!Case Studies by Vacant Lot

"Why are you acting like a hard rock, when you really are a gem."

"Why are you acting like a hard rock, when you really are a gem."
A Vacantlot.org Case Study
Virtues: self-respect, confidence, perception, media


A classic line from Lauryn Hill's debut album which suggests that some ladies try to 'be something that they are not'; living up to a role/stereotype, to illicit a certain response. Furthermore, those that 'play a role' usually try to imitate/mimic a rough badboy-type persona - because for whatever reason, the those that deviate from the norm and behave badly are somewhat idolized and coveted. Thus, this line does not necessarily refer to females, but plenty males constantly try to be something that they are not so that they can be deemed 'cool'. Which in turn, loosely implies that those that deviate from the norm (behaviour) are 'cool' because they are different.

Now nothing is necessarily wrong with that interesting logic, but I guess the issue of 'genuine' comes into play; Is she behaving this way because that is her true essence? Or, is he acting like that because 50 is doing it? I'm sure in your personal life, you have a lot of people that 'fake it'; from moderate faking (like claiming they robbed so and so, and beat up so and so), to more extreme levels of faking (lying about where you grew up, where you have been, etc.).

Faking Cues
Meaning, what are the sources of information that would propel one to fake. I'm going to make a big target, and put BET on blast, or better yet, put Rap Music/Culture on blast in general. The main proponent behavior in rap music is to be 'gangsta' and to be a 'tough guy', thus the music videos on BET reflect that notion by showing visual images that are very graphical, heavily testosterone-laced (i.e. misogynizing/degrading women), and show rough environments. Now, due to the psychological fact that youth, and adults even, are impressionable people (more so youth), it is very easy for people to mimic the behavior that they see on T.V. Now, I don't think that the music should tone down its content because hip-hop is very vast; it touches on the bad, good, and everything in between. HOWEVER, your BET only chooses to promote those songs/videos that discuss the bad, which in turn you can not blame BET entirely because the record labels only invest in those artists (heavily) that touch on the bad.

The real issue is with the viewer - the viewer must be competent and knowledgeable enough to know that what they are viewing either flows with their current behavior or against their current behavior. And if it flows against, then that viewer should not try to be something their not, but stay true to thy self ... nothing is worse when one is trying to be hard, but is soft like a twinkie filling.

posted by Vacant Lot @ 7:30 PM Comments: 0