Disqus - Latest Comments for davecarter

Re: Letters in Motion

davecarter — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 08:11:29 -0000

Hi I've got to grips with the interface which is kind of complex but I've finally made my videos and can't export in any format that creates a readable file - lossless, uncompressed (how are these different?) lossy video all produce a blank .avi file which QuickTime and VLC player can't read

Pretty disappointed.

Re: Rachel Hills

davecarter — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 03:29:35 -0000

Interesting article, Rachel, enjoyed reading it.

Sydney's message is probably less coherent than many other cities, but work and property prices seem to be the dominant theme of many an eavesdrop. There's a mix of ambitions - from job status, to hipster, and to your real estate portfolio, depending on your age and who you mix with.

Also, it seems to me that Sydney's niche communities (like the arts) aren't as large or self-sustaining as other cities, and less able to support groundbreaking, world-leading work.

Having said that, Melbourne's (visual) arts community is arguably far more vibrant, and they're working with a similar population size.

When you're talking about cities at this level of generality it's almost impossible to discern how these cultures develop and what drives them, but it's an interesting thing to think about.

Re: Rachel Hills

davecarter — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:50:09 -0000

I had a similarly frightening experience watching the video clip for Destination Calabria's "Desintation Unknown", the gold standard of film clip sexploitation (though there are many other hideous examples). The clip literally anonymises the women by covering their faces, yet retains the gratuitous tits and booty: http://www.metacafe.com/wat... Oh, and did I mention the caressing of brass instruments?

What disturbs me is that in a competitive music and media marketplace, there's a "race to the bottom" effect when it comes to abusing images of female sexuality in order to sell products, whether it's records, or clothing, or perfume (or all three if you're Beyonce). It seems whoever can get away with showing more flesh in a more titillating way is apparently rewarded by the marketplace.

It makes me wonder what's next? How much further can the envelope be pushed?

I'd agree Lily Allen is a great example of fun, and intelligent commercial music, and I think pop culture would be much less of a guilty pleasure if there were more around with her critical edge and catchy choruses.

Re: Rachel Hills

davecarter — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 00:43:27 -0000

Trash is defensible in the name of fun, but at the end of the day, it's still trashy. In fact, most of the things that are really bad for us are defensible in the same way. Drugs are really fun. Getting drunk and eating kebabs is fun. In the long term though, we can't deny they're bad for us, especially if it's a pervasive lifestyle, rather than an occasional lapse.

There may be a problem with "misinterpretation" occasionally, but I'd say for the most part the lyrics of most modern top 40 pop and hip-hop are straight-up insipid glorifications of sex, raunch and bling. Not that it's easy to focus on the lyrics given the rampant T&A in the video clips. Check the lyric sheets of Metro Station, Rihanna and the Pussycat Dolls, and there's very few redeeming features.

In my opinion, at the end of the day, mainstream commercial pop culture does perpetuate the objectification of women, and to my mind the benefits don't outweigh the detriments.

Whether there's anything we can do about it is another question. Personally, I don't purchase music that runs counter to my principles, but then again, I grew up listening to Rage Against the Machine and Tool, and don't have a palate for modern top 40 pop.

I'd say there's plenty of fun, dancey music that doesn't contribute to sexploitation (Hot Chip, Grafton Primary, Chemical Brothers), but maybe my personal preferences are clouding my judgement here.