Deadlines/Brief

Music videos are so 80s/90s, right? They belong with the era when MTV screened wall-to-wall vids instead of 'reality' TV? Try telling that to the millions who bought Gangnam Style; were they really simply loving the music? 1.6bn (and still climbing) have viewed the video on YT, not to mention the many re-makes (school eg, eg2), viral ads + celeb link-ups (even political protest in Seoul) - and it doesn't matter how legit it is, this nightmare for daydream Beliebers is making a lot of money, even from the parodies + dislikes. All this for a simple dance track that wouldn't have sounded out of place in 1990 ... but had a fun vid. This meme itself was soon displaced by the Harlem Shake. Music vids even cause diseases it seems!
This blog explores every aspect of this most postmodern of media formats, including other print-based promo tools used by the industry, its fast-changing nature, + how fans/audiences create/interact. Posts are primarily written with Media students/educators in mind. Please acknowledge the blog author if using any resources from this blog - Mr Dave Burrowes

Sunday, 8 July 2012

Feminist Metal or male gaze? Butcher Babies

The article I'll link below contains strong language and links to semi-nude videos, necessary for the frank discussion of the topic matter but worth being aware of and cautious over. The article is sparked by the emergence of a female metal band who've gained swift notoriety by performing semi-nude, their costumes leaving little to the imagination. The article never uses the term post-feminist, but the claims of the likes of the Butcher Babies to be feminist would be rejected by traditional feminists, but embraced by post-feminists. The article, and the reader comments that follow, goes on to discuss more radical acts such as RockBitches, L7, Tribe8, Girlschool (The Runaways, subject of a 2011 film, aren't mentioned but should be), Wendy O'Wiliams and the Plasmatics and many more. It's a useful article not so much for the specifics on any one act but for exposing and illuminating the contested nature of feminism, and undermining attempts to claim that what makes positive or negative representation is a straightforward process. Its thus one you'd do well to look at when discussing representations within your own work, and how they're perceived. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2012/jul/05/butcher-babies-rockbitch-tribe-8

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