It’s Friday and classes are over for the week. In hopes of unwinding, I turn on Pandora to inhale a little of today’s latest jams. Pandora is put on because I can’t think of what I specifically want to here, there’s no rhyme or reason to my choices, just something to spark my interest and get me dancing and bobbing my head. On comes Usher – I Don’t Mind. Now, if you didn’t know, this song follows the mindset of the R&B singer as he serenades to possible strippers, communicating how he doesn’t mind of their profession. Admirable in a sense, but the delivery with lines that target that the women are bad examples to society, that his only acceptance of them is that they will be his at home, and his only real connection to these women being their physical features, makes the message questionable and alarming. But…for some reason… I couldn’t resist dancing and bobbing my head!
Why is this? I find this happens a lot, whether it be with questionable songs with great beats, or films and television shows littered with misogynistic characters but great story lines. There’s something that makes these works of art that we should hate, in regards to content, popular and likable. The Usher song is a great example of using an awesome beat and sweet, serenading voice, in hopes of disguising such a questionable message. Are all of the popular content that carry these sour lessons on being a human being, disguised really well with other fancy aspects in order to distract viewers and listeners from the reality of what is going on and being said?
I think it is important to note that, with complex creations like films or music, not everything is black and white. There has to be some things we hate, some things we love, and some things we’re kind of unsure of, in the story line so that a complexity is there for audiences to evaluate and critique. It is questionable, however, if these complexities are put into these creations intentionally or naturally? Are these beliefs, words, messages, true to the creator’s reality and the audience they want to capture, or was it intentionally made in hopes of arousing some controversy on possible issues?
Unfortunately, I don’t have the answer to a lot of these questions, and if I could interview Usher right now I would. A lot of toxic messages are out in entertainment media, and it is important to be mindful of whether its consumption is changing our ideals on what is right or wrong. However, I do know the struggle. It’s incredibly confusing when you hear a song and don’t support what’s being said, but continue to dance wildly along because it’s just too damn catchy to avoid enjoying yourself over.
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