The Social Empire In the pilot episode of Fox’s Empire, a music mogul father, Lucious Lyon, discusses the passing of the corporation torch to one of his three sons just as his convict wife, Cookie Lyon, is released from prison on good behavior. Sent to jail for drug crimes she committed to support Lucious and his dreams, Cookie returns to claim what is rightfully hers: the music company that was started with her $400,000 in drug money. The drama of her return is paralleled by the impending competition between the three sons for the head of the “Empire” company. The entire Lyon family finds themselves dealing with everything from contrasting stereotypical ideas of class, and the controversy of homosexuality in the media during the startup of this ground breaking series. …show more content…
Black people in media have pioneered for exposure through various media outlets for decades in an attempt to be portrayed as something other than a comedian or entertainer (Croteau/Hoynes 193).
Though every character in Empire still has some sort of role as an entertainer, the show counteracts even progressive television’s inferential racism against black people by raising their social status from the stereotypical bar entertainer to music moguls. Though it follows the lives of a black family, it follows an upper class black family, furthering the supposed “[underrepresented] working-class occupations and [overrepresented] professional and managerial positions,” (Butsch 507) in an unstereotypical light. Lucious’s success can also arguably perpetuate the concept of the American Dream. Starting as a start up rapper from the hood and working his way up to the CEO of a major music empire (no pun intended) shows how television implies success in all aspects of life can boil down to a “career-oriented ideology that [reassures] us that, despite change, everything would be okay,” if you focused on you career (Croteau/Hoynes
174). In the episode, it is explained that Lucious’s middle son, Jamal, is gay. The insertion of Jamal allows the show to avoid heteronormality that was, and still is so prevalent in media. This helps impact the “changing social norms and laws, [thus] serving as a catalyst for changing media content” (Croteau/Hoynes 217). Lucious’s own homophobia is shown through flashbacks of Jamal’s childhood and present day actions. Jamal’s perseverance as a homosexual man standing up to oppression of those in the LGBTQ community from both the public as well as his father pushes homosexual characters out of the characterization of “‘comedic devices,’ [or] ‘a form of erotic titillation’ or ‘to depict deviance, perversion and decadence’” (Croteau/Hoynes 217). The pilot episode of Empire uses the drama of the Lyon family in their attempt to reign supreme in the high stakes, cut-throat world of music production to counteract the class stereotype and promote the American Dream by showing a high class black family with a father that clawed , while also empowering those who identify as members of the LGBTQ community by introducing a strong, talented gay character, as opposed to some filler of comic relief. Both create a unique story contrasting all stereotypes previously created throughout the history of television. The dramatic story of the lives of the Lyon family progresses the expansion and development of television diversity, while continuing to advance the everlasting concept of the American Dream and class system.
Though The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz was written years ago, the idea of materialism, and measuring one's success by their possessions is also a prominent theme in pop culture in the West. Luxurious and excessive lifestyles are in, perpetuated by "blinged out" rap artists and rock stars who own multiple houses, and drive unnecessarily large and expensive sport utility vehicles and sports cars. Pop music has evolved throughout the 20th Century, and has now gotten to a point where it's not just music, but an industry. Singers are actors and vice versa. To make it big in the music industry you not only have to have talent, but a strong business sense, and your own clothing line, of course.
... the future of black business in America. Just from reading this book and seeing the future of business and the commodification of black culture since its first publishing, most of the areas that the book touches upon have given accurate insight to how others have cashed in on black culture and how black business has evolved. An example that is evident is of George Foreman and his promotion of the Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine. Here is a black heavyweight boxer that is using not only his name and his former athletic prowess to endorse a product, but, one can say, also stereotypical blackness, with his affinity to unhealthy foods such as hamburgers and hot dogs, to promote a promote a product for Salton, Inc., a Jewish-founded company. Foreman, like Jordan, amassed a large fortune from his promotion of the grills but at the price of selling black culture.
