When viewing Green Day’s American Idiot — the lyrics and the Georgia College production — I obtained a greater understanding of the struggles society faces. Stage Manager Mary Helen Higgs said that Georgia College’s production of Green Day’s American Idiot, a rock opera, is metaphorically presented as a “battlefield of rage and love.” This rock musical illustrates a fine example of teen angst and their punk personality. To what extent, if at all, can society’s behavior be justified as a fight to find identity and individualism? Could the government and the media be held responsible for any rebellious behavior? It is more common today to realize how society, mostly young adults, may face plenty of risk-taking, peer pressure, and unawareness that can lead to controversy. Arthur Allen’s …show more content…
Risk-taking can lead to great opportunities, but it depends on the situation. Georgia College’s production of Green Day’s American Idiot displays the pessimistic outlook on substance abuse, war, and finding the purpose of life by conveying the troubles of three young adults and the manner in which they make efforts to overcome. Johnny, Tunny and Will decided to take a risk and “run away to find what [they] believe” by abruptly leaving their small town and moving on to the mighty city, illustrating “Jesus of Suburbia” by Green Day. At first, it seemed like a beneficial choice to explore, but their journey took an unexpected turn. One can try to determine if leaving was the right decision by going through the “heads or tails” step and then analyzing the “fairy tales in [their] mind.” Green Day’s “Are We the Waiting” illustrates someone contemplating their place and findings in life with uncertainty. Some people may disagree and say how there are benefits to taking risks, but there are good risks and bad risks. You must think about the consequences of the actions you’re willing to
Trigger Warnings on College Campuses Rhetorical Analysis Writers Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, in their article “The Coddling of the American Mind”, detail the effects that safe spaces and trigger warnings are having on college campuses. They claim that “in the name of emotional well-being, college students are increasingly demanding protection from words and ideas they don’t like” and add they will explain “why that’s disastrous for education and mental health”. Through the use of the word “increasingly”, the writers recognize that not all students are following the damaging trend, but instead it is becoming progressively prevalent and as a result needs to be addressed. Throughout the article, explanations are given for the stance against shielding students from opinions they find oppressive, as well as ways to combat and fix the problem. Through this, the writers hope to promote a college experience where students can feel safe and
Risk is when someone is taking a chance where there is something to gain or lose. For many people, like Chris McCandless and Jon Krakauer, are willing to take those risks even if there was a chance they would have to die for them. This quote was written by Krakauer describing the time he went to Colorado and planned to climbed Devil’s Thumb. “As I formulated a plan to climb the Thumb, I was dimly aware I might be getting in over my head.
In todays society our mistakes define who we are. With so much pressure and stress to succeed in life we often forget the simplistic things, such as integrity and good ethics. Alex Sawyer seems to forget about actions and outcomes and ends up paying the biggest price for a job gone wrong, his freedom. In this journal I will be relating three songs of my choice to Alex’s choices in the book. Alex Sawyer is a one time bully, part time burglar and full time loser.
the less you handle controversy (61). " For the 21st-century, this is true as well. Certain groups want things taken away while others don 't. And as this population grows bigger, the more people argue, and the harder it is to control. One way this is controlled is by destroying anything negative about agroup.
By referring back to a “better” time the audience experienced, a connection is made between the authors and the audience. The bond is strengthened by the frequent use first person, grouping terms such as “we.” When one feels a part of a group they will be more open-minded to other ideas because they are more susceptible to ridicule otherwise known as peer pressure. Trigger warnings and microaggressions taking away the rights of well-educated adults and professors is one of the
What if controversy was nonexistent? What if everyone thought the same things? How would this happen - and why? In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, firemen don’t put out fires - they start them.
Taking risks is a necessary action to live a full life. Although many risks have unwanted consequences, they can also result in good consequences. The Deep, Beowulf, and the Challenger all address the idea taking risks can have positive outcomes. In the epic poem Beowulf, Beowulf takes one of the greatest risks, his life, to protect his people. Beowulf puts himself in danger simply by choosing to fight the Grendel, a huge man-eating monster that has been terrorizing Herot for twelve years.
In her article, she refers to college as a place to broaden knowledge, “It is, hopefully, a space where the student is challenged and sometimes frustrated and sometimes deeply upset, a place where the student's world expands and pushes them to reach the outer edges – not a place that contracts to meet the student exactly where they are” (Filipovic). From this previous statement, we can conclude that the unexpected in college challenges a student to push their knowledge; however, we should not adapt the learning process to meet students’ needs. A trigger warning serves as protection against a wide range of controversial categories. It is true multiple things could trigger an emotional response, even things as little as skulls, blood, or pregnancy. The discretion on whether a topic can send a student into emotional turmoil is unpredictable.
The lyrics of most rock and roll songs were provocative and dirty. However, the film was a hit and the song was history’s most successful rock single(Birth of the Cool- in class notes). Teenagers before the 1950s would dance and express themselves through classical and American pop music. During the 1950s, the teenagers of the newer generation expressed themselves through a different genre of music, rock and roll. It was exactly the same cycle that the newer generations’ parents went through as teenagers.
“As long as you live, there's always something waiting; and even if it's bad, and you know it's bad, what can you do? You can't stop living.” (Capote 88). This quote suggests that no matter what happens in life, there is always something else waiting, whether it be good or bad. Even if someone knows that what is waiting for them is bad, they cannot stop living and must face whatever comes next.
“Cohen has a strong view that media itself jumps to conclusions and overreacts to behaviour which happens which is challenging to the social norms. Cohen’s work illustrated how those reactions influenced the formation and enforcement of social policy, law, and societal perceptions of threats posed by the youth groups.” (Dr. Bonn, Scott 2015) Moral panic by society is seen in the media, which fires further social unacceptable behaviour. Within a moral panic the media identify a group as a ‘folk devil’, it can be identified as a threat to society’s values, the media also distorts the group in a negative stereotypical way in which it is then exaggerates the scale of the
Evidence of those changes were inherent in the way young people described social behavior, alcohol, cigarettes and other factors of those times.” (Bulletin) Currently, there are words to describe the social situations young people find themselves in, just like the young of the past. Instead of “speakeasies” that are used to bypass the law, young college students of today create “safe spaces” on college campuses because the law isn’t doing enough to protect them against hate crime. Everything about the social movement in those times is reflected back in the current era, as well as most of the eras in between them.
In this paper I will be discussing “American Idiot” by Green Day as a protest song. A protest song, “is a song that is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of topical songs or songs connected to current events” (Google, 2015). People who feel strongly towards a certain political view within society create protest songs, and this is the only way they know how to express their opinions. Protest songs can come in many different musical genres such as folk and rock music.
There have been many protest songs in the United States; the freedom of speech has contributed to powerful music and protest words that are written in song. The song that will be discussed throughout this essay is “American Idiot” by Green day. This song speaks volume about the uneducated “America” and puts emphasis on the destruction that reality television is making on the United States of America. Listening to the unspoken word and read between the lies, for that then you will understand. The song “American Idiot” was released during the 2004 presidential election, where George W. Bush was selected into office for the second term as President of the United States of America (source).
He started to take risks. The opportunities before him were endless. He could finally pursue his passion for acting and create a new path to his independence by acting in another school’s play. Then, Neil let the consequences of