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penpusherIt's come to my attention that I missed a day on this challenge. Day 20 SHOULD HAVE BEEN "A Song You Play When You're Angry." So that was two days ago.
And, right there is clearly why I somehow overlooked that topic. I mean... is that a thing? When you get angry you decide, "I want to listen to (Insert Artist and Title here)?" I have gone into the attic of my mind to think of any time when I was angry and specifically selected a song to play because of it. I don't want to say that I have never, ever done this, but I clearly have no conscious memory of doing it.
Really, my typical procedure when I get angry is to attempt to take a step back and analyze. Why am I angry? What caused it? Is it something I can do something about right now? Is it something I can do something about at a later time? Would doing something specific help the situation or my mood? If there is nothing I can do about the cause of the anger, is there something I can do to diminish it or move beyond it?
But that whole process, more or less, relies on a base of quiet contemplation, i.e. I'm not playing music during it.
So, even if I didn't overlook that day's challenge, I wouldn't have had any answer for it.
And that brings us back to today, where the original topic would have been "A Song You Want Played At Your Funeral."
Isn't THAT a happy thought?
I really don't have any care about what people listen to at my funeral. I'm not even sure I would have a funeral, or if I did who, if anyone, would attend. But the funeral isn't for me anyhow. It's for the people attending it. So, why would I dictate, from beyond the grave, what that event should be? I mean, I still haven't (really) thrown my own party (birthday or otherwise), ever. I'm not even sure I would know what to do in that circumstance, anyhow.
Let's just move beyond to the new topic.
When I had my old LJ Community, known as "Spaceagers," based on the book I wrote about the topic, The Isolation Generation, one of the chapter titles was "TVs and Latchkeys." I'm of the generation where kids often came home to an empty house because the parents were working. And if, like me, you had no siblings, you relied on television to keep you company until someone else got home. So, of course, I got to be a television trivia expert. And I would say that created a most unique relationship that no other generation has had with TV before or since.
Because of that, the boob tube carries an extra level of importance, just because it wasn't just a device to send information and entertainment. it was a pal, a confidant, an entity that you could relate to and with and meant that maybe we forgave the problems and celebrated the greatness more readily than those both younger and older ever could.
It only seems fair, after giving Day 22 over to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, that we give the Small Screen a bit equal time.
Television has changed over time, and so have the style of TV theme songs. From bright and bouncy themes to a song that basically tells the story of the program you're watching, to moody scores to songs that don't quite seem to fit the shows they belong to and everything in between. There have been a lot of theme songs that reflect well or badly on the programs they introduce.
My selection is a piece of music that actually wasn't written for a television program. It was written for a film, which was based on a tv show. But the concept of the show and of the elements it represented was some of the highest aspirations of what TV could do. Granted, teevee tends to lag behind culture when it comes to social change, and that's primarily because the sponsors try their best not to rile their potential customers. But this second version of the series in question already had a built in audience from both The Original Series and from the film series it spawned.
Exploring The Galaxy with a diverse crew of people, all working together because they were all representatives of the same organization was a message that we needed in the 1960s when the program premiered, and still resonated in the 1980s when the show returned, and straight through today, when a new online version continues the ground breaking elements that the name of that show represents, it's all of these things that both reflect on the elements that we admire about television and that maybe make us want to be better, too.
For Day 23 I select Jerry Goldsmith's Theme, with the adapted Alexander Courage Original Song incorporated - "Star Trek: The Next Generation"
And, right there is clearly why I somehow overlooked that topic. I mean... is that a thing? When you get angry you decide, "I want to listen to (Insert Artist and Title here)?" I have gone into the attic of my mind to think of any time when I was angry and specifically selected a song to play because of it. I don't want to say that I have never, ever done this, but I clearly have no conscious memory of doing it.
Really, my typical procedure when I get angry is to attempt to take a step back and analyze. Why am I angry? What caused it? Is it something I can do something about right now? Is it something I can do something about at a later time? Would doing something specific help the situation or my mood? If there is nothing I can do about the cause of the anger, is there something I can do to diminish it or move beyond it?
But that whole process, more or less, relies on a base of quiet contemplation, i.e. I'm not playing music during it.
So, even if I didn't overlook that day's challenge, I wouldn't have had any answer for it.
And that brings us back to today, where the original topic would have been "A Song You Want Played At Your Funeral."
Isn't THAT a happy thought?
I really don't have any care about what people listen to at my funeral. I'm not even sure I would have a funeral, or if I did who, if anyone, would attend. But the funeral isn't for me anyhow. It's for the people attending it. So, why would I dictate, from beyond the grave, what that event should be? I mean, I still haven't (really) thrown my own party (birthday or otherwise), ever. I'm not even sure I would know what to do in that circumstance, anyhow.
Let's just move beyond to the new topic.
When I had my old LJ Community, known as "Spaceagers," based on the book I wrote about the topic, The Isolation Generation, one of the chapter titles was "TVs and Latchkeys." I'm of the generation where kids often came home to an empty house because the parents were working. And if, like me, you had no siblings, you relied on television to keep you company until someone else got home. So, of course, I got to be a television trivia expert. And I would say that created a most unique relationship that no other generation has had with TV before or since.
Because of that, the boob tube carries an extra level of importance, just because it wasn't just a device to send information and entertainment. it was a pal, a confidant, an entity that you could relate to and with and meant that maybe we forgave the problems and celebrated the greatness more readily than those both younger and older ever could.
It only seems fair, after giving Day 22 over to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, that we give the Small Screen a bit equal time.
