We didn’t get much done in class on Wednesday. It was the most distracted I have ever seen the class! However, despite the antics of the class, we got started on a rough draft of a rhetorical analysis of the Bad Romance video. It helped me write out my rough draft of my paper. I have never done a rhetorical analysis of a piece of art but it was not as difficult as I expected.
I did my rough draft on the music video for “Hurt”, a cover of a Nine Inch Nails song by Johnny Cash. It is probably my favorite music video of all time. I saw it for the first time when I was a senior in high school. I was the only senior in my speech class that semester. It was a little awkward at times. But I remember that we were looking at various music videos to illustrate something. The teacher introduced the Johnny Cash video with a short history of him. Then she played the video. And I immediately loved it. And felt like crying. The video hit a string in my heart. I love the video because I relate to it immensely. The first time I saw it I was struggling with depression because I felt like nothing in life was worth doing since it wouldn’t matter when I died. I wrote my rough draft on the theme in the video that life was transient. Much of the video contrasts the gaiety of the young with the solemnity of the ancient. I had forgotten about the video until before this semester. I watched it again and I think I enjoy the video even more now. I had never really realized the clips of Jesus being crucified at the end of “Hurt”. Those clips made an even deeper connection with me. I am past the depression now and, like Johnny, I have found a way out of the nothingness of life through Jesus. I haven’t been through as much in my life as Johnny but I feel like we can relate.
I wish there were more artists like Johnny Cash today. Sure there are some great artists out there and some great lyricists. But Johnny stood for something. You may not agree with his love of Jesus and how he was vocal about it at times but even people who weren’t Christians were drawn to Johnny. It was more than his voice. It was his honesty and familiarity. He felt like one of the audience members to the kids back in the day.
Most artists I have seen in concert feel distant and detached from the artist. We all sing along and get excited to see them in concert. But for whatever reason, artists don’t relate to my generation. I’m sure there are some that I haven’t discovered yet. We need artists like that though.
I went home this weekend for my birthday. It was pretty awesome. I love hanging with my family. We also celebrated my sister signing her national letter of intent for college. I am super proud of her because she has put in countless hours at the gym since middle school to get where she is now. I hope that she has a great college experience and enjoys playing basketball in college. She is graduating next June! Time really does fly. I can still remember my college graduation like it was yesterday. It was only a year and a half ago but it doesn’t seem that long ago.
It can be funny how different yet similar siblings are. I graduated number 6 in my class and I don’t think my sister is that high but she is probably top 30. I played sports too but she is way better than I ever was. We are complete opposites in some ways but really alike in some ways. I am more of an introvert while she is more extroverted.
1 and a half weeks to Thanksgiving break. I will be signing up for classes for next semester in two weeks. That is when you know that the semester is almost over.
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