The Beatles - The Unified Musical Experience

      So for this week I knew I was going to write an article about music and music performance. This was inspired due to recent performances on television (The SuperBowl, SNL and the like). I was going to take the spin about how musicians are still able to receive popularity and not be good live. This is something I’m quite floored by, but I think I want to talk about something else tonight. 

      Today was the 50th anniversary of The Beatles performance on the Ed Sullivan show, and the beginning of their incredible rise of popularity. The Beatles and their span of performances is one of the few unified experiences that most of America and the UK (Not to mention most of the rest of the world) have shared. 

     To watch the performances tonight only shows what a dominant impact this one band has had on our culture and in the half-century since they began. After seeing all the performances tonight it was a magical experience for those watching and those who were live. This would shave been a great show to see. 

      The question I wish to pose is where is this unified experience now? Do we share common music and experiences? 

      There are moments that we can all recall in more recent music history, however this is only relegated to the age you are or the music genre you like. It does not have the same universal impact that The Beatles had. 

      Case and point was made by Dave Grohl tonight when he mentioned that the Beatles was his mother’s favorite band, his favorite band, and now his daughter’s favorite band (Who was like 6-7). 

      When music can transcend generations, that is inspiring. From a historical perspective the only genre that has done that with out massive changes in classical music, which is like comparing apples to oranges. 

      Its not for lack of talent either, a look at the current music scene and there is plenty of talent to go around. Tonights series of performances from the Salute to the Beatles included many modern artists who are really talented, however with the exception of Stevie Wonder, it’s likely most of them will not have the mass popularity of their music. 

      My thought is that the biggest cause to this lack of shared experience comes from two causes: music’s decline as a form of entertainment, and the diversity of music that permeates our culture. 

      For your average person, music is no longer considered a form of entertainment in it’s own right, it is mainly used a noise or something to help pass the time. It is usually being listened to in combination with something else. This already lowers the immediate value of the art, and is not something that is truly appreciated as much as visual arts. 

      The other culprit being the diversity of the music we have now. Their is a genre for everyone, and access is easier than it has ever been. This is not a bad thing! Their is something that everyone can enjoy out there, and most of us find that one genre that we really like. This however makes it harder to have a shared cultural musical experience.

      I would love to see an artist or band have an impact now like The Beatles did then, however with the obvious two roadblocks listed and the lack of focus our culture has on music, it seems unlikely. 

      However at least we are fortunate to experience those moments in hindsight, and see these phenomenal artists still - 50 years later. 

      And…Paul and Ringo still got it, no question

A Missed Opportunity - Japanese Vs. Western Animation

      I have been a big fan of both Japanese animation and of Western animation for most of my life. The one thing that has always bothered me is why doesn’t the West ever have animation with meaningful plot lines?

 

      For example, the three largest animated shows created here in the United States over the last twenty years for mass media consumption have to be The Simpsons, South Park, and Family Guy. All three of these series are comedic in nature and follow a very sitcom-like model. There are very few examples of animation that has any kind of meaningful plot line or story to them and shows that have more mature themes on top of that is even less likely. 

      In Japanese animation this is the norm, I think one of the biggest contrasts between these two cultures is that Anime series usually end after one season (two at the most). Their are exceptions (DBZ, anything made by Shonen Jump), but the norm is that these are relatively short.  This offers a lot of advantages for writers, they can write one story arc that is compelling to watch and they approach the beginning of there series with an end game already in mind. Shows that don’t follow this model tend to have a lot of filler (Naruto, Bleach, DBZ to name a few). 

      In American animation we tend to see more of a sitcom model where their is minimal continuity from one episode to the next. This makes the show much more accessible but also requires minimal dedication to the series. I find it odd that with the rise more recently of shows with really deep plot lines (Breaking Bad, Walking Dead, Game of Thrones) that no one has really considered to adapt this to an animated series.

      However Americans also have the general stigma that animated shows are either meant for kids, or that they should be funny in nature. This is a major diverging point between the two schools of animation. Their are several anime dramas and more are made each year, while in American animation, this is extremely marginalized. 

