The superficiality of the diversity on Glee, as pointed out in the readings, is extremely evident when viewing the program. Yes, there are minority characters, but the narrative clearly centers around the white characters. And, yes, there are moments acknowledges and tries to mock itself, but this does not seem genuine. It seem like they are just acknowledging an heavily criticized aspect of the show so critics will move on. It is easy to problematize this overt whiteness, especially in light of feeble attempts downplaying the lack of diversity. But in the context of musicals, it sort of makes sense. Musicals, for better or worse, act to reiterate the status quo. I find it analogous to Bollywood films. One watches Bollywood films, not to see anything new and groundbreaking, but to go on an emotional ride and see quality song-dance routines. Norms are reinforced but the entertainment is there. Glee is shaping up to be our generations touchstone musical, so this makes sense. But one important aspect of Glee that is the positive work it is doing to combat anti-gay bullying. Kurt, his story-line, and the accompanying PSA’s endorse a positive message and make up for the program’s homogeneity.

Mad Men and Damages definitely work to expand understanding of Millennials beyond the initial definitions put forth by Strauss and Howe. These shows move beyond the world young adults and into a broader context. While Mad Men is set in the 1960s and centers around professional adults, it certainly has millennial sensibilities. Ellen in Damages is a millennial character in the ‘real’ world. Both of these shows present a sense of moral ambiguity touched upon throughout the term, out of college or high school and into the work place.

In Mad Men this is very much centered around Don Draper (or Dick Whitman, which could relate to millennials shifting identities as made possible by social technology? I don’t know, that might be a stretch). Don Draper, like Tyler the Creator as discusses in my presentation, is a walking paradox. He has extramarital affairs with numerous women, demands a certain level is respect/obedience as a man (as evidenced in his professional meeting with Rachel Manken), yet also demands men to give women a certain level of respect (as evidenced in his interaction with Pete and Peggy) and his date with Rachel complicates any depiction of him as a complete misogynist (as does his future working relationship with Peggy). Another seemingly paradoxical element of Don is his ambition and genius displayed in the Lucky Strikes account dealings, and the pessimism displayed in conversation with Rachel on their outing. Themes similar to this were seen in other programs throughout the term such as Secret Lift, Veronica Mars, and Gossip Girl.

Damages also presents a complex narrative dealing with moral ambiguity and ambition. While Patty seems to have a firm sense of justice, she is willing manipulate people and make shady deals to win her cases. This, in turn, complicates Ellen’s ambition upon entering Patty’s firm, as her desire for success comes into conflict with her morals and values. Both of these programs expand Millennial discourse beyond the original view of good, clean, and idealistic generation. While the ambition is still there, the binary between right and wrong is deconstructed, or at least brought into discussion rather than taken as a given.

I’ve been on a bit of an r&b kick lately- in particular, Frank Ocean, the Weeknd, and Drake. I touched on Drake in a previous post so I’m going to focus here on Frank Ocean and The Weeknd.

Frank Ocean is the resident R&B singer for OFWKGTA. He’s written songs for John Legend, Beyonce, and Justin Beiber. In February he released Nostalgia/Ultra, a sort of singer’s mixtape, where he sings over the music of other artists such as MGMT and Coldplay. The strength of his music is definitely his songwriting. It is personal, honest, and able to escape many modern r&b cliches. “Songs for Women”, for instance, is about how he writes loves songs to attract girls who eventually leave him because he spends so much time working on these songs. Very cool.

The Weeknd (yes, missing that ‘e’) is a mysterious Toronto-based r&b project. With the support of fellow Toronto native Drake, they recently released the House of Balloons ep online. At first listen it sounds very similar to Drake, but upon further review there is something else at work, something more sinister. It is really dark and haunting music, crafting tales of a scary/creepy nightlife informed by drugs and vice. It’s really haunting and really interesting to listen to. “The Morning” and “Wicked Games” and highlights.

