Research Paper: Need ideas- about Music

bhill2.0

bhill2.0

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Writing a 5 pager about How music is not to blame for the downfall of kids. I'm taking the side that TV and movies and internet are way more accessible and easier to come across things like drugs alchol sex violdence and crime.

anyone have any ideas ?
any help is appreciated cus this is due in 3 hours
 
my advice: change your subject especially if this thing is due in 3 hours.

Say how it does effect kids. Postively and negatively. it all depends on the type of music they listen to.

Quote artists such as

Immortal Technique, song: Dance with the Devil, the Point of No Return, and Peruvian Cocaine

Grateful Dead

Phish

some rap artists

some of those are positive, others are negative.
 
Ive been a serious dick to you in the past, so here's some help.

Martin Scorcese wrote an essay about this...you can find some excellent citations (he was being blamed for kids murdering someone for his movie "Natural Born Killers")

“Memo to John Grisham: What’s Next—‘A Movie Made Me Do It’?” by Oliver Stone

and here's my critique.

The Movie Made Me Kill

Violence in the media does not influence violence in real life. It is a social injustice to blame our artists, directors, and writers for the violent actions committed by someone who happened to view their works. Holding filmmakers or writers responsible is an absurd philosophy that should not be tolerated in a free country.

Oliver Stone’s movie “Natural Born Killers” is at a controversial standing because one lawyer name John Grisham believes it is responsible for the murder committed by two very disturbed youths named Ben Darras and Sarah Edmondson. The two troubled teens have “histories of drug and/or alcohol abuse and psychiatric treatment” (687) which ultimately is the cause of their acts of violence. The children’s father also commits suicide after two divorces. Such devastating experiences definitely play a role in a youth’s psychological growth and well being. Sarah and Bens childhood was so disturbed that Sarah always carried a gun on her in fear that her own brother would attack her. Ben and Sarah’s childhood, and the atmosphere they were raised in, is to blame for their murderous actions. According to Grisham “Ben was quite anxious to kill someone.”(687) It is absurd to believe a 2 hours movie can stir up the hatred and uncivilized urge to kill.

The two troubled teens would have committed crimes regardless if they had seen the film or not. It is surprising they had not already murdered or robbed someone prior to the screening of “Natural Born Killers”, given the youths background. Omitting movies that depict violence would be a violation of the First Amendment. Alcohol and drug abuse may be a realistic influence for violent actions. The media just isn’t capable of creating a mass murderer.

It comes down to freedom of speech, and a work of art, or movie that depicts violence, should never be held accountable for the wrongdoings of an individual. Diverting the blame from whoever committed an act of violence is only propelling more violence, because lunatics will rent a violent movie, watch it, and believe that they cannot be held accountable.

 
Also, don't hesitate to quote Pink Floyd and the Beatles as positive influences, eg. Can't Buy Me Love (teaches valuable lessons about wasting money on "love") or Hey Jude (super-duper motivational). On the Floyd side of the spectrum, you could talk about how The Wall shaped so many people to be what they are today, or you could say that Another Brick in the Wall is a huge negative influence if you want to score points with the teacher. I know Pink Floyd has changed my life for the better... and before you write me off as a hippie-stoner from the 50's, I'm 16. And I'll admit to hippie, but I'm not a stoner by any means.

On the other side of things, you could cite a lot of screamo/emo stuff as negative influences, but I don't know any of those bands so I can't make suggestions. You could, jokingly if you're out of ideas, cite MJ's Beat It as responsible for household violence, but then again, you could cite some of his other songs as very positive influences. Pretty much all of rap that's about bitch's and ho's can be said to be negative, but again, I can't make specific suggestions as I don't listen to rap.

You could blame Sublime and Bob Marley and all sorts of ska/reggae music for getting people into drugs, but then you could also attribute some very positive aspects of life to those genres, such as an ever-present happiness, joy, and general optimism conveyed by much of Bob Marley's music. Quote specifically, Three Little Birds. Amazing song, and a very positive vibe and message to it.

On the topic of accusing movies etc. for negative influences, you could take a line or two from the family guy theme song and apply it indirectly to your paper. It shouldn't be hard to find examples to fit the bill of the lines I'm thinking of:

"It seems to me, that all you see,

is violence in movies, and sex on tv..."

You could easily claim that violent movies lead to violent kids... Here's a page with some excellent facts and it is linked to reliable sources:

http://http://www.mediafamily.org/facts/facts_vlent.shi

There are some pretty decisive results if you google "movie violence effect on kids statistics", the above link being one of the first links if you make the search.

Overall, I think I've given you some pretty good ideas... I hope this all helps. Now I've got to get back to my own homework.

Good luck.

 
This just seems like a poor topic to me. Good luck showing solid evidence for either side. If you want this to work you're gonna need to do a lot of research and cite a lot, and I'm not just talking citing song lyrics.
 
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