This is my response to Kelsey's blog entry from last week:
http://versionsoffiction.blogspot.com/2011/10/im-monster.html
I did a music video for my blog entry last week so I thought I’d stick with that whole thing and review another one. So here is what I thought about Kanye’s “Monster” video:
Excerpt 1: "... The best living or dead hands down huh?
less talk more head right now huh?
and my eyes more red than the devil is
and I’m bout to take it to another level bitch
there you go again, ain't nobody as cold as this
do the rap and the track triple double no assist
but my only focus is staying on some bogus shit
argue with my older bitch acting like I owe her shit..."
Excerpt 2:
"... conquer, stomp ya, stop your silly nonsense
none of you niggas know where the swamp is
none of you niggas have seen the carnage that I’ve seen
I still hear fiends scream in my dream
murder murder in black convertibles
I kill a block I murder avenues
rape and pillage a village, women and children
everybody wanna know what my Achilles' heel is..."
After those two excerpts I think you might be well aware of where I’m headed with this. Let’s start with the video to kick things off. I’m in Doug Park’s Film Studies class as well as Seminar on Octavia Butler so analyzing rap videos should be my cup of tea. You can judge for yourself though.
When I was watching this video I instantly took note of how it took place in Kanye’s dark home. He’s engaging in sexual, yet empty, relationships with women. There is the bed scene where he adjusts the arm of one girl behind the other sitting next to him – suggesting that he has to do work just to make these affairs have any kind of chemistry. Meanwhile, we also get a shot of a tall woman whose face is off-screen that has the heel of her stilettos through the chest of a man on the floor – obviously a “man eater” sort of woman. We also have crowds of people who want to get inside of Kanye’s house and he intimidates and scares them off through a window. So, what sort of character does he resemble from our readings?
He’s a wealthy, alpha-male character who keeps “a house” and has a sort of polygamist system going on. WHO’S THAT POKEMON?
IT’S DORO!
The first excerpt does a fantastic job of describing Doro’s character, the way he looks, the way he acts, the way he thinks about people and women. He’s cold hearted and is willing to use force to get what he wants. He’s “the best living or dead” because you can’t kill him unless his “oldest” or, in Mary’s case the youngest but most promising. All throughout Doro’s stories he’s dealing with his struggles with controlling “his women.” His men serve him or die trying to run but it’s always the women who give him trouble and, clearly, Kanye suffers from the same problem. (LOL)
The second excerpt isn’t too much more important than the first one but it really embodies Doro’s tenacity. Most remarkable is the very last line considering that nobody could figure out how to kill Doro until Mary did. And who could have predicted that, anyways?
I think that the high stardom of being a famous black artist in America really inspires the sort of attitude that Doro embodies. Especially for someone like Kanye who thinks of himself as a god, or Jesus, or something... he really takes after that attitude. Personally, I think Doro is a lot more reserved and refined but you know.
With love,
-Cirque
