In today's society the teenager has had
more rights than ever before, along with these rights comes responsibility,
independence and good judgment. All of
those mentioned have been destroyed in many teenagers lives by these "Rock
Stars". The modern teenager is
exposed to many different things that may affect their lives as they choose to
live it, non quite as strong of a force than the effect of music, it is the
teens outlet to expression, rebellion and popularity all of which are very
important to the average teenager, but often in cases the teen who is trying to
conform becomes subject to the "Rock Star's" manipulation,
and that
is when obsession kicks in. Then not
only is the teenager subject to power corruption but so is the "rock
star". This is the important thing
to remember when dealing with the subject at hand.
There are many reasons why teenagers cling
to "rock stars", but there are always more popular reasons than
others. One main reason that this occurs
is because of the accessibility of what these "rock stars" are
publishing. Think of all the things that
teenagers have in front of them day-in, day-out; radio, television, clothes of
peers etc. All of which are covered with
popular musicians. So if they are so
accessible then most people are aware of this so they start to pay attention to
it, they see these extravagant people with no boundaries, limits or
regulations. Most of modern "rock
stars" have a catch something that stands out from the rest which leads to
peoples attention. Also most "rock
stars" these days have a relationship with the teens, the teens see
themselves (or what they want to call themselves) in the "rock stars"
presentation of their selves, but they take it to extremes so the teens say
"hey they are like me but better" so it becomes an obsession to
conform. These are some reasons why
teens are obsessed by "rock stars".
Out of
all the different age groups on this planet why do teens seem to be the
only ones
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who do this? Well teenagers have a great amount of time to
read so much into things. Its the first age in most peoples lives where real
independence is given, so they are desperate for something new to be controlled
by. The one main reason why teens are
the only age group subject to the manipulation of "rock stars" is because most of
these "rock stars" are still in a teenage state of mind, so the real
teenagers are already adapted to the environment that the "rockstars"
make for themselves.
Some bands are well known just for how
they acquire the liking of teenagers, they have absolutely no respect from any
other age group but they have millions of following teenagers. The
biggest one I can think of (in modern music) would be Nirvana. Their lead singer Kurt Cobain was the creator
of this whole "grunge" thing that took the world by storm a couple of
years ago(baggy ripped jeans, plaid, easy repetitious music). Kurt Cobain was basically to be a savour to
all teens, he related every thing he wrote to when he was a teenager and put
words to peoples experiences and looked like a rebellious teen himself. When he died the whole world was in mourning
all of teens never even have met him were taking the death way to far. There were three suicides that week in the USA, with notes
reading they could not live with out Kurt Cobain. He is just one of the many who are brain
washing teens world wide every day.
Another really big band who is known for
manipulating teenagers minds is Marilyn Manson.
Over the last couple years they have started a new world order for
teens. Their main ideas stressed being
kill everything around you especially religion, rules and basically the way the
majority of society has been raised to live their lives. They are the ultimate rebellion, every thing
that we have been taught to hate that is what they are. Their lead singer "The Reverend Mr.
Manson" was quoted in saying "I do not believe in Satan, I just think
it is the ultimate form of
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rebellion so I use
it to get through to people who don't understand my message at first". He
is known as the "All American Antichrist". Him and the rest of his band have not only
started a new world order they have started a rebellion of every one person who
takes the music seriously.
Power Corrupts is evident in not only the
teens perspective, but the "rock stars" too. The "rock star" first begins a path
to fame by having a trail of followers, then more begin to appear and more than
more. So the "rock star"
begins to acquire an ego and begins an unconscious battle between every other
popular music figure, "If I have this many followers I can make up
anything and they will believe it, by doing that I will steal fans from that
other band" and after that point begins a vicious circle of up-staging
between probably the most powerful people in the lives of all teenagers, which
can be extremely disastrous. By that
time the power has already corrupted the teenagers mind because they will say
things like "they are powerful I will believe what they say". This is how Power Corruption is involved in
the subject at hand.
The Appearance Vs. Reality factor is
enormous in the manipulation of teenagers minds from music. These teenagers have never met spoken to or
ever made facial expressions with these "rock stars" so why do they
believe, read in to and base their lives around what the "rock stars"
are saying, this is very relevant to the Appearance Vs. Reality subject. Also
when a teenager sees the "rock star" on television do they not ever
consider the fact that the "rock star" has a promoter writing the
words he/she says for him/her I know that might not be the same in all cases
but is a possibility. And in most
"rock stars" cases the point they are stressing is only to be used as
an eye opener not a way of life. This
how things are not as they seem.
In this study I have learned that most
"rock stars" are in fact looking for popularity with in teens, but
once they have, they are not as intrigued by it. I have also learned that not all teens
are Page
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like the ones I
have spoken about in this essay, but I am speaking of the majority in what I
have seen around me for how ever long I have been considered a teenager myself. This has nothing to do with my views on the
subject. As it has been stated before
teens are susceptible to the manipulation of modern popular musicians, but I
find if you keep an open mind and do not take things to literally the problem
can easily avoided.
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