A Thousand Words to Say Nothing

     How many times have our parents critiqued our generation's music? They state many common places, usually along the lines that we focus too much on technology and not enough on meaning. I hate to say it, but they might have a point. Don’t believe me? I invite you to grab your iPod and start to play a song at random. I bet at least half of you will pull up an artist such as Little Wayne, Big Sean, Nicky Minaj, LMFAO, or Lady Gaga.  All of their songs have catchy beats and music videos that draw our attention away from reality to mindless hours of YouTube surfing. Although, how many times to we stop and listen to the lyrics that are being sung?

     Directors of videos focus on making their products as exciting as the music. Throughout this  struggle, artists tend to lose a grip on the rhetoric of their lyrics and focus more on special effects and beat instead. Take Lady Gaga for example. As a world-famous provocateur, she has covered numerous themes in her songs and videos, ranging from religion to dark and mysterious themes. Her videos are original, and downright bizarre at times. However, does she focus too much on the chorography and beat of her music? I for one cannot ever explain the meaning of her song "Telephone," produced with the famous Beyoncé, nor how the video is associated with the song.

     Now, I am not implying Lady Gaga’s work has no meaning. Besides her renowned, catchy beats, many of her songs are very original. However, some of her counterparts in the music industry are even gultier of this mindless attraction. The Black Eyed Peas managed to create some strong pop gems like "Where's the Love" and "Don't Lie." So what when wrong with their video "Boom Boom Pow?" Focused on electronic beats and a continued  repetition of the line “Gotta get that Boom Boom Boom/Boom Boom Pow”, it lacks any meaning whatsoever. Though, so many listen to their music, right?

    When I go running I listen to all types of music that seems to have taken off in our current pop culture. The beat keeps up my adrenaline. However, if I’m walking to class, I honestly would like to hear some meaning behind the lyrics; something to make me ponder; a theme that can stick in my mind so I can chew over it even after it’s over. Artists like Eric Clapton and The Beatles convey messages that we as individuals can apply to our everyday lives. Their messages are free of hate, drugs, and all of the above. I think in our world today we need to slow down, and appreciate these subtle yet powerful messages that could better our society as a whole.

The Hidden Art

As I sit down after a long week, honestly the only thing I want to do is sit back and have some quality T.V. time.  As I flip through channel after channel, I realize that most of my time consists of reality shows and commercials, and I can almost feel my brain cells slowly dying. Call me outdated, but I did not realize that today’s media culture demanded our knowledge to references such as “the Situation” instead of figures such as Johnny Carson. What happened to the art of rhetoric? When did people even lose their ability to recognize its usage, or even recognize the lack of it?

When there is such poor execution of rhetoric nowadays, it is difficult for us to even recognize other forms in advertisements and media. We fail to even recognize when this powerful tool is manipulating our emotions to buy a certain product. In pathetic appeals (an advertiser’s favorite), rhetoricians tap a reader’s sympathy, anger, desire, and all of the above to convince the audience of their argument.  

Take the company OLAY into consideration. The advertisers of this company have perfected the use of pathos to drive a woman’s desire to look flawless into a billion dollar company.  With catchy slogans such as “challenge what’s possible,” they lead their audience to believe that their products will actually defy time and transform a women into this beautiful, but certainly obtainable, object. There is an established audience, and for this reason the advertisers knew exactly how to word the commercial. I don’t think this commercial would have the same effect on men as it would their women counterparts.

The advertisement also determines a sense of security among the viewer’s for a renowned celebrity like Carrie Underwood. Hiring celebrities as models for any product is a great way to draw the audience into buying the product, especially women searching for perfection.  In a way, this advertisement is like a political campaign with hidden agendas; we just fail most of the time to recognize the rhetoric in such a form.

So just how effective is this execution of rhetoric? Well, I know by my drawer full of beauty products that something motivated me to go spend my paycheck on overpriced utensils.