Art imitates life?

[khaimera]

As embarrasing as it is to admit, I had the idea for this post while listening to a mix tape that played that beyonce hustla song. She references alcohol more than once and it got me thinking. Does life imitate art, or does it go the other way around? Is beyonce even art anyways?

How I got to this from Beyonce was thinking about how many children listen to her and hear all the references about partying, sex, and other fun adult activities. Do the lyrics represent what people, young and old, are atcually doing? Or do younger people alter behavior based on what they hear in songs?

And also, do artists who know that they have plenty of young fans, have a responsibility to them by not glamorizing adult themes? I get that its the parents job to fight against this, but still.


Unless I suck at search bars, I think this one's approved.

 

[Raven's Nest]

Eminem address this in one in his song "Sing For The Moment"

They say music can alter moods and talk to you
But can it load a gun for you and cock it too?
Well if it can, then the next time you assault a dude
Just tell the judge it was my fault, and i'll get sued
See what these kids do, is hear about us toting pistols
And they want to get one, cos they think the shit's cool
Not knowin' we're really just protectin' ourselves
We're entertainers, of course this shit's affecting our sales
You ignoramus. but music is reflection of self
We just explain it, and then we get our cheques in the mail

I guess he realises the affect his behaviour and lyrics have on children but he has to wipe his hands clean if someone trys to blame him for their actions.

Marilyn Manson suffered similar criticism when that kid went crazy and shot all his classmates. I can't remember what he had to say about it but he refused to accept blame too.

 

[Zombie_Fish]

Marilyn Manson suffered similar criticism when that kid went crazy and shot all his classmates. I can't remember what he had to say about it but he refused to accept blame too.

Marilyn Manson did have quite an interesting discussion on the Columbine High School Massacre[footnote]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_High_School_massacre[/footnote] with Michael Moore in the film Bowling For Columbine. He is quite an intelligent person for what people think of him.

Spoiler

His basic opinion on the blame he recieved for it was that it was ironic that the president is sending bombs off to another country (the longest one day bombing of all time happening a few hours before the massacre), yet he gets blamed by the media for the music he writes. He then says that he suspects that the media chose to blame him to bring fear to those watching, as he finds that's how the media likes to make people consume. He then went on to say one of my favourite quotes ever, when he was asked what he would say to the people of Columbine and the survivors of the attack:

I wouldn't say a single word; I would listen to what they have to say and that's what no one did.

As for my opinion, Art does imitate real life. Art needs inspiration, and this inspiration it gathers from anywhere possible, from books and other forms of art and media, to real life. People just want to make it looks like real life imitates art so that they have something to blame real life on and since the two seem quite similar (due to the fact that one imitates the other), it's quite an easy thing to try and argue for.

As for whether or not the artists should be responsible for content if children or young people are listening to their music; it really shouldn't be their responsibility. If their music presents adult themes, then their target audience probably won't be (or at least shouldn't be) young people. If it's not their intention to have people of a different age listen to their music, why should they need to worry about little timmy hearing a bad word?

 

[khaimera]

Marilyn Manson suffered similar criticism when that kid went crazy and shot all his classmates. I can't remember what he had to say about it but he refused to accept blame too.

Marilyn Manson did have quite an interesting discussion on the Columbine High School Massacre[footnote]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_High_School_massacre[/footnote] with Michael Moore in the film Bowling For Columbine. He is quite an intelligent person for what people think of him.

Spoiler

His basic opinion on the blame he recieved for it was that it was ironic that the president is sending bombs off to another country (the longest one day bombing of all time happening a few hours before the massacre), yet he gets blamed by the media for the music he writes. He then says that he suspects that the media chose to blame him to bring fear to those watching, as he finds that's how the media likes to make people consume. He then went on to say one of my favourite quotes ever, when he was asked what he would say to the people of Columbine and the survivors of the attack:

I wouldn't say a single word; I would listen to what they have to say and that's what no one did.

As for my opinion, Art does imitate real life. Art needs inspiration, and this inspiration it gathers from anywhere possible, from books and other forms of art and media, to real life. People just want to make it looks like real life imitates art so that they have something to blame real life on and since the two seem quite similar (due to the fact that one imitates the other), it's quite an easy thing to try and argue for.

As for whether or not the artists should be responsible for content if children or young people are listening to their music; it really shouldn't be their responsibility. If their music presents adult themes, then their target audience probably won't be (or at least shouldn't be) young people. If it's not their intention to have people of a different age listen to their music, why should they need to worry about little timmy hearing a bad word?

Thanks for posting this video. I had never seen it before and it made a lot of sense to me too.