AMERIKKKA
So I went home early today because I'm fighting the flu (notice, I don't HAVE the flu, but I'm FIGHTING it). Since this is my first time home before 4pm in a long ass time, I decided to watch TRL... it's amazing how I used to religiously watch TRL when I DIDN'T live in New York, and now that I do live here, 1) I don't watch it ever and 2) I would never even attempt to go to Times2 during taping. Granted, I'm a lot more older, mature, have higher celebrity status (and need to be concerned with my safety), but something about living in New York makes you more grounded and less celebrity-happy. (By the way, I was on the subway with Sandra Bullock yesterday afternoon. She sat directly across from me).
Anyway, on to my TRL story... I only caught the last 15 minutes or so but here who was in the Top Three Video Countdown.
1) Eminem
2) Kelly Clarkson
3) Christina Aguilera
Yes, one out of the top three is an ethnic minority (Christina Aguilera, in case you forgot), so I should be happy... BUT i got to thinking that this order of musical popularity is a direct reflection of the ameriKKKanization of our youth.
I. GUILTY CONSCIENCE: Eminem admits that he would never be making the amount of money that he makes if he wasn't White. He blatantly calls out White people in telling them "If I was Black, I know I wouldn't make half, I didnt have to graduate from Lincoln High to know that" and yet White people religiously buy his music and treat him like a god. No, his message isn't even getting across... White people still are not buying "Colored" music in the same amounts that they are buying "White" music. So although he's basically saying "You White people are stupid," they still buy his music and love every minute of it.
II. SELL OUT- Kelly Clarkson, America's Idol, in #2. First of all the song is complete cheese (soooo cheesy, that I find myself singing it in the shower every morning)... BUT it isn't music. It's a Hollywood-produced song and image... It's as if someone in Hollywood said "Hey, let's push for something so ridiculously stupid, just to see if American Youth buys into it..." And yes, they did. The song was blatantly written for a White person to win. Tamyra Gray or Christina Christian didn't even have a chance... And while I will continue to support Tamyra and Christina in their musical efforts, I cannot support Kelly Clarkson at all. She's a product of the man.
III. LATINA LOVER- Christina Aguilera's new video, "Dirty" premieres on her new album "Stripped." What is this woman trying to do? Despite recent efforts to represent Latinos as equals in society, Christina Aguilera (and her producers) broadcast her new video, featuring scantily clad horny Latinas and ghetto gangsta wife-beating Chollos, and titles it a common stereotype that many people still attribute to those from Latin America: "DIRTY." Blatant irresponsibilty. Sure, she wants her album to sell, but at what price do you sell out your people in order to do so??? Not feeling me yet?? Well let's say for example, that Jocelyn Enriquez (or any other pinay star) decides to sing a song called "Dogeater" and in the video, she features half-naked Filipina prostitutes and unkempt brown boys picking rice in the fields... Let's say this said video was glamouried and shot in a way where it was so sexy and so appealing, that it started to go to #1... what then does the average white person from Vermont start to think about Pilipinos?? Well, he sees them on TV, and realizes that these people consciously participated in the making of this video, hence all Pilipinos ARE like that... hence, thanks to Christina Aguilera, that same White person in Vermont (or Iowa or Montana or CALIFORNIA) thinks that all Latinos are dirty... Thank you, Christina!
So in conclusion, these top three people show what you have to do make it. 1) Be White. 2) Sing what sells. 3) Sell out your people. The end.
TRANSPLANT IS AN ANGRY MINORITY
So I'm on my racial soapbox again, simply because no one else ever goes on it with me... People are so comfortable with the way that their lives are that they do not sit to think that they are even oppressed. I can admit. I've been guilty of this too, especially if you're in a state like California... In CA, I'm surrounded by people of color all the time, I have access to other Pilipinos and all kinds of Pilipino culture. I'm comfortable. I don't have to think about these issues... And people who do think about all of this stuff are just activists, revolutionaries, and wasting their time, because nothing will ever change... I don't care that a White man is in complete control of my safety, my well-being, and my health. I don't care that a White man teaches my children what is normal. I don't care that I watch White people on TV all the time, and I don't care that people of my same ethnic background are NEVER on TV. We have Rufio, Prince Charming, and Tia Carrere (who tells everyone she's Chinese and Spanish)... I don't care that no one else outside of California even knows what a Filipino is. I don't care that the the second I leave California, I have to explain myself everywhere I go... I don't care that my people are dying of HIV/AIDS, I don't care that my little sisters are all getting pregnant at 14. I don't care that none of my little cousins are graduating from high school... I really don't care... Let's just go clubbing and have sex. That'll be more fun.
