Deuteronomy because he decides which of the cats gets to take the journey to the Heaviside layer. The Heaviside layer is a place of rebirth and any cat that takes a journey there is reborn and given another life. One by one, the audience is introduced to each cat as they audition, just like they are portrayed in the book “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats”. From the shadows we are introduced to a former Glamour Cat named Grizabella. She is an outcast a former beauty, as her beauty faded so did her status and now she walks the lowest alleys a cat can roam. Barred from the ball she reflects on the memory of what she used to be and how she would use a new life. Her character has the greatest depth to it and for this reason Deuteronomy takes her “Up,up,up, past the Russell Hotel. Up,up,up, to the heaviside layer.” I have not actually seen the musical “Cats” but learning about all the superficial characters and the depth of Grizabella, it really has sparked an interest in me to see this musical. Also, the costumes are extremely in detail and it adds to the vision of each cat dancing and singing while they perform. If you are interested in viewing a small portion of the musical I suggest "Memory" performed by Elaine Paige.

Guys and Dolls

The musical that I decided to write about is Guys and Dolls. Guys and Dolls is a musical written by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser. This musical is about Nathan Detroit who is Desperate to find money to pay for his floating crap game, so he bets Sky Masterson a thousand dollars that Sky will not be able to take a local Salvation Army girl, Sarah Brown, to Cuba. While Nathan battles with his fiancé of fourteen years, Sky eventually is able to convince Sarah to join him. In Cuba, Sky ends up falling in love with Sarah and tries to reform his gambling ways. When he returns to New York, he bets all the members of the floating crap game that if he wins his roll of the dice, they will all have to go to church and repent. If he loses, he will give them each a thousand dollars. There are a few types of music played in this musical but it is mostly jazz style music. The music really does fit in very well with the actions happening on stage. I know this because my junior year at Galesburg High School we preformed Guys and Dolls and I was fortunate enough to be in the pit band. The music was extremely fun and it is some of my favorite music I have every played. Being in the pit I really didn't have the opportunity to watch it in the traditional sense but I really did love the musical. Even thou I was in the production of the musical I would really like to actually set down and watch the whole thing.

WEEK 9

Choose a Broadway Musical that won the Tony Aware for Best Musical in its premiere year.  A non-scholarly, but accurate list can be found here or here.  Make sure you choose a winner, not just a nominee.  You must choose one that has not yet been written about on the blog. That means if you do it first, you get the best choice. Do some quick research and answer the following questions about it:

• What is the name of the show and who wrote it?
• What is the central action? (Short plot synopsis, avoid spoilers!)
• Does it deal with difficult ideas, issues, or stereotypes? If so, what are they?
• What type of music is it? Classical? Rock? Many different types? Does the type of music match the action? Why or why not?
• If you have seen this musical, did you enjoy it?
• If you have not seen it, are you interested in seeing it? Why or why not?

Make sure you answer every question. Use bullet points, if you wish, to help you keep track of whether or not you've done them all. 250 word minimum still applies.

My favorite topic: Gender

All of the topics talked about have been pretty interesting to me. I enjoyed going back through different time periods and looking and researching different music and observing all of the changes. For example with ethnicity it was interesting to see how the differences in music between different countries and cultures. With sexuality it was also interesting to see how much of an increase there has been from generation to generation. Spirituality was also interesting because it got me thinking about the different controversies that can be associated with it, and made me think about my own opinions on the subject. However, I think the one topic I found most interesting is probably music and gender. Before this class I never really thought about how the meaning of the song would change if it were sang by the opposite sex. But now at times when I’m listening to a song I’ll wonder about that. Some of the songs may not have been as popular or maybe they would be more popular if they were sung by a different gender. It was also really fascinating to me to look at the differences in roles regarding gender and how they have changed from just a few generations ago. For example, women singers during the 1960s were often referred to as “girls” not women and they were seen as dependent on men. They often sang songs about being in love and needing the man in order to be happy.  Now things have changed and women sing about a far greater variety of topics, some of them completely opposite to what was expected of them before.

