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A friend of mind gave me a challenge. He thinks I'm a bit stuffy and stodgy in my old age :P He said, knowing my interest in politics, "Hey let me blow your mind". *paraphrased*
He challenged me to listen to a hip hop/rap CD (I have no clue what the difference is so I use both terms)...while reading a Comic book..er..correction, Graphic Novel.
Yep...sounds odd. And it was...then it was freaky...then scary...and now...perhaps, now that I've finished it...hope filled?
The Comic..er...graphic novel he gave me was called Transmetropolitan. It's a series of some sort written by Warren Ellis and, appears roughly based (in the future of course) on a Hunter S. Thompson like reporter who is exposing the filthy rotten truth about our society and government. The portrayal of both the old and new president is creepy and prophetic to say the least.
While I was reading this admittedly over the top (well it's a comic..er..Graphic Novel)...it is amazingly, stunningly, utterly hard hitting. It pulls no punches. It's crass and vulgar and juvenile...and it hits the political nail on the head. I set it down and sat there blinking for 10 minutes when I was done (well to be fair its like 10 volumes long so it took me a while to work through them)
And...I listened to the CD...ended up listening a number of times.
Sonic Jihad, by someone named Paris (or it's a group, I'm unsure).
The cover shows an airliner flying into the Whitehouse, obviously trying to make a statement of some sort. The first Song on the Albumn is Ave Bushani..and includes Evil, AWOL, and What Would You Do?
After listening a few times and reading the lyrics I'd say it has some of the bravest and most honest messages I've heard in music...I even find some of the songs catchy now. I actually teared up a bit listening to "What would you do?" the second time.
What came of all this? Well two things...first, an awareness that some medium that I had previously dismissed (graphic novels, hip hop/rap cds) were carrying some content and messages that we barely see in the places we RELY on to convey the messages...They are actually addressing there What WE are addressing here...SUPRISE!
Secondly...the thought that maybe there is a movement a level below ours where an even more primal awareness of events is occuring. These things are, relative to most of our suburban lives...underground...and I really wonder if we aren't seeing some sort of emerging social awareness bubbling up...are these prophets in our pop culture?
More overt case in point...the new Star Wars that has so many people buzzing...who thought Lucas would Bushslap the Administration in such an over the top way? We use Scifi to entertain...and we certainly don't use SUMMER BLOCKBUSTERS to pull down the *...yet there it is, on the screen...a veritable kick the the groin, where it is least expected.
And according to my friend (who seems resistant to registering for our fine site because he fears all us political wackos :D)...Transmetropolitan is just the tip of the iceberg...he says there are literally dozens of titles out there all essentially indicting our government for absolute corruption.
This isn't our father's Superman...that guy was all about Red White and Blue...can you imagine him calling the President out? I can't...I didn't...but apparently around the country...this simple little, and often overlooked medium is pumping out a highly charged political message. When did people who made Comic Books suddenly stop waving the flag and start ripping it off the backs of people trying to sew it into a suit?
Who is the audience? I didn't suspect it would be DUers so much as adolescents? Same with Hiphop/rap...this isn't something WE think as aimed at us...yet there it is...speaking truth to power as forcefully as anything we could dream of.
Makes me wonder...how many other unknown allies do we have? Did I just miss the boat here and all of you already knew about such things? Or are we missing out on a huge venue and audience of consumers who are gobbling up the message in ways that some/many of us never imagined?
And if so...how do acknowledge it and leverage it? How do we promote the message...OUR message...in alternative ways...and is there a payoff?
I am going to owe my friend a few lunches for his lesson. He's shown me that information, wisdom, and enlightenment can come in more forms than Blogs, Books, and Bumperstickers.
Just thought I'd share,
Prot
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