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PrettyBaby

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Posts posted by PrettyBaby

  1. Posted

     

    Like some others, I have some problems with slowness and dependence on pretty looks in parts (e.g., the Bel Air sequence), and it is as much a poetry video as a music video, which is to say she may be more interested in the poems and visuals than the music. Still I've watched 3 times and not really bored by it. The strongest, I think, is the Body Electric intro and sequence, which to me is just brilliant (and not just because of the snake scene). In a universe where John Wayne is God, Lana being Eve is perfectly sensible. I predict criticism will be coming for putting Jesus in the context of pop culture icons, but that's just Lana (and the BE song tbh). 
     

     

    I think that's an excellent way to put it, "as much a poetry video as a music video." This is why I feel like I'm out of my league in attempting to offer any critical analysis of Tropico -- my dirty little secret is that even though I majored in English and am fascinated by human communication, I really don't like poetry.  :$ I've tried to sensitize myself to the beauty in turns of phrases, but the truth is that I really, really need to hear poetry served up in the elixr of music to make it go down. So I'm grateful to artists like Lana for making me care what artists like Whitman have to say! (I'm going to switch from "Lana" to "Del Rey" in the below paragraphs... it just seems more respectful when analyzing her work.)

     

    So with that intro...

     

     

     

    I hope any critics of Tropico will try to be fair-minded. It serves absolutely no purpose to get offended over someone portraying Jesus as a pop culture icon. TBH it does make me sad to think of people experiencing him this way... but the truth is, some people do. I'd even go so far as to say some Christians do sometimes. So I think Del Rey not only has the right to make this portrayal, but also has the potential to speak truth through it.

     

    With that said, I think I disagree with the overall theme -- I say "I think," because I'm not sure to what extent Del Rey agrees with Whitman's "Children of Adam," and because I'm not sure I understand exactly what Whitman's point is. Is it to throw off asceticism and embrace epicureanism? (Trading one extreme for another?) Or is it more an appeal to embrace both the physical and the spiritual, to achieve greater wholeness (which, I would argue, is actually a more-Christian approach than asceticism)? Or is it equating the physical with the spiritual?

     

    In Tropico, Del Rey actually seems to be criticizing epicureanism more than asceticism (contra Whitman). Then in the Bel Air segment, her Adam and Eve seem to recover the spiritual, resulting in greater wholeness. But it seems that they do this, not by recognizing the physical and the spiritual as distinct-yet-interdependent, but by collapsing the two; so Del Rey ends up at the same place as Whitman, saying sex (or sexual love) equals spiritual redemption. But I find this answer unsatisfying. It seems that in collapsing the physical with the spiritual, Del Rey and Whitman make the same mistake as the ascetics and the epicureans -- focusing on sex the body as the end-all, be-all aspect of life to idolize or reject.

     

    To better explain what I feel is a more holistic approach, I would compare Tropico to the epic song "Cygnus X-1, Book II: Hemispheres" by Rush (from their 1978 Hemispheres album), particularly the chapter "The Sphere":

     

    We can walk our road together

    If our goals are all the same.

    We can run alone and free

    If we pursue a different aim.

    Let the Truth of Love be lighted,

    Let the Love of Truth shine clear. Sensibility,

    Armed with sense and liberty,

    With the Heart and Mind united in a single

    Perfect

    Sphere.

     

     

    Not that "The Sphere" concerns the same physical-spiritual duality; rather it addresses a mind-vs.-heart false dichotomy, and resolves it as a unity of parts. While the band Rush (particularly writer Neal Peart) generally advocates a perspective that is more atheistic than Christian, I believe that this particular unity-of-parts ideal is actually more in keeping with Christianity's ideal of unity-of-the-Body (that is, of the sum of all Christ-followers, i.e. "the Church") than are the head-over-heart or heart-over-head proponents who often (and currently) struggle for the right to define "Christian" morality. We don't need just the people who are good at reason or those who are good at compassion; we need both. Thus, while Christianity doesn't exactly advocate, "In all things, moderation," it is true that by advocating all that is good, balance is often the result.

     

    It seems that Tropico, on the other hand, argues for an appearance of wholeness, which is in fact remarkably unbalanced in favor of sexual love. It's as if violent crime doesn't matter; as long as you have a mate who really loves you, that's all the goodness you need. I hope I'm reading it wrong. I hope the flinging-away of monetary possessions represents a true repentance of the old life followed by a new one emphasizing love, allowing it to make them both better people. But I get the uncomfortable feeling that they took what they needed after the robbery, and now are just getting rid of the evidence. True, they can still help each other become better people... and so it is still a tale of redemption either way. But I can't believe that a lopsided emphasis on sexual love is going to get them there. (What about other good things like honesty and goodwill toward one's fellow man? Just to name a couple?)

     

    I think it would also help if I understood what the connection was supposed to be between the robbery and the dancing. The juxtaposition does create a connection, but to what degree? Was Eve complicit in Adam's robbery? Or is it just a parallel view of their "sins"? (I actually have a problem with comparing pole-dancing to robbery.) I'm sort of left feeling like the film makes a better case for Adam's redemption than for Adam-and-Eve's, yet we're expected to hold them as equivalent somehow. It just doesn't feel right.

     

    So my response to Tropico is that, while it is beautiful and true in many of the details, these moments fall short of lasting beauty and truth in the larger picture. While it presents an important message about the need to embrace sexuality as an aspect of one's humanity, it goes too far when if it suggests that sexuality is the most important part of being human. Still, maybe Tropico itself is only part of an even bigger picture, and there is more goodness to come. And maybe that's okay.

     

     

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  2. Posted

    Shout outs to  @ for mentioning Whitman's "The Children of Adam" as possible inspiration for the plot.