The best topic

Ethnicity had the whole race thing going for it and it was extremely compelling but was not my favorite. The complete section on spirituality was interesting but is still is not my top pick. If I had to pick a favorite topic so far in this class it would be gender and being more specific sex in gender as well as society. I find this section intriguing because of the touchy subjects that went along with it. Take sexism for example. When we all started in on that there was a big class discussion and everyone seemed to have an opinion on the matter and that made it compelling for me. Another example is when we watched the Lady GaGa music video and it all struck us in a different way. That for me was a little bit scary and I do not think I am going to ever watch it again. The reason I picked this specific section is because I really enjoyed looking from the past till now and seeing how the use and view of sex have changed as well as there effect on society. Sex is major part of our culture anymore and seeing its evolution is really interesting. Sex in-companies advertising, movies, music, television, art, and a thousand and one other things in society today. But then again it wasn't always like this and I cant wait to see what changes come about in the next 50 years.

Music and the Easiest One for Me to Discuss.

This has been a very informative half of a semester. Not only has it been informative but, it has been interesting. So interesting that it is the highlight of my day, yes its true and no I am not brown nosing. There are so many things about music that I had never even thought of. After what we have learned there are a lot of things I now ask myself when I am listening to music so I can analyze the song. Most importantly, I realized that I was just hearing the music and not listening to the music. Observing and analyzing is one of my favorite things to do. With that being said my favorite topic was Music and Gender. It is much easier to analyze Music and Gender today because of lyrics and music video. I am not a person who is well versed in music and its history and development. Naturally, it is much easier for me to understand how gender affects music because I have been exposed to gender every day. Personally, I cannot pick up on the different instruments and tones and decipher spirituality or ethnicity. I believe a person has to have a little bit of background with those subjects to understand the topic. For an average Joe like me all I need are lyrics or a music video and I can pick out some gender influences on music. Not only is it an easy topic to discuss it is also a topic that is evident in aspects of our daily lives.

I Can't Decide!!

We covered many topics within the last three months. We learned a lot about a few aspects that composers often incorporate into their music. For example, we covered topics on sex, gender, spirituality, and ethnicity. I found every class period we spent talking about these topics rather interesting. I learned a lot and they each opened my mind and let me view these topics from different perspectives. Learning about these aspects to music has made quite an impact on me. Almost every time I am in my car listening to music, I ask myself questions like, "I wonder what the song would be like if a man/woman sang this?" Sometimes I think, "Wow, the sexual content in this song really made the song popular and that must be why people listen to it." When I get deeper into thought on some songs, I wonder about the artist's spirituality and/or ethnicity and wonder if they have incorporated it into their work. My favorite topic? I cannot decide. Everything we have learned about has fascinated me in one way or another. With sex, I liked the blogs especially. Seeing everyone's response and opinion on it was very unique. No one wants to say sex is a required element in music, but in one way or another, it is. Whether it is physical attraction the artist talks about to full-on sexual content, in most music today, sex is a required element. The topic can be argued in either way, however. The topic on gender was interesting in the fact that the song's meaning would change if the gender was altered. I think it was interesting to see the different roles played in song. Ethnicity was intriguing in the sense that it really makes one have an appreciation for his/her ancestry. Spirituality is cool in the way that some artists practice songs of a different religion other than their own. Every topic was very unique and a lot was said about them. I liked everything we have learned so far.

Most Intriguing Topic

This semester we have covered a lot of different topics, perspectives, and influences that are in music, not only today, but in the past as well and all around the world. As well as things I already knew, and didn't . As I was reading the prompt for this blog, I realized that there were a lot of things I enjoyed discussing about because I couldn't figure out what topic was my favorite exactly. At last, after reviewing and reading my old blogs, I decided that my favorite subject was “Is sex a required element in art?” One of the reasons why I like this topic best is because it is something you have to think about thoroughly. I remember having trouble writing this blog because I was trying to think about it any every, and any, perspective. Sex is a huge part of art in today’s society, as well as in past generations, but is it REALLY required or necessary to sell? At first, the answer was clearly yes to me but then I suddenly remembered about House Music. This type of music can be completely made of different sounds and/or beats without having any sexual content yet it sold and was listened to by millions of people all around the world. Another reason why I found this topic interesting and compelling is because it not only focused on music, like a lot of the other prompts, you had to also think about theater,  art, movies, and other types of entertainment that had or did not have sexual content. 

