Bright college days, o carefree days that shine...
All my fellow media-crit-and-theoryers are doing it, so I figure I might as well post my hilariously bull-tastic thesis statement. Basically, the assignment is to pick an album cover, movie poster, or print ad, read its assorted cultural codes, and try to pass it off as a retelling of a classical myth. Here's what I've got:
"...Perhaps the most blatant use of such imagery, however, can be seen on the cover of The Residents’ 1976 album The Third Reich ‘n’ Roll, a nightmarish collage centered around a caricature of American Bandstand host Dick Clark in full Nazi regalia, clutching a gigantic carrot. But the Residents were far from the average band of the punk era; while most punks used the Nazis for simple shock value, the avant-garde quartet wrangles it into a modern-day Faust parable, with pop music (of the sort purveyed by Mr. Clark) representing the sweet temptations of the 'damned Art' (Marlowe 3) of witchcraft, and Nazi Germany serving as an analog for Faust’s damnation."
I could go on to explain how it has to be 8 pages long, and how I need to slog through and quote reams of needlessly dense theory, but I know I still won't get a lick of sympathy from anyone who does not go to Emerson College.
Oh, and tomorrow's St. Patrick's Day. Given the amount of people who mistake me for a leprechaun on any average, non-Ireland-themed day, this should be interesting.
"...Perhaps the most blatant use of such imagery, however, can be seen on the cover of The Residents’ 1976 album The Third Reich ‘n’ Roll, a nightmarish collage centered around a caricature of American Bandstand host Dick Clark in full Nazi regalia, clutching a gigantic carrot. But the Residents were far from the average band of the punk era; while most punks used the Nazis for simple shock value, the avant-garde quartet wrangles it into a modern-day Faust parable, with pop music (of the sort purveyed by Mr. Clark) representing the sweet temptations of the 'damned Art' (Marlowe 3) of witchcraft, and Nazi Germany serving as an analog for Faust’s damnation."
I could go on to explain how it has to be 8 pages long, and how I need to slog through and quote reams of needlessly dense theory, but I know I still won't get a lick of sympathy from anyone who does not go to Emerson College.
Oh, and tomorrow's St. Patrick's Day. Given the amount of people who mistake me for a leprechaun on any average, non-Ireland-themed day, this should be interesting.