Funny Obama

Following up on my last post, I found this funny video of Barack Obama brushing his shoulders off to Jay-Z's song "Dirt Off Your Shoulders". At a campaign appearance he was acknowledging that he's taken some hits from his opponent and some mighty hits so he brushes the metaphorical dirt off his shoulders in the form of Sen. Hillary Clinton's many charges against him.

If nothing else, it shows that Obama has his antenna up, that he's attuned to the culture around him, especially the youth culture. He's in touch. That counts for a lot for his appeal and it counts a lot for his followers.

History

As the role of the media has increased greatly over the last century, so has the importance of Presidential media strategies. Like we saw in the Kennedy and Nixon battle for presidency. It was said that during the presidential debate Nixon was nursing an injured leg and looked tense and uncomfortable while Kennedy looked eased and relaxed. Nixon also was not wearing make-up unlike Kennedy and in the end Kennedy was victorious. From then on to modern days the appearance on television began to play a dominant role in national politics.

In the last election Obama was superior in the appearance department compared to McCain. But not only did Obama look sharp on television, he also had influential artists making hit songs supporting him. Having arguable the best rapper in the world write a hit single promoting his campaign was tremendous in gaining voters. It seems like now whoever wins the media whether it the appearance on television, political television stations and in the music industry, wins the election.

This is a video called "History" by Jay-Z

In this video, Jay-Z obviously endorses Barack Obama. Jay-Z has said that this song was made solely for Obama and its clear that he is promoting a message. In the song he preaches that Obama has made history since he is the first black president that ran and won a presidential election. He promotes this message that you can look into a child's eyes and tell him that they could be president one day. Its not an easy thing but it can happen and Obama is clear cut evidence. The song also shows the progression we have made throughout history. At one point a black person couldn't drink from the same water fountain that a white person would drink from and now we have a black president running the country.

Now if you think about it and ask yourself how many people admire and look up to Jay-Z, the answer is most of the country and some internationally. This song is basically an advertisement for Obama and his campaign. Many people are going to listen to his song and feel more comfortable supporting Obama since arguable the best rapper is preaching good things of him. Blacks in America can relate to Obama and the fact that Jay-Z has such strong feelings for him motivates blacks to register and vote for Obama. So basically Jay-Z has influenced American black communities to be ambitious, to support the Barack Obama's campaign and vote for him. Not only does Jay-Z influence the black community but also the young adults whether there black or white. Croteau & Hoyens believe that "forms of music attract and audience precisely because they promote politically charged, controversial or alternative views. Such music is especially significant because it tends to be much more meaningful to people who listen to it. (Croteau & Hoyens p.256)

Barack Obama's appearance in the media was phenomenal. His face on shirts with progress written on them were worn by everyone from rock stars to adults to young teenagers. The media played a huge role in his campaign and the results show for it.

pseudo-events "Real Madrid"

The day Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Real Madrid is equivalent to a new president's inauguration in the soccer world. This past summer the worlds best soccer player completed a world record transfer from Manchester United to spanish giants Real Madrid. He will be making 180,000 euros a week. Imagine that! It was a day to remember in Spain. Girls love him for his looks and guys want to be in his boots. Anyway Cristiano Ronaldo was greeted in the Bernabeu in front of a 80,000 die hard fans. No other soccer player has brought in that many people into one stadium to see the unveiling of a new Real Madrid player. I could call this a pseudo event for the fact that it was a planned event to unveil Cristiano in his new jersey and to address his new fans. Ronaldo was presented with a roaring crowd snapping photos like the kickoff on Superbowl. He walked out of the famous tunnel and made his way around the stadium so that everyone in the stadium got a good look of him. After soaking in the crowds admiration he spoke about the upcoming season. How he is mentally focused and physically prepared. Following the speech, they gave him a soccer ball to play around with. This was nothing but an opportunity to take pictures of the best player in the world wearing a Real Madrid jersey playing with a soccer ball. The club set up this event so that people all over the world can see what kind of club Real Madrid is and the players they have. It was shown all over the world in every country. It was an event that people did not want to miss. Once is a life time thing. It was the hotspot for journalists and news reporters. It made the front page of most papers in Europe. I feel that was one of the main purposes of the event. It was for the sole purpose of media publicity. The best player in the world being unveiled.

So on my way down to North Carolina this weekend I was listening to my Itunes on the plane and in the back of my mind I was thinking what I would write in my blog for this week. I had writers block, had no idea what to write about. However I was listening to some Eminem music and I was paying close attention to his lyrics in the song "Sing for the Moment". I've always known that he constantly was in some kind of controversy with his music. So at one part of the song he says "It's all political, if my music is literal and I'm a criminal, How the f*** can i raise a little girl?" Thats when a light bulb popped in my head. I thought about what he says in this line and how it reenforces what the video we watched had to say about the music business. Ever since Eminem has been in the music business he has sold millions of records rapping about real life situations that catch society's ear. Eminem's music videos and lyrics may seem insulting or shocking but that is how he has sold so many records. Now in the quote he states how the music business is all political. It shows how as long as he is selling records and making money for the company he is doing his job. Just like in the video we watched, they tried to make a point that it comes down to how many records you sell, no matter how you do it!! In Eminem's case he sells records by controversial topics and hatred. Now the second part of the line is "if my music is literal and I'm a criminal, How the f*** can I raise a little girl". Here he basically saying that he is not what his lyrics come out to be. He is trying to say that in real life he is not a criminal and not what these critics have been making him out as this crazy in the head person. He is actually a loving father that can take care of his daughter. However this is the way Eminem has sold records!! So what I've learned about the video we watched this past week, was that these huge business companies that own these artist just care about how many records are being sold instead of the quality and talent these artist do have. Just sell singles, no matter how you do it. It seems like a cut throat business instead of something to enjoy.