Wiz Khalifa, perhaps the king of the college rap circuit, and Domo Genesis, member of rising hip-hop collective Odd Future, have both released album’s titled Rolling Papers. While Wiz’s was one of the most anticipated albums of 2011 in the wake of his smash hit ‘Black&Yellow’, Domo’s was quietly released for free on Odd Future’s tumblr. The two albums share not just a title, but also a chill aesthetic with airy synth-based beats. And though Wiz’s album is much more popular, after listening to both I must say that Domo Genesis’ album is undoubtedly the superior. In terms of rapping, Domo is clearly way ahead. Wiz’s rapping it run-of-the-mill at best, generic end-rhyme oriented and his songs generally contain the same tropes- rooftops, planes, etc. Domo, on the other hand, displays more verbal dexterity and originality. For instance, on Cap n Crunch he spits, ‘I got sixteen sixteens and if I’m right/One more song and I’ll be at seventeen again like Zac Efron.’ That’s some pretty good word play. In terms of production, it’s definitely Wiz’s strongpoint. He has a good ear for melody and hooks, and his team of producers does a very good job making beats to fit his aesthetic and musical style. His songs are not about  Wiz the rapper, but Wiz the personality. The production Domo’s album is on another level completely. Produced by Tyler the Creator, the beats are heavily layered complex soundscapes over which Domo spits. Buzzin, for example, contains some reversed sound blips among the different synth riffs. Wiz might be the more popular of the two rappers, but don’t sell Domo Genesis short. If you’re into Wiz and similar sounding acts, definitely check out Domo. His album is available for free download at oddfuture.tumblr.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0Nvgbd4oxU  – Wiz Khalifa ‘The Race’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrR-KlSC61Q  – Domo Genesis ‘Buzzin’

At first glance, noir’s tales of corruption and societal evils, gritty aesthetic, and pessimistic worldview seem to be at odds with the portrayal of millennials as positive and optimistic painted by Strauss and Howe. However, Millennial Rising was published before a major formative event for our generation’s broader worldview- 9/11. Are millennials generally positive and cooperative? Yes, definitely. But I think beneath that lies a more pessimistic view on the global state of affairs. 9/11, the war in Iraq, the War on Terror, and the constant unrest in the Middle East have certainly affected the Millennial generation. While this pessimism is not as overt as previous generations, it does find its way into our media through noir-inspired programs such as Veronica Mars. Strauss and Howe wrote about our generation when the state the world did not seem as messy as it currently is. However, unlike previous generations, Millennials are still optimistic about their power to affect the world in a positive way. Veronica Mars continues to work as a detective to help people and enact positive change in her negative world. Part of what does into this is technology. It gives everyone, especially tech-savvy teens and young adults, a voice and allows for better communication and networking than before. Technology’s power is a major part of Millennial’s resilient  drive and optimism in the face of post 9-11 disillusionment.

I am not sure if he is millennial, but Kanye West’s work as a rapper, producer, and cultural icon is extremely influential. I am going to focus on his solo material here. His first 3 albums are meaningful in that they are artistically great and commercially successful albums that existed outside of both the prevalent gangsta rap of the time (think Jay-Z, 50 Cent) and the positive ‘socially conscious’ rap framed in opposition to this (think Mos Def, Jurassic 5). Surprisingly enough, though, the Kanye album with the most pervasive stylistic influence is his least critically acclaimed and least commercially successful album- 808’s & Heartbreak.

The emotional R&B/rap hybrid that Kanye lays down here has become the archetypal sound for many of today’s most popular acts and lead the way for a wave of new R&B. The most obvious and successful of these new artists is Drake (millennial! Degrassi!). His blend of personal rap and R&B is very informed by 808s. Kid Cudi is as well, although I don’t think he’s as good at what he does as Drake. This intensely honest, personal, heart-on-sleeve type of rap would not be possible without Kanye’s influence. Two displays of major label’s trying to get in on this type of rap are the over-commercialized and absolutely terrible recent albums from BOB and Lupe Fiasco. These attempts at an 808-informed brand of pop-y rap lacked not only any sort of real production value, but also any genuine-ness to their lyrical content.

