Culture Wars

Well, I'm not so sure the discussion today went how I expected. I specifically chose two films to generate a discussion around that I knew would cause some stir. I guess I didn't expect the students to be so...passionately unvocal. I appreciate the comments by those of you who did speak up but I have a feeling there was a lot unsaid in the room. I guess I need to do a better job of inviting your opinions into my classroom. Maybe it is too early in the semester to start pushing those buttons.

I would like to make a make a couple of points that may not have come through in class...or maybe they did and I'm beating a dead horse (but isn't the what blogs are for).

I think the main thing I want to say to believers about "Got Book" is do better...Way better. My gut reaction when I saw the piece was how ashamed I would be for anyone outside of the Christian ghetto to see this. It's a parody of a misogynist song that never gets past it's own misogyny. Everything from it's production values to it's driving rapp lyrics make me feel that the people who made this don't know what their doing but insist on doing it in your face.

"Boyfriend" strikes a completely different tone. A lot of hard work went into pulling off something that feels very playful. I understand how some might feel offended by the piece but I think that maybe your judging the film by your own political persuations and not by the film itself. This film isn't even about homosexuality. It's about heterosexual guys...and if we use Flannery O'Conner's rule of "penitrating reality" as our criteria for good fiction, this playful little film with cheesy lyrics makes a painfully acurate assessment of male behavior.

"Got Book" is about a guy on the make for a girl with "a big Bible" and regular "devo" habits. He thumps his chest through the entire video telling us what he will and won't tollorate in a woman. While in "Boyfriend" two girls daydream over the phone about what in their mind would be the perfect boyfriend...one that would keep his hands to himself and would spend time doing the things they love most (mainly shopping for cloths). Guys here should be taking note.

All in all their both attempting to have fun with this so let's not let our personal politics (or our personal baggage) blow this out of proportion.

I would love to hear more from you on this...or better yet how about the two other films we screened in class which, quite honesty...

...were way better films anyways.

prof