Showing posts with label France. Show all posts
Showing posts with label France. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
FIRST "NOT" GRAFFITI PICTURE
Thursday, November 19, 2009
CHATEAU GABRIEL
Thursday, August 13, 2009
IAM V. JUSTICE
Both of these videos depict violence and life in the French banlieues, only one video ponders it while the other parodies it.
IAM'S PETIT FRERE
V.
Over a year ago, my homeboy Colonel K Speaks posted the video for "Stress" and recorded his reactions on DC blog, Brightest Young Things. There were a record 56 comments, most of which asserted opinions that the video isn't racist. I'd venture to say the majority of the commenters are Americans. I think we completely misunderstand how race/racism is perceived in Europe. Here in New York City particularly (where I live), it's easy to go walk through the projects into a nice neighborhood, but in Europe the ghetto neighborhoods tend to be completely on the outskirts of town. Colonel K should know well, he lived in the banlieue for a year.
In my humblest of opinions, the video for Stress is racist, straight up and down. I'd go even further by saying it's a vapid attempt at connecting the French ghetto with pop culture (we see this all the time in the States). All the 'punks,' 'hoodlums,' whatever you want to call them, are wearing Justice jackets with the signature Justice cross on the back. What are they, part of the Justice army/street team? This is in stark contrast to IAM's video which appears to genuinely shed some light on a serious issue in France regarding youth and violence. Romain Gavras's (nicely) directed video for "Stress," on the other hand, looks to exploit the issue. (Interestingly enough, Romain Gavras is son of politically-charged documentarian/filmmaker Costa-Gavras).
All in all, the video for "Petit Frere" is genuine; it's exploring a real issue while "Stress" just appears to be completely contrived.
And that's my $0.02.
V.
Justice - Stress from Freedom Record on Vimeo.
Over a year ago, my homeboy Colonel K Speaks posted the video for "Stress" and recorded his reactions on DC blog, Brightest Young Things. There were a record 56 comments, most of which asserted opinions that the video isn't racist. I'd venture to say the majority of the commenters are Americans. I think we completely misunderstand how race/racism is perceived in Europe. Here in New York City particularly (where I live), it's easy to go walk through the projects into a nice neighborhood, but in Europe the ghetto neighborhoods tend to be completely on the outskirts of town. Colonel K should know well, he lived in the banlieue for a year.
In my humblest of opinions, the video for Stress is racist, straight up and down. I'd go even further by saying it's a vapid attempt at connecting the French ghetto with pop culture (we see this all the time in the States). All the 'punks,' 'hoodlums,' whatever you want to call them, are wearing Justice jackets with the signature Justice cross on the back. What are they, part of the Justice army/street team? This is in stark contrast to IAM's video which appears to genuinely shed some light on a serious issue in France regarding youth and violence. Romain Gavras's (nicely) directed video for "Stress," on the other hand, looks to exploit the issue. (Interestingly enough, Romain Gavras is son of politically-charged documentarian/filmmaker Costa-Gavras).
All in all, the video for "Petit Frere" is genuine; it's exploring a real issue while "Stress" just appears to be completely contrived.
And that's my $0.02.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Monday, June 2, 2008
People look at me and they get bored.
Say hello to my new favorite band, Cheveu from Paris, France. This is their video for the song "Dog."
They have been on constant rotation for the past few weeks and I do not use the word 'constant' lightly. I am trying hard to procure as many of their releases as I can and will even venture to Brooklyn if I have to for the LP (and for those of you that know me, that is dedication right there). I might even have to tap that ebay for these guys, something I haven't done since buying Modest Mouse's Interstate 8. They rule my world... and they'll probably rule yours in a few months and I'll say, "told you so."
They have been on constant rotation for the past few weeks and I do not use the word 'constant' lightly. I am trying hard to procure as many of their releases as I can and will even venture to Brooklyn if I have to for the LP (and for those of you that know me, that is dedication right there). I might even have to tap that ebay for these guys, something I haven't done since buying Modest Mouse's Interstate 8. They rule my world... and they'll probably rule yours in a few months and I'll say, "told you so."
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