By artwork, I’m referring to music, theater, dance, visual art, movies, television, writing, video, public speaking – various things we may consider to be both artistic as well as entertainment (and perhaps informative). These are things that we allow to be an important part of our aesthetic lives and have some sort of an influence upon us in different ways. Key word here = different. We also wrestle with the issue so often of those who can go to a movie or hear a song and just enjoy it because they like it, vs. those who are assessing or analyzing the artwork to figure out what makes it tick and, ultimately, if it works.
For example: you like a movie because you find it funny, and you’ll watch it just to get a few laughs with which to relax. I think it’s mediocre at best, bringing up the lack of plot, terrible character development, and has a quality that makes me wonder if it was written/directed by monkeys. Who were high. You chastise me for not just “enjoying it just for laughs” which, to be honest, I laugh at many things, but will admit when something doesn’t quite hold up or make sense. My reasons for saying the movie doesn’t work may be subjective, but many are also going to be based on FACTS.
The fact is that there are always multiple, multiple things that go into creating artwork. To make a song, you need to organize a melody, which means you need to organize the pitches you’ll use in it. If this is a vocal song or even a rap, you need to organize what words you’ll be using, and why, as this should be the [hopefully well-thought out] message, and therefore heart, of your song. Handel’s Messiah, my favorite…well, anything, is a massive, 2+ hour oratorio for chorus & orchestra that is held in the highest regards for how musically beautiful it is, as well as how inspiring it is. But the most impressive thing about it is that Handel wrote that whole thing under pressure in just 24 days. In addition to being under pressure by King George to complete this for his job with the church, it was made easier by how inspired he was by the Biblical text he was writing about. He had something to say, and used many musical techniques famous during the 1700s to highlight this. (This is a whole ‘nother conversation.)
Compare that, now, to modern hip-hop music. Most people either love it or condemn it, saying it’s not music. Let me sum it up this way: Some people get so plugged into the beats & the fame around the rap artist, that they miss the heart of what’s really going on in the music, IF there is any heart to be found. Some of those songs are just hype party songs to get the crowd excited, and since there’s a market for that in clubs & such, and they aren’t particularly harmful to people using their heads, I don’t see too much of a problem with something that is just for fun. However, sometimes these do go too far with their messages and promote the wrong ideas (I’m sure I don’t have to go into this) and they get away with it because no one is paying attention to their lyrics behind a loud beat. But the biggest crime is music like this that gives all hip-hop a bad name. There were, and still are, hip-hop artists, who had a sound/beats that the crowds loved while still being very smart about promoting strong messages. Tupac is definitely one of the world’s best examples of this in hip-hop, using his music as a venue in which to share well-thought and important messages/views with his audiences.
***This is one of the marks of quality artwork – pull them in with the entertainment aspect, and give them something to leave thinking about. Not imposing a thought…just giving them something valid to consider in some way.***
The biggest thing all artwork needs, no matter what kind it is: EFFORT. Did you actually care about what you put out there for the world to see? What was the reason? Every dancer is trying to share something with you. Every musical has a story to tell. Every comedian is using jokes to share their experiences and thoughts with you, putting it in humor to capture your attention in a different way. I’m sure we’ve seen movies or heard songs that make us wonder why the creators of it weren’t aware of how AWFUL it was…but nothing it worth than art that had no reason to exist, as no one can relate with it. If you didn’t care about creating this, why should I care about watching it???
My best example of this is the long lost 45-min. children’s Christmas special The Christmas Tree. All I’m going to say is…look it up.
My favorite long-time internet movie critic to watch is the Nostalgia Critic. He made the best case for this that I think says it best (specifically to movies but all it applies to all artwork). I encourage you to watch that below.
That was a lot to say, and Lord knows I could go on about this topic plenty more. But what do you think? Are there times we should just let a joke be a joke, whether it’s our humor or not? Or does thinking about what makes it work help us to understand better why we like it, and therefore be aware of our tastes?
I’d love to hear other thoughts on this. Thanks for reading…and I assure you, a lot of thought went into this writing. Writing is an art form too, you know?
-BB2
BB2 