One of the stories on the AP wire this weekend is Paramount Pictures has been asked to pull billboards promoting rapper 50 Cent's new movie, Get Rich or Die Tryin' because 50 Cent is holding a gun in his right hand. Here's the story if anyone is interested:
Yahoo! News Story
Reports have said community leaders especially want the billboards pulled from areas near schools and areas with high instance of gang violence. This I would have to agree on. The poster is not appropriate for those areas. Location aside, people against the poster are focusing on the gun in 50 Cent's hand in the poster. Lest we forget:
The Terminator
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088247/
Tomorrow Never Dies
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120347/
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0356910/
Desperado
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112851/posters
There are a number of other movies that could also fall under the same 'poster gun toting' objection. So my question is what is the difference between these posters and 50 Cents'? Or are all posters equally reprehensible that show the main characters with guns in their hands? I've heard arguments the difference between those posters and 50's poster hinge on the relatibility of the main characters. 50 Cent is an easily relatable character because to some kids there individuals 'like' him in their immediate vicinity. And being a British secret agent with a license to kill, killer cyborg from the future, or gun slinging married contract killers for is less relatable. Oh really? How many kids have put a cape on trying to be Superman or Batman, jumped off of buildings trying to be Spiderman, or some other far out fictional character?
I am loathe to agree that the easy answer is that hip hop has made itself an easy target. Artist looking, acting, and singing about thug life sell records so they get tons more attention in development. As they say the proof is in the pudding: In 2003 Eminem, one of the most contraverserial artists out there virtually carried the entire music industry during a time depressed CD sales. Hip hop is not the easy answer. Hip hop is the obvious answer. Besides rap, I listen to a lot of other forms of music...rock, metal, alternative, you name it. Whenever some senator, activitist group, or PAC gets on CNN and CSPAN and denounces the obvious it turns my stomach. Denouncing the obvious, makes it easy to prey on people's fears and predjudices to score political points. What about those rock, metal, speed-metal or God knows whatever sub-genres of rock and metal with violent and lude lyrics? Because they don't garner the same level of popularity, they are less important? Come on people.
For the record: no, I don't advocate the glorifying of ANY 'thug' lifestyle, be it drug dealers, mafia, or whatever else. This issue is too deep to get into in just one post. We've got First Amendment issues, personal responsibility issues, and proliferation of mores (all different sorts, from all different sorts of interested individuals). I'll make a note and hopefully revisit this later.
Posted by tony at October 30, 2005 2:28 AM