Kadijah Webster; Blog 3: The Illusion of Musicals

While watching the The Colored Museum, one scene that particularly struck me was "The Last Mama-on-the-Couch play" scene.  All of the characters were talking about serious topics, but they were all depicted in humorous ways.  The son was talking about being put down by "the man" but he dramatized it so much that the audience would find humor in it.  I feel as if portraying the his story and emotions in this way makes it harder for one to understand what he is feeling.  Honestly, I feel as if that was exactly what they were going for.  Many black voices in the media are viewed through a comical lens.  How can someone understand another person's struggle if it is punchline of a joke?  People are blind to oppression and discrimination to black and even other races of color because of the fact that within the media, the approach to showing their problems are often light-hearted.

In my class this morning, we were discussing our current novel Dessa Rose.  Well when looking for the book online I quickly found that it was also a musical, but never bothered to look into that side of the story.  When reading the book, you encounter a very serious tone about slavery and the mistreatment within its lines.  However, after viewing clips of the musical today in class, you see that there is a different approach to the story.  The songs that were heard were both upbeat and gave the scenes a happy feeling.  I don't understand how one could go towards telling a story about slavery in this way.  Maybe it was a marketing technique and the songs were written it such a way to bring in a larger audience.  Personally, I just feel as if a story about something as serious as slavery should be sung about in such easy, comedic way.  I've inserted one of the clips that I saw today and hopefully you can understand where I am coming from.

Just Over the Line from Dessa Rose

I just feel like one major reason that people are so aware of history or things around them is because of the media.  However, whether someone decides to believe that or try to educate themselves without blurred lines is the solely the person's choice and their choice only.  After my class today, I decided to approach this week's blog in a different way instead of answering the question presented to us.  This was just something that I needed to express.