So I went home early today because I'm fighting the flu (notice, I don't HAVE the flu, but I'm FIGHTING it). Since this is my first time home before 4pm in a long ass time, I decided to watch TRL... it's amazing how I used to religiously watch TRL when I DIDN'T live in New York, and now that I do live here, 1) I don't watch it ever and 2) I would never even attempt to go to Times2 during taping. Granted, I'm a lot more older, mature, have higher celebrity status (and need to be concerned with my safety), but something about living in New York makes you more grounded and less celebrity-happy. (By the way, I was on the subway with Sandra Bullock yesterday afternoon. She sat directly across from me).
Anyway, on to my TRL story... I only caught the last 15 minutes or so but here who was in the Top Three Video Countdown.
1) Eminem
2) Kelly Clarkson
3) Christina Aguilera
Yes, one out of the top three is an ethnic minority (Christina Aguilera, in case you forgot), so I should be happy... BUT i got to thinking that this order of musical popularity is a direct reflection of the ameriKKKanization of our youth.
I. GUILTY CONSCIENCE: Eminem admits that he would never be making the amount of money that he makes if he wasn't White. He blatantly calls out White people in telling them "If I was Black, I know I wouldn't make half, I didnt have to graduate from Lincoln High to know that" and yet White people religiously buy his music and treat him like a god. No, his message isn't even getting across... White people still are not buying "Colored" music in the same amounts that they are buying "White" music. So although he's basically saying "You White people are stupid," they still buy his music and love every minute of it.
II. SELL OUT- Kelly Clarkson, America's Idol, in #2. First of all the song is complete cheese (soooo cheesy, that I find myself singing it in the shower every morning)... BUT it isn't music. It's a Hollywood-produced song and image... It's as if someone in Hollywood said "Hey, let's push for something so ridiculously stupid, just to see if American Youth buys into it..." And yes, they did. The song was blatantly written for a White person to win. Tamyra Gray or Christina Christian didn't even have a chance... And while I will continue to support Tamyra and Christina in their musical efforts, I cannot support Kelly Clarkson at all. She's a product of the man.
III. LATINA LOVER- Christina Aguilera's new video, "Dirty" premieres on her new album "Stripped." What is this woman trying to do? Despite recent efforts to represent Latinos as equals in society, Christina Aguilera (and her producers) broadcast her new video, featuring scantily clad horny Latinas and ghetto gangsta wife-beating Chollos, and titles it a common stereotype that many people still attribute to those from Latin America: "DIRTY." Blatant irresponsibilty. Sure, she wants her album to sell, but at what price do you sell out your people in order to do so??? Not feeling me yet?? Well let's say for example, that Jocelyn Enriquez (or any other pinay star) decides to sing a song called "Dogeater" and in the video, she features half-naked Filipina prostitutes and unkempt brown boys picking rice in the fields... Let's say this said video was glamouried and shot in a way where it was so sexy and so appealing, that it started to go to #1... what then does the average white person from Vermont start to think about Pilipinos?? Well, he sees them on TV, and realizes that these people consciously participated in the making of this video, hence all Pilipinos ARE like that... hence, thanks to Christina Aguilera, that same White person in Vermont (or Iowa or Montana or CALIFORNIA) thinks that all Latinos are dirty... Thank you, Christina!
So in conclusion, these top three people show what you have to do make it. 1) Be White. 2) Sing what sells. 3) Sell out your people. The end.
TRANSPLANT IS AN ANGRY MINORITY
So I'm on my racial soapbox again, simply because no one else ever goes on it with me... People are so comfortable with the way that their lives are that they do not sit to think that they are even oppressed. I can admit. I've been guilty of this too, especially if you're in a state like California... In CA, I'm surrounded by people of color all the time, I have access to other Pilipinos and all kinds of Pilipino culture. I'm comfortable. I don't have to think about these issues... And people who do think about all of this stuff are just activists, revolutionaries, and wasting their time, because nothing will ever change... I don't care that a White man is in complete control of my safety, my well-being, and my health. I don't care that a White man teaches my children what is normal. I don't care that I watch White people on TV all the time, and I don't care that people of my same ethnic background are NEVER on TV. We have Rufio, Prince Charming, and Tia Carrere (who tells everyone she's Chinese and Spanish)... I don't care that no one else outside of California even knows what a Filipino is. I don't care that the the second I leave California, I have to explain myself everywhere I go... I don't care that my people are dying of HIV/AIDS, I don't care that my little sisters are all getting pregnant at 14. I don't care that none of my little cousins are graduating from high school... I really don't care... Let's just go clubbing and have sex. That'll be more fun.
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