eSsaY QueStioN..x

‘Using the comparison of these two texts as your starting point, explore the media issues and debates which they raise…’

You will need to address:

• Key concepts
• Contextual factors
• Media theory

‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’, by Gil Scott-Heron is a rap genre music record from 1972. The date of its release highlights the fact that it was one of the earlier records of this genre to be publicised. This track portrays a view of society where ethnic minorities were seen to be under represented within the media, which displays a hegemonic view about society suggested by Karl Marx where media production was predominantly white owned and therefore portrayed accompanying views. ‘The revolution will not be televised’, as the title of this track and considering it’s repetition within the track highlights this fact as a clear message to its intended audience which would presumably, primarily be the African American community of all ages at the time. However, today we would be more likely to link the rap genre with mostly male teenagers from perhaps 15/16 – 24 years of age whom aspire to be or identify with the artists that they listen to. This idea of Personal Identity where the audience may construct their own identity from characters in media texts is suggested by Blumer & Katz ‘Uses & Gratifications Theory’.

The content of this track in comparison with the rap records released today emphasize upon the fact that the issues and topics that were discussed in tracks of this nature at the time are completely different from what we associate rap music with in today’s society. For example, in this track Gil Scott-Heron raises issues about the under or misrepresentations of the black community whereas a typical rap record today would usually be associated with the likes of money, drugs, crime and women for example Jay-Z’s ‘Big Pimpin’, identifying a shift of priorities almost as many would argue that black culture is now more popular but the representations of the black community that we as the audience consume are perhaps inappropriate or wrong.

‘Your Revolution’, by Sarah Jones from 1998 presents exactly this view in the form of a contemporary and post modernist text. She has used the method of intertextuality and pastiche in order to express her views about what has become of the representations and portrayals of the black community in mainstream media. Although her track also discusses a form of ‘revolution’ like Gil Scott-Heron’s ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’, she focuses largely upon ‘the female revolution’. ‘When it finally comes, It’s gonna be real’, depicts the view that the female revolution has not yet happened, creating a sense of female empowerment through this text. This empowerment is also recognised through the explicit sexual references which she makes, ‘Your revolution will not happen between these thighs’, challenging the subordinate stereotypes of women.

Jones’s criticism of other mainstream black artists portrays her anger of what has become of the black community; she takes overt shots at artists such as Foxy Brown, LL Cool J and Biggie Smalls suggesting that they have taken inappropriate advantage of their position in the media. This suggests that such artists have conformed to the roles given to them by society where a black person is narrowed down to being seen as having one of three characteristics: black person as entertainer, trouble maker or dependent as suggested by Stuart Hall.

Both texts convey a form of ‘revolution’ taking place. Where Heron proposes the fact that black people are not given the opportunity to be represented within the media, Jones proposes the view that in fact they are now represented in popular culture but in a negative light.