by BishounenStalker » Tue Apr 01, 2003 9:04 pm
Ok, I'll admit I only read half of this thread because that's all I needed to see.
Buddykiller and people like him are the reason I want to take over the global shipping system and give everyone on the planet a Superman costume with the "wearing of this costume will not enable you to fly" tag removed. He and the millions who think like he does are the reason popular entertainment has been going down the toilet for the last 13 years.
I won't attempt to jump in on the good rap/bad rap issue a a whole, because I'm not a rap fan and my opinion on the matter wouldn't be valid at all. But I will say with complete confidence that I can't stand, won't listen to, and will rag on Eminem not because he's bad rap, but because he's a hate-spewing, uneducated bigot. But just as a side note, I can't remember which rapper said this about Eminem, but the quote sums it up beautifully: "Candy assed rapper, candy assed rap."
I WILL agree with everything Zerophite said regarding art and popularity. I just finished a class last semester on theories of mass culture, and Zero is ABSOLUTELY right. Buddykiller obviously has no clue what goes on in the marketing of entertainment, be it music, fashion, movies, or even soft drinks. The people in Eminem's marketing department, as well as in all departments across the globe of ANYTHING popular, have creaing an image literally down to a science. And apparently he's fallen for it hook, line, and sinker. Part of the aim of today's marketing, especially in music, is to make the consumer think they're being original and "buying what they like", but in reality all people like Buddykiller are doing is buying exactly what the suits behind the label want them to.
Being a fine artist (drawing) myself, I both understand agree with the art-is-not-for-money statement. And yes, by what he says it's safe to assume Buddykiller is not an artist of any sort, nor has he ever talked to an artist or an art professor. One prof I had a couple semesters ago always asked the same question on the first day of class: Why do you want to be an artist? And if a student gave an answer with the word "money" anywhere in it (unless the statement included a negative pertaining to that word), he told them to get out of his class. You don't have to make art for yourself to be an artist. You can make it for other people. You can make it for whatever reason you WANT....just NOT FOR MONEY! If you become an artist for the money, you'll starve.
And yes, you can still be a true artist and strike it rich, if the reason you continue to make the art is because you love doing it. If you continue because it's making you money (and thus, you WILL fall into the trap of riding trend waves as tastes change over time), then you have sold out and are no longer an artist.
As for Eminem winning the Oscar (read: back on topic), I believe he did not because he deserved it (which he didn't), but because the Academy Awards are trying to put up the facade that they aren't the bunch of snooty elitists that everyone knows they are. It's an appeasement award, nothing else. Basically a "You have your Oscar. Happy now?"
I choose to look on the bright side: perhaps winning the Oscar is an omen that his career is over in the next five years. We can hope
Wow! A whole post with no cursing! Who'da thunk?!
P.S. -- IMO, either Paul Simon's "Father and Daughter" (Wild Thornberrys movie) or "I Move On" from Chicago should've won the award.
-- Rachel the Demon, Resident Quoter of Obscure Nostalgia
"Great. He can pick his teeth when he's done with us!" - Marina,
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