For example, the essay discusses the problem of there not being enough eligible Black men attending college (Henry, West, & Jackson 245). The definition of eligible could be interpreted as attending college and on a path to some sort of success. Because there is a shortage of eligible young men “Black females believe that they must succumb to the whims and pleasures of men in order to find a mate” because this is the image being shown to them when young ladies in hip hop videos do seductive things in order to gain the attention of the a male (Henry, West, & Jackson 245). One of the most terrible effects is that the music destroys black women 's self perception making it hard for young Black women to “ exhibit personal pride” (Henry, West, & Jackson 245).
Post Classical politics first came to be when Kong Fuzi or Confucius brought it up during the classical era. Confucius was an educator and a political advisor. At the time, China was experiencing problems and Confucius helped to settle everything. He passed his knowledge on to students who then created analects which are political and cultural traditions that Confucius had taught. Confucius was a very wise man. He did not answer philosophical questions because it did not help to solve the problems at hands and he refused to answer religious question because it was too complex for mere human beings to understand. He believed that political and social harmony came from appropriate arrangements of human relationships with one another. To him, the country should not have been ruled by someone born into power, but to someone who was erudite and incredibly meticulous. When the post classical era came around Yang Jian brought China back to an un-centralized rule after their collapse during the Han dynasty. During the Tang Dynasty they came up with the “bureaucracy based on merit” (Bentley and Zeigler, p. 378) or by recruiting government officials.
Social order is made and remade through people’s behaviours, interactions and choices and is neither static nor fixed. This essay will provide examples of the ways in which social order is made and remade and how this happens on both a formal and informal level, although when disorder occurs, it is clear to see the level of work that goes into the making and remaking of social order (Blakeley, 2014, p85).
It is hard for elders, such as the current generation’s parents and grandparents, to give career advice to the youngest, “video-game and music-video” generation (Harper xii). The older generation tells the younger generation to pursuit wealth through legitimate, legal means because so many young black men end up incarcerated for going down the wrong path to money. There is a power struggle in that many poor, young men want to appear like they have money so they spend a lot of money on fancy gold watches or shoes. This power struggle leaves the poor with the appearance of money, when in reality they have nothing to show for it other than some material
... also influences them to partake in negative activities. "Every film shouldn't have to be about some urban, hip-hop drug thing," (Lee.S) the way that blacks are portrayed in the eye of the media is nine times out of ten in a negative manner, this only adds on to the negative stereotypes that come along with being s African American. Music also affects the black youths close ties to fashion, and the news looks. The youth of today are so caught up if the new fads of today that they don’t even acknowledge or take time to educate themselves on their past, they are ignorant to the rich legacy that their ancestors have left behind. This generations has very little to no education about the past so what will they have to pass on to their children at this rate, if someone doesn’t swoop in and relocate the blacks focus to what’s important our rich legacy will soon disappear.
As hip hop culture became prevalent in pop culture, so did black culture. Hip hop stems from black struggle. Their vernacular, songs, and spiritual ways were different from what whites were used to. Their different lifestyle of “living on the edge” was intriguing yet inaccessible for the whites living among them. Thus, this initiated America’s fascination with the culture. It became about what people assume and perceive about black people rather than what they actually are. In essence, an essential to cool is being on the outside, looking in. In the media and celebrities today,
An empire is, literally, a group of nations or peoples ruled over by an emperor, empress, or other powerful sovereign or government. However, what is sacrificed or given up during the process of creating and maintaining an empire; what is the “cost” of empire? In the Aeneid of Virgil, Virgil depicts these costs from three different perspectives. The first viewpoint is on a personal level; during the course of the epic, Aeneas paid the price when his father, wife, lover, and son of his ally were killed, or killed themselves. The second perspective is on a much grander scale, claiming that cultures and beliefs of other nations will either be retained or destroyed while creating and expanding the empire through almost constant and necessary war. Lastly, a cost is associated not only before, but even after constructing the empire; the emperor or leader will face (almost certainly clandestine) opposition to his methods of the formation or rule of the empire. This premise is largely supported by Virgil himself because the epic in its entirety is both a commendation and more importantly, a criticism of Rome, ingeniously crafted and written right under the emperor’s nose. For these reasons, the cost of empire is defined like so: that in order to create the empire, the pain brought about by the death of many individuals, possibly cherished by the founder, is required; the combination, assimilation or destruction of many other cultures by means of necessary war will occur; and the recognition of the formation of opposition who will contradict the customs of the empire is inevitable.
