Hip Essay

I think I have narrowed my texts for my essay to three.  An Ante-Bellum Sermon, Amazing Grace, and Bob Dylan’s song “Times they are a changing”  I think that they all have something in common other than being hip, is that they deal with the changing of times, and progression into something better, than what it was, which is still kind of a notion of hip.

Bamboozled

After watching Spike Lee’s Bamboozled I have had some trouble in selecting a character that is a true trickster.  I believe that Delacroix could be a candidate for a trickster, because at the beginning of the movie if I remember right he had a contract, but he wanted to get fired, so he came up with the idea of the modern minstrel show. 

 I think as the story goes along, they do not bring the idea out again that he wants to be fired, because when he starts receiving all the recognition he seems to enjoy it for a while.  In that sense Delacroix could be a trickster.

I think that perhaps the main trickster is not an actor in the movie, but perhaps the movie itself.  The entire movie kind of portrays a trickster mentality.  It undermines the rules of the culture, and attacks what is mostly taboo for the general public. 

The rule of culture that it undermines is the idea of the whole racist view points.  Cultural today in America is all about equal race, it is political correct to not be a racist.  Teachers in schools teach students to have open minds, and not judge others on race.  I’m sure there are exceptions but for the most part, America is leaning towards the “anti-racist” way of life.  The movie brings the racist out in the minstrel show again.

It also works the grey areas of moral certainties.  The whole issue of race in America, can be a grey area.  The movie goes out on a thin limb, and addresses this area of moral certainty, race, in such a way that it leaves the viewer or at least left me, feeling like it taught a lesson, against racism.

annotated bibliography

Clynton Smith

Professor Weaver

Eng 201

14 March 2011

Hip Essay Number 2: An Annotated Bibliography.

Leland, John. Hip: The History. New York. HarperCollins Publishers. 2004. Print.

In John Leland’s text Hip: The History, Leland attempts to define the word Hip.  He draws back on cultural figures, icons, and events to help him define the ambiguous term.  I plan to use this source as my “definition” part of the essay.  This will be my main source in defining hip.  I can use this in my research project by using the definition that Leland presents, as a definition to examine thorough out the essay.

Dunbar, Paul. “An Ante-Bellum Sermon.” Paul Laurence Dunbar Web. 3 Feb. 2003. 14 March 2011

An Ante-Bellum Sermon is about a slave preacher, preaching to fellow slaves about freedom, and how it is coming in a way that the slave owners do not recognize what he is preaching.  This will be a useful source in my definition of hip. It follows my outline of hip and will be a excellent source.  It also has relevance to my other sources as well, so it works very well.  I plan to use this source by correlating it with my working definition of hip.

Amazing Grace. Ioan Gruffudd, Albert Finney, Romola Garai, Michael Gambon. Sunflower Production. 2006. Film.

Amazing Grace is about the story of William Wilberforce, and the abolishment of the slave trade in England.  This will be a useful source, and correlate with my other sources as well.  I plan to use this source by relating it to my definition of hip, from Leland’s book.  I assume that it will fit into my definition, and be a reliable source, and work well for my essay.

One of the Greatest Tricksters of All Time

At first I struggled to think of a trickster, I thought of most politicians, but am not a fan of getting political in academics.  I finally came to a politician who pretty much everyone hates, so I thought it would be all right to write about him as the great trickster of his time. Hitler.  He pretty much is a perfect example of a very negative trickster in history.

First he undermines the rules of the culture.  Simply put Hitler accomplishes this task of undermining the rules of the culture by killing millions of Jews in WWII.  He goes against the common rule of not killing innocent people, by killing millions.  Normally in a civilized cultural it is taboo to kill innocent people, Hitler fills this part of the definition of a trickster.

Another part of the trickster is that he or she plays on the stereotypes and assumptions of the cultural or audience.  Hitler is a perfect example using social Darwinism in a very negative way. He stood on the platform, assuming that his race was the dominant and that all other races should be wiped of the earth, because they are contaminating the pure race.

Another part of the trickster is that the trickster uses wit and ingenuity to win rather than strength.  I believe that this could go both ways in stating that Hitler was a trickster, because he did try to use strength to overthrow the world, but also he started out small.

 He used his intelligence, and ingenuity to create that power that he had.  He was just a man to start out, but with his ingenious planning, and wit he was able to create a force in which he was in control of.

Hip is... For essay 2

My view of hip has changed a little from writing the first essay.  The three main points I will probably base my essay on are: 1. Hip needs a crowd 2. Hip challenges socail beliefs and norms. 3. Hip is not bound by the past (it will flourish with its own ideas of enlightenment.)

The Perfection of Imperfection

In comparing “aesthetic of imperfection” and the “license of living in the present tense” I think it is important to define what “aesthetic of imperfection” means.  Aesthetic can mean pleasing in appearance, according to the Merriam Webster dictionary. 

So the “aesthetic of imperfection, is making imperfection look pleasing to others.  How does this relate to living in the present tense?  I would submit that there is a linkage between the two.  Living in the present tense we are not held bound by our past, or bound by what the future holds. 

Living in the present tense does influence the aesthetic of imperfection, by when you live in the present tense; the present tense is where you make mistakes, where you make imperfections.  When you live in the here and now, that is all you have, the present, so you accept the present and all that comes with it, including imperfections.  I imagine if you live in the here and now, not really accepting the past, or looking toward the future, you will embrace the moment for what it is worth, including the bad with the good.

The Beat generation believed in both of these principles or lived by these two concepts.  The two ideas are linked together in a complex and abstract sort of way.

Some believe that art is an act that strives for perfection, others believe that making mistakes in the process of creation more important than trying to be perfect.  I believe art should be striving for perfection, and have as little mistakes as possible.  Of course “perfection” is very subjective, and everything will have imperfections in this life, according to someone else.

When I think of the creation of art I think of my brother painting.  When he asks me about his own work in progress he’ll ask “how does it look?’’ or “Do you like it?” I make my judgment on how well it looks, and if there is any obvious mistakes.  I’m wanting the picture to look the best that it can, and get the closest to perfection.