Pleasure P, "Under", R&B, 2009. (Video)
Trey Songz, "Neighbors Know My Name", R&B, 2009
Robin Thicke, "Sex Therapy", R&B, 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orTYX0nMeXw
R. Kelly, "Seems Like Your Ready", R&B, 1993
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzaOtXWg2Tw
Community Service Aim
Marvin Gaye, "What's Going On", Classic R&B, 1971 (Video)
Bill Withers, "Lean On Me", Classic R&B, 1972
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaVXfHZv50Y
Mariah Carey, "Hero", R&B, 1993
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVhrIfaPKxw
Whitney Houston, "The Greatest Love of All", R&B, 1985
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhYAse-9eiI
Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, "When You Believe", R&B, 1998
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kfpE8xYBmY
My Response to Aims 1 and 3
After doing this little fun filled exercise, the pleasure(kama) aim is more prevalent in American Pop culture then the community service(dharma) aim. Sex is advertised on TV, billboards, newspapers, magazines, and even on the side public transportation to show people that this is what's cool. In today's society, sex is what sells and in terms generate publicity and potential revenue. While doing this assignment I realized how easy it was for me to name songs that talked about pleasure, i.e sex. Within two minutes I could think of over twenty-five songs that contain pleasure of some type of sexual gratification in the content. This is kind of sad because we should be more concerned with our community and how we can make things better and more peaceful. For Hindus, community service(dharma) is essential for "harmony of the world."(Knott, Pg. 21.) However, for Americans, community service is more of good samartian thing that people what to be recognize for their contributions and how they made a difference. Also, from what I interpret, Hindu pleasure(kama) came from meditation, which is a ritual that is practice faithfully. But when pleasure come in the mind of Americans pop culture, sex is the first thing that pops up and most people just run with that because they know in the end that's what the public is going to want to hear, see, and buy.
I agree completely with you're views on how our society uses pleasure to gain publicity and money. I discussed the same problems with our society in my post. I'm glad that someone else saw this sad comparison between the Hindu aims and our societies aims. It is alarming how different the American view of pleasure is from the Hindu view. I liked that you brought up references from our reading, especially the idea of meditation to achieve pleasure.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your response as well and I think that its a shame that it's easier to find songs pertaining to sex than to helping those that are in need.
ReplyDeleteThe Community Service aspect of it all is pretty sad. In most cases it does seem like people are more concerned with getting recognition for their voluntary work. I try to give people the benefit of the doubt though.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely. It seems that a lot of people who do community service do it for the recognition and not for the sake of helping others. In America, community service is something that the court orders you to do when you let pleasure get out of hand, not so much something you do voluntarily for the betterment of the community and with no benefit to yourself, and it's kind of sad.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you mention that sex is everywhere so picking songs was not the hard part. I feel that this is the main reason why teen pregnancy is become very popular and there is an increase in sexually transmitted disease being passed. The only time an artist wants to sing a song about the community is when a horrific incident occurs, well it seems like that to me. You and the other people who commented said they do it so they can be recognized. How pathetic and sad is my thoughts about that.
ReplyDeleteTimothy,
ReplyDeleteI don’t really see too much wrong about seeking pleasure first. We’re all going to have our own priorities, and if pleasure is first, community second, I see no error. I think the problem comes up when we care all about ourselves and our own satisfaction and forget that others out there need help. It’s no secret that sex is what sells, we think about it all the time. And I don’t think that everyone gives in order to be recognized, I know that there are some people out there who give just because they like to. And I know it can be argued that they get something out of that, so it really is selfish, but I really loathe that argument.
I agree. When we were given this assignment I immediately thought of several songs for the pleasure aim. I found it more difficult to think of songs with a positive message behind them for community service.
ReplyDelete