      If the west ever did decide to pursue an animated series with more of a plot, and meant for a more mature audience I think that it would now be a hard sell. Anime fans would immediately label this as a blatant rip-off of Japan Anime, and Americans would be resistant to adopt the show believing that animation is meant for kids and that the themes in the show are too adult for children. 

      I suppose on the plus side anime does give the audience a chance to experience parts of Japanese culture. Which I love, it’s something we never really get to see, and it has an authenticity to it. I suppose you could say the same by watching shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy. They do portray a lot of American culture as well. 

     

      Are their exceptions to this rule? Of course, I have seen some shows that have been made in the west that have great story lines. “Avatar” is a great series and has had two successful story arcs that are very similar to anime type writing (and have an eastern theme to begin with). Also some of the DC and Marvel animated series have had interesting and unique plot lines. I think that American comic book writing could have a major impact for animation, and hope to see more of this hit the animated medium. 

      Look at the fan base for DC/Marvel, for the movies we all see. The audience is there, now if we can make a compelling animated series. I think that this would be a major success. However if it isn’t adopted by a major network (aka not a “Kid’s network”) it won’t hit that older audience. American’s animation writing needs to move on from a product first (ie toys and product sales) mentality. Animation is just as much an art form as anything else, and since we take such pride in comics, why can’t we move this into animation?

A "Fables" animates series? I would watch it!

      What do you think? Is the west just behind in this type of writing? Have we missed our opportunity? Are their other avenues we could be pursuing? Or is their something else to anime that the west just cannot imitate? 

This Gleek's Journey Ends with "The Quarterback"

      For the past several years I have been a major fan of the “Glee” series. I really liked the series for it’s excellent musical arrangements, great performances, and intelligently written story-lines. However once the first set of students graduated at the end of season 3, the plot and stories have drifted in a major way. The focus has shifted to glee club and Rachel story lines which I felt really split the show in half. 

      I tolerated this in season four and their was some really spectacular song arrangements and some decent crossover between the two “worlds”. However in season five with the passing of Cory Monteith, this has all but evaporated. One episode of the current season had included the Glee cast using puppets, once I saw this, I knew it was time to move on. 

      The Glee club is now merely an afterthought for the cast members who have been on the show since the beginning. They will be graduating at the end of the current season and will mostly be forgotten as the show will transitioning to focus mainly on Rachel and her NYC cohorts in the sixth and final season. (1)

      When I got word of that being the future direction of the series I realized that this show was going to be derailed. I think that this is the equivalent to what Scrubs had to do in season 9. Most people would consider Scrubs over in season 8, while the last season (I will jokingly refer to the med school as the “New Class”) is merely an afterthought. 

      Glee was a great proof of concept and shed public light on a lot of issues that most shows don’t have the opportunity to do so. (Especially in prime-time). One can only hope another show will take up the torch and continue this process. 

      I will miss the music most of all, I hope another show will be able to fill the void that Glee filled for a several years.

      I also wanted to talk a little about the last episode for me. “The Quarterback” was a very well written episode that was a fitting tribute to both Finn and Cory Monteith. It also was an excellent episode showing how all different people deal with grief, and you could tell for many of them the grief here was genuine. I was glad to see that most of this episode was done in single takes, and I think that is a tribute to all of the actors in this show. 

      My one complaint was the opening song. “525,600 minutes” was a very cliche choice song for this episode, and essentially felt out of place compared to the rest of the songs in this episode. My own opinions on “Rent” aside, I could have thought of several other songs they could have performed that would have been more fitting. 

      Matthew Morrison (Mr. Schuester), Dot Marie Jones (Coach Bieste), Mark Sailing (Puck), and Mike O’Malley (Kurt’s Dad) really shined in this episode. I was really impressed in how genuine their emotions were. I didn’t really feel that any of it was forced, which I think also shows how much Cory meant to all of them. 

      It was nice to see most of the cast (Former and new) was in the episode. I think Diana Argon was truly missed, and I think a better attempt should have been made to have her in the episode. It feels like she was snubbed. 

      All in all, an emotional but fitting end for me to a great series. I hope that what happens in the next season in a half won’t tarnish the great work they have done up until this point. But for this Gleek, the ride is over.

1 - http://www.hypable.com/2014/01/13/glee-season-5-exclusively-set-nyc/