Pop Culture Analysis Rough Draft !

Briana Lanza Kyle

Mrs. Thomas

Composition 1

October 2012

Dear Mr. President:

Pinks Letter to the President

Throughout people’s lives the combination of sounds and words have come together to tell the story in which the artist would like to recite. As time progressed music never became any less important than anything else people still listened to music all the time but the sound of the music began to change and is now becoming more political in which they now not only speak about the happy times of their life but also the parts of their life that they don’t like and things that are happening government wise in which they do not like. Earlier in the years the music was more subliminal as to what they had to say about controversial things throughout the songs but over time some artist became more liberal although fame would not always be as quick for some One of the many songs that went against the grain of being politically correct is both written and sung by Pink. That political enemy is Dear Mr. President is discussing the many decisions President Bush had made during his terms as president, asking him to take a walk with her so that she could ask him how he feels about his actions and decisions as a President. She was questioning the sincerity of his heart with words like “how do you sleep while the rest of us cry? How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye? How do you walk with your head held high?” Through this song Pink attacked the President’s actions but this is not the only time that someone in the media attacks someone of a higher power.

 Pink grew up in a home with divided views, her father was a republican and she was a democrat, and a very liberal one at that. Through music people often express their feelings but in many cases when politics become involved, that is a big mistake, you don’t talk about the president especially while we was in power. So with this being the case Pink’s song was the talk around the world because of her bold out statement. So knowing that her music may not get played on the radio, Pink made sure that if people felt the same way she did and had the same questions she wanted to ask. would if they could talk to the former President. She made sure that people could see the anguish she had felt for the two terms in which he had served. But her song also helped people express and for some open up their eyes to what was going on in the world.

Through the words “Dear Mr. President, come take a walk with me. Let’s pretend we’re just two people and you’re not better than me. I’d like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestly.” This for appealed to the people of the entire country whether you heard the entire song or not everyone has a question for the president. You could tell through this song that she directed it to president Bush because she made it during his term and through the video they had recorded he was in it. There is not official videos of it because of the controversy that it could have caused there are only videos of her singing it live with the photos which played behind her. The Radio did not allow this to play because of the direct attack at the current president, neither did this song get played that often on tv also because of the fact that it was of our current president. This song was not only a problem for the media but also the outside world. In the article No Pink at Talent Show by Matthew Rothschild he discusses that Molly Shoul wanted to sing pink’s song at the talent show but when the teacher in charge of the show heard it he said she had to have the song approved by the principal because of the language used and the topic being very political. When she asked the principal for the approval she said she could not sing the song because “the song was too political and would be inappropriate because of the word hell in it, along with whiskey and cocaine and gay.” After hearing this her mother wrote an email to the principal claiming that it was unfair and that they should not shield the children of today with what’s going on in the world  and violating her rights as a citizen of the US. The girl had been practicing for weeks after she had heard the song and when was told she could not preform it but could perform another song said she did not want to because she really liked the song. This song appealed to the little girls ethics and feelings, she felt as if she agreed and wanted everyone else hear what she believed in. This was important because often children know of what’s going on but do not really understand so with music like this it helps the children want to be more intact with the world.

The little girl in the school was not the only person to believe in expressing her feelings and not care what people have to say about it. Pink was an liberal person before this song and truly believes in her political beliefs. She does not mind that some people do not want to play her music because she knows that she has put her point out there. she had only sung the song publically at her concerts and a few times on television like when she performed on the Jimmy Kimmel show. After her performance she thanked him for allowing her to perform and discuss her song (Walls, Today). So it is obviously that it is not very often in the United States that people hear a lot of political music. So if politics is not discussed through song they also   for instance in Arizona with the immigration law that just passed. According to the article, The Border will Always be Porous written by they discuss how everyday people protest outside of court house for a law that makes them literally carry around their citizenship paper stating they are citizen or not illegal aliens to the country just because they do not look like they are from here. But there is not much they could do to prevent the movement of the aliens in and out of the country (Chideya). Although it is not discussed a lot it still makes a statement on the culture of society and what is seen by the people of the country and world.

Even though politics is not a common subject of songs for the world, Music artist of the present world come together to sing at an event called Live Earth. Organized by the former Vice President Al Gore and Live 8 producer Kevin Wall it is called a “pop extravaganza” where people “use the global reach of music” to “engage more than two billion people” in “a call to action to combat the climate crisis.” (Panton, 4) People come together to discuss the climate at this event but using music as the fuel for the people to hear what is going on in the world.

Although this music sang may not be mainstream it is still considered pop music because pop is a sound, a genre and not only a culture. Pink’s song is one the few that actually speak about politics but it’s not the only. She attacked a president but she is not the only artist that as ever done this. Politics is more intertwined with pop than people may think but the world is connected in every way.

Work Cited

1.      Rotschild, Matthew. "No pink at talent show." The Progressive July 2006: 18+. Academic OneFile. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.

In his article, Rotschild discusses how pop culture and politics could overlap each other within society. A child had wanted to perform the artist Pink’s song Dear Mr. President at her talent show. The principal claimed the song to not be public school surrounding because of its use of the words in the songs. This source is reliable source cause its author is well known is writes for a magazine in which only has the types of progressive stories within them like Pink’s song would be. I would use this source in my example of how this song itself affected the world and the way people thought. This is a direct example of how Pink’s song started controversy.