While it seems to be a pervasive social text among millennials, this week was my first real exposure to Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series. In all honesty the movie was better than the book, which I found really unenjoyable. The thing that struck me most about Twilight was its reinforcement was traditional gender roles and the millennial context. Although, as McGeough points out, the abstinent male Edward and the sexually desiring female Bella is an inversion of commonly held perceptions about sexuality their relationship very much supports traditional notions of gendered power. He is depicted as the strong and beautiful decision maker, while she is uncomfortable in her body, thinks herself plain-looking, and is dependent on him. The problematizing of menstruation is also very interesting and, in my view, almost deplorable. While it makes sense in the context of Meyer’s desired audience to not have vampires feed on nutrient-rich period blood (because if a papercut set the vampires off, this certainly would do so as well), but for her to describe it as ‘dead blood’ just perpetuates the disrespect of the female body and its natural processes. This is furthered by the fact that vampires, who are very physically idealized, are without this function. Also fitting in with this message is the fact that it is not until Bella becomes a vampire by Edward’s agency that she feels comfortable and secure in her own body. She needs a man in order to fully realize her own identity. These messages are interesting in the millennial context because ABC Family, one of the driving cultural forces of millennial media, brands itself as ‘a new kind of family’, while family as portrayed in Twilight is very much a traditional one. It seems to be at odds with the millennial generation’s socially liberal mindset.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix definitely illustrates magic as representing technology and how this contributes to identity in the wizarding world. As the Shletrown article discusses, magic and its role in the Harry Potter universe is analogous millennials and technology. It is essential for their daily lives and plays a major role in forging their identity. The clearest example of this is wands. As the article points out, a witch/wizard’s relationship with their is very much a two-way interaction- as much as someone choose their wand, the wand also chooses them. When Umbridge attempts to restrict the students’ use of magic and wands, it’s like if she had restricted cell phone, facebook, and internet time for muggle students- they find themselves a way to use it help others with it. There is a clear generational discrepancy between Umbridge and the Ministry’s view on the use of magic/technology and those of Harry and his millennial group of friends.

In terms of the Ciaccio article on the connection between Harry Potter and Christian theology, I didn’t really buy it. Western culture and conceptions of morality are so informed by Judeo-Christian thought that most Western discourse in regard to morality are going to contain strains of that sort of theology. He did make two important points, though. First, he pointed out that while magic is traditionally framed as being opposed to Christianity, yet this series (and others- LOTR and Narnia have clear Christian archetypes and allusions among their magic/fantasy worlds yet there is not a huge stink surrounding them) aligns magic with a Judeo-Christian informed set of morals. More importantly, he makes the point that Harry Potter works to break down good/evil binaries. The similarities between Harry and Voldemort are highlighted throughout the seven works yet both are clearly established as being good or evil. Whether this is informed by Derridean or Eastern philosophy it is certainly a step beyond traditional Western morality.

One thing I also picked up on was political thought that was very millennial and relates to the Obama campaign. The one thing Harry and his friends want most from the ministry is honesty and transparency, two things the 08 Obama campaign advertised heavily.

Das Racist- Who\’s That? Brooown!

Das Racist- Rapping 2 U ft. Lakutis

These guys, Wesleyan grads, are like the Daily Show of rap. They have valid and well thought-out political views but hate serious political discussion and serious political rap like Talib Kewli. They spit smart but goofy, almost stream of consciousness raps over electro-dance beats from such producers such as Diplo and Boi 1-da, who worked on Drake’s album. Really fun wordplay and danceable beats. Oh yeah, and they’re also probably the only rappers ever to have rhymed Kierkegaard and Queens Boulevard.

Lil B, formerly of the Bay Area rap group The Pack, is one of hip-hop’s most interesting figures and seems to display some millennial traits. He has used social media and other digital resources to release over 3000 songs over the past two or so years. Lil B has an official website, a twitter, two tumblrs, two facebook accounts, several youtube accounts, and over 150 myspace pages from which he is able to release music, videos, photos, and can interact with fans. Oh, and he’s twenty years old and writes all his raps and for the most part does his own production. But why is he called the Based God? He performs what he calls Based freestyles, freestyle raps over ambient beats where he doesn’t think and just goes stream-of-consciousness. Based is also, as branded by Lil B, an enlightenment-level of thinking that Lil B preaches. One of his self-proclaimed goals is to use language as a tool of inclusion and make as many people happy as possible and help people become Based. These are pretty lofty goals for a twenty-year old rapper that self-releases all of his music. This ambition and his use of technology and millennial traits.

Lil B- Motivation

Lil B- I\’m God

Lil B- Cold War

diorpaint.tumblr.com

basedworld.com