     

    Walt Whitman's "Children of Adam" - Analysis

     

    ...

    Everything. Makes. So. Much. Sense. NOW! :defeated:

     

    OH! Thank you for this insight, it does help :)

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  4. Posted

    Not sure if this is right place to ask the question,  but I don't want to make new topic just for my silly question.

    Do you guys know any fan-made Lana mixtapes like the Die for Me one?

    I need more Lana magic on my mp4 player, but I'm too lazy to create my own playlist.... and it doesn't have enough space to carry all the unreleased songs.

    Any help would be appreciated :kiss:

     

    Moy made a bunch. I think "Unreleased, Vol. V" may still be online somewhere.

    1

  5. Posted

    Nothing is being traded and "As Mean As You" in high quality is rarer than a pink diamond falling on Earth from another galaxy.

     

    At least the AMAY we have makes a nice outtro on my rock-oriented Sky playlist  :agree2: 

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  9. Posted

    I really love what you wrote here and I can definitely see what you are saying, makes a lot more sense.. But I can definitely see how what she does would be perceived as shallow. But how does one get THAT obsessed with Imagery, people, words?

     

    I think there's also a degree of dealing with emotional pain by finding comfort in beauty. I don't know, maybe I'm projecting. But I spent the first part of my life internalizing the Protestant ethic of plain-ness (in which beauty or anything non-utilitarian is seen as suspect, sometimes sinful... I think generally speaking, the Catholic expression of Christianity has embraced beauty more). And for me, it was downright depressing to always be chasing what my culture taught me was "useful." Now that I've opened my heart up more to appreciating the beautiful things in the world, I'm a lot happier. I can be driving to work, entirely too early in the morning, but then when I notice the way the sunlight hits the dew on the rearview mirror, lighting it up with a beautiful golden glow... I just feel grateful :D (It's just a visceral reaction, and takes too long to explain... but you know what I mean?)

    7

  10. Posted

    Can someone rip this or tell me a way I can download it?

     

     

    I tried every soundcloud to mp3 converter. They don't work on it for some reason...

     

    Oh yeah, I had to get it through their Twitter account. 

     

    https://twitter.com/KittenTheBand Scroll down to Nov. 4 and click on "view promotion," sign up (with email you don't mind being spammed by Elektra)

    2

  12. Posted

    I'm getting a little weepy too! Vinny, you're such a kind, awesome person, and you help make this forum such a great place! I hope you get to enjoy your dream of performing, but after that, I hope many people get the privilege of having you for a life coach. 

     

    ...But it's not about what you have to say, it's how you say it. You never have to be mean, you never have to make hurting someone your first priority in a disagreement. I hate when people say "the truth hurts," because it justifies mindless brutality more than it "praises" honesty and self-disclosure as virtues. If you are callous and irresponsible with your choice of words, it's because you choose to be, not because it is a by-product of being honest. You may not be able to dictate how people take your honesty, but that does not relieve you of your duty to be more mindful about how you go about self-expression. The truth "hurts" every time you aim for it to, not when you choose to speak it.

    You have every chance to speak in honesty without damage and degradation being your goal, and you shouldn't give honesty and integrity a bad name just because you do not want to be responsible with what you put out to the world, you know? I'd rather be careful and articulate in my honesty, speak with love in my heart and words, and walk away knowing that I tried my best to do good no matter the outcome, than ultimately damage my relationships with people and think little of it because my ego is temporarily swollen.  :whatever:

     

     

    I hope you write a book too.  :kiss: 

    1

  13. Posted

    So I know the original cover is flawless, but what do you guys think of the one I'm making? It's for a class where I will be graded so please be honest!!! I see some potential problems but I want to know what you guys think since you know Sky and her music more than anyone else I know  :hooker:

     

    tumblr_mwje8pUB7q1r6wpabo1_500.png

     

    I really like it and wouldn't change a thing for my own use. But since you're wanting feedback for a class...

     

    Either she needs more color like Sitar said, or if you're really trying to emphasize her eyes, mute everything else even MORE to show you meant to do that (her eyes are too white otherwise). Muted is a cool look IMO, but the eyes and the "SKY FERREIRA" are too white I think.

    1

  15. Posted

    Okay, this is how I wish Night Time, My Time would have gone:

     

     

     

    NIGHT TIME, MY TIME (ideal track list):

    1. You're Not the One

    2. I Will

    3. Everything Is Embarrassing

    4. Nobody Asked Me (If I Was Okay)

    5. I Blame Myself

    6. Omanko

    7. Dynamite State

    8. Ain't Your Right

    9. Haters Anonymous

    10. Kristine

    11. Lost in My Bedroom

    12. Boys

    13. Love In Stereo

    14. Hallucination

    15. 108 (Version 2)

     

     

     

    (Yes, I know it could not have gone this way.)

    :runs:

    0

  17. Posted

    what! okay if chuck gave them out, then contact ben but if some fan did then i dont think so

    i was under the impression someone with lana (her team or chuck) gave them out

    i just want you to get something out of this cuz your design was amazing and you deserve it

     

    ^^^This! I thought I read that she was handing these out. And maybe I did, but should have thought to question it...

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  20. Posted

    What do I say

    "Here's my insult to Lana's art direction and Naomi's poor graphic design and grammar skills! Want to use it?"

     

    "Here's my homage to Lana Del Rey's vision and Caroline Grant's fabulous photography. In fact, Ms. Grant liked it enough to showcase their project. Please consider my services for any of your future consulting needs."

     

    Sure it's a little  :hooker: but imo completely respectful to everyone, and appropriate. (And they might send you some goodies at least!)

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