Are We Told What To Think?

Are we told what to think?

Throughout history, music has been an integral part of our lives. The range of its influences spans from adult to infant. Being an adult offers a reference of retrospect on how music affected one’s life. It offers a connection of emotion, understanding and behavior. Music has the power to fulfill emotional needs, excite the heart, as well as feed the soul. Understanding is also an instrument used by music to draw its audience into the message of the song. Furthermore, music has the ability to shape our behaviors. Lathrop and Pettigrew Jr. (1999) sustain that “Music reaches deep within human consciousness, arousing a range of emotions, lifting the spirit, and sparking the imagination.” Music has been powerful in history and is even more powerful today with the addition of music videos. Before, music was only audible, allowing the person to draw their own picture of what the song meant to them. Now, music videos paint the picture for the person withdrawing the possibility for creativity and inspiration. A question now raised about the popularity of music videos is if they have a positive or negative development on society.

I myself feel that the rise in music video popularity has been a negative development. Growing up during the time when music video were finding their niche on the television set worldwide, I saw how they were directed at those most easily influenced. The youth population idolizes celebrities and they will follow the direction of their favorite artists. If the direction the artists are going is exploiting and devaluing women and promoting violence and sexuality, then I feel that music videos have gone in an unmoral direction. Someone needs to be mature enough to discern if the messages are credible or inappropriate. Furthermore, the artists are selling their image rather than focusing on the art of music. Passion for the music tends to place a distant second after the horde of money starts to surmount in the bank account of the “law-breaker, life cheater, womanizer, car-collector, or heart-breaker.” For an example “It became clear MTV had to be swallowed whole and accepted as a commercial, promotional medium for its true “art” to be properly understood.” This supports the idea that image is the main focus and the consequences thereafter are just a side effect.

My own experiences have fueled my feelings on this topic. I have seen family members heavily influenced by image and way of thinking of the artist. The choice to wear baggy pants, the change in their swagger and mannerisms along with their views has been clouded by the false portrayal of success. Furthermore, I have been treated in a condescending manner in the past by boys my own age. I relate these behaviors to those seen in music videos. Talking to women however they deemed right no matter how