GUISE I FINISHED MY ESSAY I WANT YOU TO READ IT TELL ME WHAT YOU THINKK Heavy Metal and Violence BLOCK 2 MS. MAY SAGE BLEVINS November 22, 2013 The best music is essentially there to provide you something to face the world with. —Bruce Springsteen Most of the heavy metal songs today have a variation of sounds, lyrics, and style, but they all agree on one thing: Rebellion. Through the years there has been a debate about whether metal can cause violent acts or behavior. Metal has a style that opposes things, whether it be government or conformity, metal is the genre that will always be known for rebellion, but does it really lead to violent acts? Metal is not just a genre of rebellion, it is one of acceptance. Typical ‘metal heads’ all have one thing in common and that is they usually don’t fit in. They are the social outcasts, the misfits, the unpopular ones who don’t really know their place in the world just yet. This genre of music lets those bands of misfits come together and agree and fit in. Some see metal music as objectifying women or even believing that males are the dominant gender. There have been studies on whether music can affect the way a male sees a female. So far no evidence has been found that harder music can cause a change in the male perspective to see women as objects or to see themselves as the dominant gender. The metal genre first became world known shortly after many authors wrote books on the subject; such as Teenage Wasteland: Suburbia’s Dead End Kids by Donna Gaines and Deena Weinstein or Heavy Metal: A Cultural Sociology. These books began to bring the genre to an intellectual mainstream. As metal became better known, more extreme forms of the genre began in deviancy to the social standards. A survey showed that many adolescents spend 3 hours a day and up to 21 hours a week listening to music. Many of the youth listen to music because of its ability to create a mood setting such as happy or sad; some people believe that the lyrics of the music that you listen to can have an effect on your mood and your actions. Metal genres can have violent themes, some fans have tendencies to act differently than people who listen to rap or pop music. Other research has found a similar connection between risky, reckless attitudes and behavior and the choice of heavy metal music (Martin et al., 1993). Research has also found that youth in juvenile detentions centers were three times more likely than other high school students to listen to heavy metal (Wass, Miller, & Reditt, 1991). There have been few studies on the effect of heavy metal on its listeners, some have found that the lyrics of the songs do not have any effect on violence or aggressive behaviors. Most people think the sounds of the music have a greater effect on actions and thoughts, heavy metal can be interpreted in many different forms depending on the person listening to music. An even greater amount of research has shown that visual media can have a large effect on behavior due to actually seeing the violent acts happen versus just hearing about an act of violence. The music video first came around in 1981 when the music channel Mtv first began. At first the videos were for publicity and to help boost record sales but evolved into a commercial item themselves. While most people believe music does have an effect on behavior, at the end of the day it is just that, music. While some of the lyrics may not be parent appropriate or be socially acceptable can a certain type of music really have an effect on your day to day behavior? Can it really affect your thoughts or even your actions? Typical metal heads started with an average white male who had different social views of those around him. Now the music has a fan base that expands over race, religion, and gender; this music has become a worldwide phenomenon from country to country. People all around the world enjoy music because it can calm us down, hype us up, make us happy, even feel less alone. Due to the extreme sounds of metal many scholars focus on music from the ‘70s and ‘80s, which has lost much of its initial shock value. Throughout the years this particular genre has become a stereotype that all metal music is reckless, appalling, and loud. “Rock music should be gross: that’s the fun of it and its attraction,” says Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden. Heavy metal almost has an obsession with the feelings of power, many essays say that this is due to the fact that metals main audience is the working class males. People who have no real power in their day to day lives, they seek to overcome economic oppression and conformity. Although metal can give one a sense of power, can this feeling power really lead to out of control rage and violent actions? It can give a feeling of power but also it can reveal the underlying fantasies about things not consciously brought to attention. This music can give the listener a chance to explore new ideas and feeling hidden just under the surface. Metal can give people hope, people who have lost their way and need a lift up metal can give them that hope and drive. Although some scholars believe they have revealed the underlying meaning to the lyrics of these songs the artists may have a different take. The people who create this music may have an underlying message hidden into the lyrics with a deep and powerful meaning. Although the lyrics may not always sound the best but the artists and fans can understand what message the artist may be trying to get across. Even though people may hear the sounds or the words that does not mean they hear the meaning. Artists may send a message in a roundabout way and the message may not always be a bad one; it could be a message of hope and one of not losing hope. Metal comes in many forms, from ‘80s glam to thrash metal, it is just like the people that listen to it; different. One of the first types of metal is known as Glam metal, or hair metal. A combination of hard rock and heavy metal, it gave birth too many popular bands such as Kix, Montley Crue, Bon Jovi, Poison, and Quiet Riot. The genre was popular until the ‘90s when grunge rock became more and more popular. Extreme metal is a term used for most types of metal music, such as thrash metal, death metal, and even black metal. It is known for its more harsher and non-commercialized style and sound. Although some criminals and juvenile delinquents prefer the sound of harder types of music can it really be linked to the reasons they commit the crimes they do? Many criminals who commit major forms of violence mainly have psychological issues that can cause an effect on behavior. The music they prefer is just a coincidence, anyone from cheerleaders to bikers can enjoy the sounds of metal music. There is no amount of solid evidence to prove whether this music can have an effect on actions and behavior or not. Studies done on people who listen to metal music have only been short term. But what effect can it have long term? Can music really drive a person too commit a heinous crime or are these crimes all psychological? The sole suspect in the Colorado theatre shooting, James Eagan Holmes was said to have preferred listening to heavy metal music; but he also had multiple psychological issues as well. Metal confronts what we would rather ignore, it celebrates what we often deny it indulges in what we fear most. That is why metal will always be a culture of outsiders. Bibliography I WROTE IT LAST MINUTE
Posted on: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 01:29:54 +0000
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