Is the following video from The Onion an effective parody of post-9/11 country music? How might you relate it to Boulton’s media frames: “regions of danger and the evil other” and “the heroic ‘folk’ community under attack” (384).
One thought on “Week 12 Day 2 Discussion Question 2”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
I think that this video by The Onion is a very effective parody of post-9/11 country music. It parodies both of the media frames that Boulton discusses, the “region of evil” and “the heroic community under attack.” The “region of evil” frame attempts to paint the terrorists as a group of people from a far away place, but we do not know exactly where that place is. A key part of the “region of evil” frame is ambiguity; we do not know much about the terrorists. This frame does not show up as much in The Onion’s video, but there is ambiguity about what the terrorists would do next. The song contains many different examples of what they could possibly do, but there is no idea what may happen. There is also a feeling underlying the song that the terrorists are not from America, supporting the “region of evil other” frame presented by Boulton.
The other frame from Boulton’s article, “the heroic folk community under attack,” resonates throughout the video. The point of the fake song is to show the terrorists that they could bomb New York again, and it would not hurt the American people that much because of our unity. In the video, Wayne McMurtry says “We’re trying to tell the terrorists that no matter what kind of pain they try to inflict on New York City, we can handle it.” This line speaks to the feeling in post-9/11 country music that since the 9/11 attacks didn’t destroy the country, nothing could. There was a sense of pride from not bending to the terrorists, but also a feeling of confidence that this country could withstand, or handle, whatever came our way. This confidence is seen in the video when the singers are discussing how terrorists could infect the New York City water supply easily. The singers are giving the terrorists an easy way to kill thousands in New York, but they are not afraid because when America is under attack, the people come together to fight back. This fits into Boulton’s frame of “heroic folk community under attack” by describing how there should be no fear in America as long as everyone stands together and supports the war effort.