Usually, I am an extremely picky person when it comes to which music award shows I will watch, and the Grammy Awards are really not much of an exception. I am a huge indie, rock and alternative music fan and do not typically branch out into other types of music besides these. I often blame my older brother for making me so narrow-minded when it comes to different musical styles because as a child he had me only listening to the Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana and Led Zeppelin. Typically, I know the exact awards I want to see presented or performers I would like to see and fast forward just to those segments. This year I acted the exact same way and went straight to the best rock and alternative album presentations and watched one of my absolute favorite bands, Radiohead, perform.
However, I am definitely a little disappointed in my narrow point of view when it comes to award shows, especially this year. Originally, I was planning on going back to my recorded video of the Grammy’s and watching particularly for how race was portrayed through out the awards show. Yet before I could do that, I learned about the whole Rihanna and Chris Brown spectacle that happened at the Grammy Awards. I did a little research on the situation, which of course led me to Perez Hilton and MTV’s websites. Although a domestic violence case is something extremely serious and should be handled in private, anytime something like this happens to two celebrities it will never be kept quiet.
My only concern about the domestic violence case between these two celebrities is how it would be perceived in the media. I almost feel as though the entire scene of Chris Brown having to turn himself in at the Grammy’s fit into everyone’s stereotypical thoughts of a black rapper. You wouldn’t have expected one of the three Jonas Brothers or a member of Coldplay to be arrested, but maybe you could just imagine a black rapper being in a situation such as this. However, I do think the way he handled the entire deal, by turning himself in to the police, showed a certain level of maturity and responsibility for his actions in this case. Yet, will anyone even notice that or will the media just settle on another black rapper getting into trouble and being put in jail for violence yet again? It’s hard to say for me really, but I hope the media can put away their preconceived thoughts about race and see the situation for what it really is.
jordyn- the chris brown and rihanna case was very disturbing to me. i am aware that much of this goes on around the world but you are right...since this couple has such a celebrity status, it was exploded onto front pages, headlines, talk shows etc. i do agree that it is a racial stereotype of a male black rapper, but also believe that if a jonas brother abused a girl it would too be on the front pages and headlines all around just as chris browns case is.
ReplyDeletethe fact that this was such big "news", the media ate it up for all it was worth. hopefully people will look at this and realize domestic abuse is a problem these days and help fight for those in danger.