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On Fri, 8 Jul 1994 Rollins@osuunx.ucc.okstate.edu wrote: > While Beavis and Butthead may not be overtly racist, I wonder if the musical > selections used on the show (which cover predominantly white groups) don't > reveal a more subtle bias. Occasionally rap pieces are used; B & B frequently > talk over them. And they certainly don't receive the head-banging salute give n > to Pantera and Gwar. MTV seems to have segmented itself into rap, heavy metal , > and a grab bag called "Alternative Nation." I suspect if you measured the > airtime of these three segments against the play-time on B & B you would find a > clear pattern. Also, I am also suspicious of the demographic make-up of B & B 's > high school, which seems suburban and predominately white. > > Jeffrey Steele, Univ. of Wisconsin > jasteele@macc.wisc.edu Hmm. Content analysis, anyone? Okay, clearly B&B don't react to the rappers they like with the same enthusiasm they expend on Metallica, but this seems only sensible. First, the styles themselves have certain demand responses built in. Metal sorts of lends itself to headbanging, while rap seems naturally to encourage a more butt-boogie engagement from its fans. Secondly, of course they don't respond as wildly to the music of urban blacks - they aren't urban blacks. Especially in the commercial, marketed, researched, demographically segmented world of the postmodern era, one would expect them to be rather thoroughly targeted by the music industry. I'm really uneasy suggesting that a general preference for the music of one's own culture implies some sort of covert racism. Carried to its logical extent, this argument renders most everybody racist, and hence renders the term meaningless. As for the predominately white suburban school they attend: again, are you saying that since Judge chose to locate these characters in a particular environment (I'm guessing this is the kind of school he attended, and therefore knows about) that he's displaying some sort of subtle racism? I guess I want some clarification here before I respond further, because I'm not sure this is what you mean to say. Obviously, I disagree. So if you could elaborate a bit it might help me. ================================================================== Samuel Random Smith Center for Mass Media Research 303-938-1845 (voice) University of Colorado smithsr@ucsu.colorado.edu
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