favorite topic

I would have to say that my favorite topic was Music and gender. I liked the other topics a lot but nothing stuck out to me more than the roles men and women play in music. One of the things that facinated me the most was the differences in roles in the different time periods. In "its my party I can cry if I want to", women were made to look more dependable on men. In today's society, women make themselves look stronger. Men Had an important role as well. Although, it was not suprizing that men were portrayed to be cheaters and liars, and still are portrayed that way, even in there own music. I really liked learning about the Balinese Gamelan too. There music mostly consisted of what sounded like rhythmic beating on pots and pans, but how they worked together to create different rhythms was really cool. I also thought that the Laments were interesting. The example that we listened to was really sad sounding, but I thought it was interesting how they had a specific type of music made for mourning the dead. And of course, the leading man Siegfried. I am a huge fan of THE LORD OF THE RINGS and it was really cool to hear some of the history that had influence the books and movies. I liked learning about all of the different motives used to portray certain people or objects. Overall, I thought it was the best topic.

WEEK 8—MIDTERM!

Of all the topics discussed so far this semester, which have you found most interesting, compelling, or intriguing? Why?

Religion in music

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I believe the importance of a person’s religion or spirituality on their music strictly depends on the individual person. For example, if a Christian were to sing a song that has aspects of other religions in it, I do not think it necessarily means they aren’t being true to themselves, because they are just showing a different perspective, but if the song is strictly about a different religion from their own I personally do think it’s a little strange. To me, it doesn’t make much sense for a person to sing a religious song that is not regarding their own religion. But depending on the views of the particular person listening to the song may or may not devalue the song. Personally, a Christian song would have more value if it’s sang by a Christian just because I know the singer actually believes and connects with what they are singing. However, some people prefer to simply focus on the song being sung and not worry about the artist’s views. That is perfectly fine as well, it all just depends on your own beliefs.  I also think it’s up to the artist making the music to decide whether or not to avoid using a different religion then their own in their music. They have to decide whether or not what they are going to sing about is making them untrue to themselves and whether or not singing about a different religion is right or wrong. Everyone will have a different perspective.

Beliefs

A person's music does not always have to be of their religion. In my opinion, it is their own belief to sing about whatever they want. What may stop them is the critics. One thing is not to stop what you think is right. I think people can sing a song from another religion by showing they support both religions or by how good they sing. It may have to do with money or with being noticed more. I think it should not be avoided because it is their choice on showing how well they sing or them believing in more then one religion. Everyone has their own opinions but my beliefs is that any one can sing about what they want. Some people are very strong for their beliefs so they would take against singing from a different religion. People who sing spiritual songs out of their religion does not change the meaning.

Religious and Spiritual Music

An artists religion and spirituality may or may not be important to the music they create. It all matter on the artist and the music they make. No one is forced to produce music based on there religion as well as if you want to make music that isn't part of your religion there really is not much anyone can do. I honestly believe people should make music that is not part of there own spiritual beliefs if that is what the want to do. In saying that I do think that if an artist is going to make such music that they need to be respectful and learn about the religious music before creating there own. I do not think that this would completely devalue the musical experience. Music is completely about a persons interpretation. If a person that believes in Judaism wants to make Christian style music I am for it. I think it would be interesting to see what he makes with his Jewish background and what he has learned of Christianity. I do not think this should be avoided at any cost because music is very interpretational. Music is one of the only things every religion as well as culture shares. Granted non of them are the same but music is music. Just because someone that does not share your beliefs produces music based on it doesn't mean they do not understand or appreciate your religion. It only means that they believe something else but share in the love of music.