Television has changed over time, and so have the style of TV theme songs. From bright and bouncy themes to a song that basically tells the story of the program you're watching, to moody scores to songs that don't quite seem to fit the shows they belong to and everything in between. There have been a lot of theme songs that reflect well or badly on the programs they introduce.
My selection is a piece of music that actually wasn't written for a television program. It was written for a film, which was based on a tv show. But the concept of the show and of the elements it represented was some of the highest aspirations of what TV could do. Granted, teevee tends to lag behind culture when it comes to social change, and that's primarily because the sponsors try their best not to rile their potential customers. But this second version of the series in question already had a built in audience from both The Original Series and from the film series it spawned.
Exploring The Galaxy with a diverse crew of people, all working together because they were all representatives of the same organization was a message that we needed in the 1960s when the program premiered, and still resonated in the 1980s when the show returned, and straight through today, when a new online version continues the ground breaking elements that the name of that show represents, it's all of these things that both reflect on the elements that we admire about television and that maybe make us want to be better, too.
For Day 23 I select Jerry Goldsmith's Theme, with the adapted Alexander Courage Original Song incorporated - "Star Trek: The Next Generation"
no subject
Date: 2018-01-25 05:16 am (UTC)However, I have artists, playlists, and genres of music I listen to when I am really angry that are all dependent on WHY I am really angry and whether I am trying to burn it out of my system to stop feeling angry because my anger is stupid but the chemical reaction has already happened, or feeling righteous fury and want solidarity (this again breaks down into what I am pissed about as there's political crap, the shit I get for being a woman who is not unattractive AND is top heavy, things related to my disability, or angry about something that happened to someone I care about - all of which I find are best exorcised with music and dancing, violent video games, or art), or if my anger is because I have been hurt (which has a completely different type of playlist that encourages me to process the hurt over the anger, and deflate it that way).
My go-to genres are Punk, Metal, Hard Rock, Indie Rock, Rap (I unapologetically love Eminem, problematic though he can be as a person), Nerdcore, Industrial, and some of the angrier Goth music.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-25 02:34 pm (UTC)This is good information when it comes to how other people like you deal with anger and that the "song when you're angry" actually IS a thing. Thanks for sharing that info.
As for the latchkey element, yeah... television became a kind of surrogate parent and depending on what was on in your particular market, you got different messages and found certain things more important than others.
I'm pretty sure "Heavy Metal" was the first "R" rated cartoon I ever saw!
no subject
Date: 2018-01-25 04:46 pm (UTC)I got a lot of fucked up emotional feedback that was subconscious on my mother's part but mostly boiled down to never showing my emotions on the outside (any emotion on my part turned into histrionics on her part that were immediate and extreme and all full of the martyrdom). It was severe enough that I didn't cry at all between 9 and 12, which lead to me getting a tear duct infection that was really ugly; apparently it is important to cry at least a couple of tears from each eye every month or two, just to flush them out. Headphones are really good for withdrawing into my own head to be with my anger, or any other emotion. Music that expresses how I am feeling gives me a sense of "it is normal and okay to feel this way" which I never got from my mother.
The specific framing of being an Angry Black Man being terrifying for people leading to you getting anger management training from an early age is elucidating. That is an experience that when you explain it sounds logical, but also horrifying that it was necessary. Like being raised with "how to not get raped" behavioral training (and also, "how to not get killed by the green river killer" which was also a thing in this region when i was growing up).
I suspect I missed it previously but you being black has never stuck in my brain. Granted, when I picture you in my head I picture things from your point of view because that is the experience of reading your posts. But I will incorporate that into my "this is who you are" knowledge. This information wont change anything other than I will worry about you far more directly with the climate over on the east coast being so very very dangerous for black people; I generally worry about my friends on the east coast where the culture seems to be more filled with pressures and stresses and tensions making it not safe for anyone all the time, but any place that is dangerous is much more dangers for anyone who is not white all the time too. Be safe man. (Quite literally, I read the sentence about being black and had an immediate wash of fear for your safety. The racially motivated violence and profiling freaks me the hell out.)
no subject
Date: 2018-01-25 06:13 pm (UTC)It seems to me that I'm starting to understand the elements of emotions a lot more clearly now: the point really seems to be that people are uncomfortable with dealing with emotions, especially anger and sadness. So, many would prefer that they simply not exist, or, failing that, that they not be expressed around others. It seems that these situations are difficult for people to negotiate, but isn't that because people are continually suppressing those emotions so people don't deal with them and learn how to handle them?
We have a continual downward spiral where because people are either afraid to release their emotions or have trained themselves not to express them, other problems can manifest, from the physical of having tear duct issues, to other disorders of the mind. We really need some sort of coming together about such things to be responsible to our humanity and to appreciate the fact that emotions are there for a reason and expressing them is not a sign of "weakness."
As for my safety, I'm one of the luckier ones. Just as surely as there is "White Privilege," there also is "Light Privilege." If you aren't quite as dark as some, you are seen as "safer" and will get treated better than others. And, I'm sure that's part of the reason why Barack Obama was accepted more readily by the American public. He is, genetically, fifty percent white, but nobody ever would say it that way.
That's my pic in this icon, from my game show appearance in case you wanted a better idea about what I look like. So, you don't need to worry too much about me. I'm prudent and, as you should know by now, I don't get angry very easily!
no subject
Date: 2018-01-26 02:45 am (UTC)I am glad to know you are safe. <3 thank you! and OMG A PHOTO!! Good god you have one hell of a smile. :) YAY PICTURES!! thank you!!