2.         Panton, James. "Pop goes Politics." The World Today. N.p.: Royal Institute of Internal Affairs, 2007. 4-6. Print

In this article, Panton describe how through different sources politics is used and affects more than just the people in the country but also the people in the world. Showing how politics is discussed in more than just the oval office but also in the actions and words of people of the world. This source is reliable because it comes from a well-known author and publication. This book has been in product for a long time discussing things going on in the United States politically. The way I would like to use this source is by showing how politics and pop culture are really intertwined. They also give insight to other things such as the whole culture of pop and not just its music.

3.           Chideya, Farai. "Pop and Politics." Pop and Politics. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2012.

On this website, they discuss different ways that pop culture and pop music affects politics. This website consists of many different kinds of pop culture events that relevance to people in politics. This source is reliable because there is not a necessary bias outlook on things because people can summit articles that they want. All of the posts have to be approved and proven also. I plan on using this by reading the articles and seeing how politics is intertwined with pop music.

4.         Walls, Jeanette. "Are Pink's Anti-Bush Views Being Censored?" Today.msnbc.msn.com. Today, 13 Apr. 2007. Web. 26 Oct. 2012.

This article is about what pink has to say about them wanting to censor her music and the fact that she only got to play on the Jimmy Kimmel show. This website is important and liable because it is from the news and a reflection of a conversation in which they had with pink making it a valuable source. Also it is not including bias and only using facts and things they heard first hand. I plan on using this by adding in that she only got to discuss her song on the Jimmy Kimmel show more than any other show. 

5.         Chideya, Farai. "Pop and Politics." Pop and Politics. Farai Chideya, 27 Oct. 2010. Web. 26 Oct. 2012.

This article has a video within the blog post that discusses the immigration laws in Arizona and how the government there feels about it. This website is a reliable source because she has a direct interview with the person and not just her own opinion where he gets to speak for himself and not have a bias. I plan on using this source as another form of using pop as a culture to discuss the world. Also by showing that pop and politics are still intertwined.

Summary and Analysis: Sway ' Chapter 4

According to Rom and Ori Brafman people are influenced by a power inside of them that no one understands this power causes people to act irrationally. This power that they talk about is called sway. When I first heard the word sway, I thought of when you sway someone towards believing something or doing something. When reading the book Sway by the brothers Rom and Ori Brafman I realize that sometimes people are swayed by more than just another person but in alternate ways, using observation and impatience to sometimes react and assume different outcomes. One of the many different forms of sway is diagnosis bias. This type of sway is one of the most common types because of the natural human nature to judge someone before you actually know them. This happens more when you hear or read something about someone rather than seeing the person physically. When Rom and Ori wrote this chapter you could tell that they made sure that the used valid enough examples and language that would help heighten your belief in the sway of diagnosis bias or even sway at all.

                The brothers wrote about the NBA Draft and how players were chosen and how some players are over looked because of their draft pick. This is the first story that caught my interest because I would think that once someone makes it to the major leagues I would have more to do with what they are doing now. One of the main players he spoke about was Michael Jordan and the Blazers decision not to choose him in the draft. The Blazers had one of the top choices and over looked because of his standings. They did not know he would be one of the greatest by what was on paper, they had assumed wrong. Now they know that they would have made a great choice if they chose him but this shows diagnosis bias because they diagnosed that he wouldn’t have been as good he was because he did not have everyone thinking that he will be that great. They were bias because they assumed that only people who were high draft picks would be a lot better than the ones that are lower when necessarily that’s not true. In basketball you could work the hardest in the league but if you were not a top draft pick people may not see that because they only tend to look at people who have higher draft picks.

                An additional story that the brother intertwined into the draft story is a segment about when a substitute teacher comes in. For the example the class was given description papers but the kicker was not everyone had the same paper. Some students had a paper saying that he would be nice and warm and friendly, while the others got a paper saying he would be cold and mean. When they were asked to evaluate his personality, the people who got the paper what said he would be nice said he was nice and the people who got the paper said he was cold. Once I had read this I realized that I have done that before. I have read that a person acts a particular way but when I meet the person I already had an idea of what I thought the person would be like and it blocked my judgment on the person’s actual personality. I judged them on what I had read or heard and not just getting to know them. When you do this you pass judgment on someone you already knew and probably should have just waited to meet. For instance, in college when you look up a teacher on ratemyprofessor.com you find that some people have nice things to say and some people have mean things to say. So before you even get to class you have already started to judge the way the teacher will be before you are able to formulate your own opinion.

                Through Rom and Ori’s writing you could see that when they wrote this chapter they wanted the people to have examples and people that they could relate to. They used language and sentences that helped the reader want to read the chapter more in depth. Their sentence structure also helped with their writing because without the short precise sentences that they used it could have been a chapter that was difficult to keep up with. In this case the chapter was not something difficult to understand although some of the stories were intertwined and that made the chapter easy to remember because they showed how they were alike although they were different situations. I feel that this chapter was the best written chapter because of its fluency. Something that made the reading easier also was that you basically could relate to every situation in this chapter. They did a good job playing on what people know and who they know in the way that it made the stories feel so much more real and you became more interested in know what kind of sway they were going to talk about now.