The history of development of European empires in the Americas dates back to the early sixteenth century. Western Europe created vast colonial empires in the Americas. Of the various colonial empires, the Spanish and English were the most prominent which brought a dramatic change in the natural and human environment in the Americas. The voyage of Christopher Columbus in August 1492 marks as the formal beginning of European entry in the Americas. While arriving at in the New World, Christopher Columbus was filled with an immense ambition for colonizing the islands and gathering riches. Both the English and Spanish had more or less the same core motive in coming to the Americas. However, the English and Spanish differ largely in their approach to accomplish their goals.
WWII has a ripple effect across the globe causing changes both internationally and domestically. Internationally, The sun finally began to set over the British Empire with the majority of her majesties colonial possessions gaining independence in the years following the war. Britain’s stage left exit from its hegemonic role resulted in the start of a new “Great Game” between two burgeoning superpowers. A new world order began to take shape with the United States and USSR vying to establish their own hegemony.
I work full-time as a payroll coordinator at a wine and spirit distributor. No, I do not get freebies on wine or spirits bottles – it’s a sin! However, they do conduct wine tasting classes during lunch hours so associates may try several new wines. Of course, the head educator does monitor our alcohol intake. Each glass has enough wine to distinguish the difference taste in wines. I truly appreciate the work that I do and the company I work for. I’ve been working for Empire Merchants for seven years. I enjoyed the challenges and knowledge that comes with payroll. Who knew that so much calculation and regulations goes behind the scene to process a paycheck? It’s a lot folks! Therefore, since a lot involved in processing a paycheck, my goal
Most of the civilizations throughout history have been taken over or replaced by other civilizations due to disunity and chaos. Although an empire might seem prosperous, the decline and fall of empires are sometimes inevitable. Even though an empire might seem invincible, there are many factors that could lead to the sudden decline or fall of an empire. Over many centuries, historians have composed many reasons, such as weak militaries, economic burdens, dynastic successions, and external enemies, which have been known to contribute to the rise and fall of many once successful empires.
The decline and fall of the Roman Empire is a scholarly article written by Justin Ott about the Roman Empire and the events leading up to its fall. The article mostly focuses on the military and economy of Rome in the third century A.D. It lists in the beginning a few of the different theories people have of how Rome fell, including led poisoning and the spread of Christianity. The article seems to want to disprove these theories, showing how they are not the main causes for the collapse of Rome. “Gibbon’s arguments in these sections can be accurately summarized as “the insensible penetration of Christianity in the empire fatally undermined the genius of a great people.” The problem with this conclusion is two-fold. First of all, this explanation is too narrow as it is difficult to believe one single factor brought down the empire. More importantly, it is clear that the Eastern Roman Empire was by far more Christian than the West, therefore if Christianity was behind the fall, the East should have fallen first.” The article’s audience appears to be historians, or those who are interested in history, or just the Roman Empire. It
There were many reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire. Each one interweaved with the other. Many even blame the initiation of Christianity in 337 AD by Constantine the Great as the definitive cause while others blame it on increases in unemployment, inflation, military expenditure and slave labour while others blame it on the ethical issues such the decline in morals, the lack of discipline of the armies and the political corruption within the Empire. Three major contributions that led to the collapse of the once great empire were: the heavy military spending in order to expand the Empire, the over-reliance on slave labour which led to an increase in unemployment, and the political corruption and abuse of power by the Praetorian Guard leading to the unfair selection of many disreputable emperors and the assassination of those not favoured by the Guard.