CAPS 5 Haugen

            Unlike most college students, I AM awake before 7 am to squeeze in my morning workout before work and class. It’s an odd crowd of people that convene at the gym during that hour, let me tell you. The privilege of consciousness in the early morning, as Sara pointed out, is that I can actually see the music videos accompanying today’s popular music!

That being the case, I chose to use my morning mash of music vids as a cultural text for analysis. Fortunately for me, but perhaps unfortunately for society, stereotypes are easily identifiable in these 3-4 minute clips. Martin and Nakayama define ‘stereotypes’ as “widely held beliefs about some group of people,” (210) and these beliefs are quite effectively perpetuated “through the lens of popular culture” (370). Stereotypes are particularly troublesome, however, when we’re consuming cultural texts about cultures with which we are not familiar. For efficiency’s sake, I’ve chosen three music videos, each of which clearly demonstrates a distinct stereotype.

            Nicki Minaj is responsible for a plethora of excellent running music—always upbeat. Her song “Pound the Alarm” is no exception. The video, whose link I have included below, was shot in Trinidad and features shots of Nicki prancing about in the teeny tiny costumes typical of some festival in the region.

The video, like many of her other works, is heavily sexualized and provocative. The problem with sexualizing this video, however, is that it paints an unrepresentative view of Trinidadian people by exploiting one particular festival as an overtly provocative practice. One could easily walk away from this video thinking, “This culture is pretty sleazy. So….spring break in Trinidad?!” When it comes to minority groups and unfamiliar cultures, Martin and Nakayama warn that stereotypes “tell us how ‘we’ value and judge these other groups” (373).

            Playing to the tune of more advert racial stereotypes, we have Flo Rida’s new “I Cry” video. The man is wealthy, no doubt. With his fancy car and glitzy attire, he rolls into what appears to be his hometown, where the children who rush to greet the sports car are visually poorer than their icon. The rapper expresses disdain for the high levels of poverty and crime that continue to run rampant, which is an admirable enough motive. The depiction of the community itself, however, perpetuates the negative racial stereotypes about African Americans that Martin and Nakayama address in Chapter 9. Have a look for yourself.

The final jam on the treadmill playlist was Carly Rae Jepsen and Owl City’s “Good Time,” which depicts carloads of young people venturing out into the woods to drink, dance and have fun. What could be more stereotypical of college age kids? Take a peek at the video if you aren’t already sick of music videos at this point.

The image of young people being irresponsible and reckless in the name of having a good time is one that’s been developed by sociological greats from Ke$ha to Gaga. The image isn’t necessarily detrimental as is the case with the previous examples, but it still provides a slanted view of American youth. While in studying in Spain in 2011, I can’t tell you how many Europeans would make party jokes or binge drinking jabs upon learning that we were American students. At first we were puzzled by the remarks because to us, these hit jams about drinking and having fun are just part of culture, not necessarily a depiction of our real lives. For this reason, cultural perceptions of stereotypes are extremely important in intercultural communication.

            As we’ve discussed today, pop culture plays a tremendous role in conveying aspects of different cultures. The stereotypes presented in various cultural texts matter because they provide information shortcuts to those unfamiliar with a group. We might mitigate these stereotypes by encouraging individuals to pursue diverse sources of pop culture or by suggesting that individuals do research on cultures that interest them. The result would presumably be a better-educated population when it comes to cultural matters.

Works Cited

Flo Rida - I Cry [Official Video]. YouTube. N.p., 28 Sept. 2012. Web. 2 Nov. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLuWHr6-0YQ>.

Martin, Judith N., and Thomas K. Nakayama. Intercultural Communication in Contexts. Sixth ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2013. Print.

Minaj, Nicki. Pound the Alarm. YouTube. N.p., 31 July 2012. Web. 2 Nov. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdrqA93sW-8>.

Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen - Good Time. YouTube. N.p., 24 July 2012. Web. 2 Nov. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7HmzwI67ec>.