Spottedwind
Posts: 83
Joined: Aug. 2008
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| Quote (Louis @ Oct. 22 2008,15:07) | Stepping/step dancing = perfectly valid cultural expression.
Stepping/step dancing combined with fairly mindless recitation of political tropes in a political context = terrifying.
The the juxtaposition of the two elements that scares me, not one element in isolation.
I wonder how tolerant and culturally relativist we'd be if this was a group of shaven headed, white, French youths supporting a Jean Marie LePenn campaign with step dancing of a more European origin and appropriately positive and innocuous slogans.
Louis |
Again, I'm not saying that it doesn't seem odd and disturbing at face value. I'm sure it does. What I'm saying is that we need to look at it in more than a vacuum.
Is chanting a typical part of the dance? - In some areas, yes.
Are these kids being forced to do this? - To my knowledge no, but I can't be sure and I don't think anyone else is either.
Are they being coerced? - Same answer as above.
Are they inciting hatred? - Haven't seen it but I would assume someone would point it out if they had been.
I think Calsonjok posted something about Jesus Camp, which I had always wanted to see. I can't speak to the similarities and differences myself but I agree that if the step line routine goes beyond expressing excitement and into behavior modification, that's a problem. Obama is not a way of life and mindless following would be bad. That type of group dancing and identity can be used to control people, but is it really beyond the possibility that they are just comfortable expressing themselves in this manner?
To truly determine the scariness factor of people, I think we would need to look at their all of their actions and try their willingness to be questioned and challenged and see how they respond. If a person holds Obama to be flawless and will follow his every command without question...yup, bad. I think we can all generally agree with that. But what about if they are simply excited about Obama and that they are trying to get others excited?
Cultural relativity is a tricky thing. Just because one group calls it their cultural doesn't mean that it is infallible. That said, something that appears offensive on the surface, may not be so when further understood and explored. The reverse is true too. It's hard when something once good has been used to a bad end; perhaps to the point of being unrecoverable. Being aware of how something may be perceived is important and perhaps the dancers should have been aware of how it could be seen to outsiders. But perhaps outsiders should also check their own cultural references when presented with something different.
I may retract my opinion once I can see the video, and perhaps I shouldn't have opened my mouth in the first place (wouldn't be the first time). But what it looks like is people reacting to a superficial event rather than looking deeper. Irony perhaps, but so be it.
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