In music and other video, we can often see cultural appropriation. It’s quite attractive to see two culture appear at the same time and it is also quite difficult to make good use of cultural appropriation suit into the whole piece. Because cultures are different from objects to deeper ideological thing, so to use cultural appropriation in the video, maybe the author needs to find the similarities of the two cultures. I think Beyonce did a great job, she add the India culture factors in it and it suit good to her whole music. Also, I don’t think it’s a way of theft. I think it’s a way of admiring and also spreading another different culture. She worn the traditional costume to admire the whole culture. Also, cultural appropriation in the music can spread culture to a wider field because music are favored by many people. In my view, if cultural appropriation can suit in the music , the author can use it.
Week6: Response to Theft and Artistry by Jialu
As the globalization goes on, I think it’s very natural that cultural mixture occurs and catches on. On the one hand, it is beneficial for minority culture to be mixed with pop culture, because this helps the widespread of the minority culture. Letting more people know a culture is helpful for preserving that culture. On the other hand, people is also part of the culture they belong to. If there are no black people in a black-cultural thing, is it still “Black culture”? I don’t think so. If a group of white people creates something that has what they call “black elements” inside, then it belongs to neither “black culture” nor “white culture”. Rather, I my opinion, it can be seen as a new genre which should be given a new name like “mixed culture” or “black-white culture”. Sometimes people are too focused on the political or social indications behind an art work that they ignore the most important thing about art, that is art itself.
Response To Theft and Artistry (Moon) – Justin C
Cultural appropriation has been a problem for many artists. While it is notable that these artists are trying to incorporate different cultures or styles in their own works of art, others may feel this incorporation as a blatant insult on certain cultures. The claim that a certain act or incorporation of a culture other than your own is considered cultural appropriation is a grey area. By formal definition, cultural appropriation is simply a dominate cultural group borrowing or using elements from a minority cultural group. The implications of the borrowing are very clear. This borrowing is portrayed as mockery or insult towards the minority culture. Usually, this dilutes the original culture as the dominate culture tries to take certain elements of the minority culture.
Culture appropriation is similar to the debate of ownership of intellectual property. A person can own a certain intellectual property. Likewise, a group of people can own a cultural identity. When another cultural group, usually a dominate one, comes and borrows or use elements of another minority group, it is perceived as stealing one’s identity. For many, this mindset is one of the reasons why people are against cultural appropriation. The idea that certain cultural elements belong to certain groups is natural. Just like how intellectual property belongs a to one person, culture belongs to a certain group.
Theft And Artistry – Jamie (Ziying Wang)
Theft and Artistry introduces conflicts on cultural appropriation within music. It takes examples of popular tracks and discusses the cultural conflict its involved in. Personally, as a music lover, I am aware of how different music genres are originated from different cultures, but I never consider a piece of music has to carry a certain label. A genre may be addressed as originated from culture because people from that culture first discover, or simply because its people are mostly making music in that genre. Artistic works always need inspiration, when an artist is inspired, that inspiring thing is no longer the object of the artist’s creation, but the creation itself is representing the artist’s idea. Even when two creations look similar, the creators of either creation hold different beliefs when creating their works, and that shouldn’t be considered stealing or plagiarizing. Everything is, in a way, borrowed or stolen. No one is the owner of the language, or the owner of music, or color, every creation is a rearrangement of already-existing elements. When the critics in the text argue that Bieber’s song is absenting the full presence of Black and Brown woman and Hymn For The Weekend is a stereotype of Indian’s culture, I think the critics are holding their stereotypes of nowadays music. Regardless of the artists are actually doing this or not, we don’t and will never know their initial intentions and ideas, isn’t the behavior of labeling others’ works without knowing all aspects of them not very “sciency”?
Some people today are over interpreting, and maliciously interpreting artworks, trying to find every possible detail and maximize to vilify either the artist or the artwork. As an outsider of the artist’s mind, we should not suppose what the artist means and just express those guesses as of our personal interpretations.
Week 7: Response to “Theft and Artistry” – Madi Eberhardt
This weeks reading, “Theft and Artistry,” was a really fascinating article that made me rethink how much of an impact the way the art/music industry portrays a message through culture.
I found the specific examples of the effects of cultural appropriation in music videos like the Coldplay/Beyonce one very interesting. Cultural appropriation is such a widely debated topic today and a lot of the entertainment industry is having to address this issue. I believe it is very important that ones culture is respected and not stereotyped in any way, although sometimes I think the line between social stigma of “disrespect” seen in art, and art representing another meaning is often blurred.
The quote I feel really illustrates the negative aspect the art/music industry faces today is how “It’s just seems so damn corporate.” Even though these artists, such as Beyonce or Taylor Swift, hold so much power and influence, they are still simply motivated by money and the corporate companies that help to run everything. Corporate will take anything they find the public will be attracted to and reproduce it (such as how Justin Bieber’s song supposedly was based off Latin-American reggaeton), no matter if its appropriating a culture or not. The industry is often so focused on the money aspect of the art that it often ignores the message being presented to the audience and how it might effect others.