I first saw this when I was in college during an all-night-er. I watched/listened to it all night. the video completely captures my imagination. It seems to be a documentary of the the transitioning motifs in courtship pursuit. You have the tribesman representing the primal pursuit instinct. The evolves women / androgynous sexual entity which represents a more evolved form of courtship or sexuality. The modern man shown as Kanye who is torn between the primal forces still active within him and the more evolved higher-mind level of understanding which he must hold himself to.
So the art part of the music video is great for imagination and contemplation but where I think the story becomes very interesting is with how our understanding of brain composition effects higher brain functions. In a great article from NPR the orbital cortex is explained as the center for ethical behavior, moral decision-making and impulse control. When the orbital cortex is deficient or suppressed the more base impulses take over "What's left? What takes over?" "The area of the brain that drives your id-type behaviors, which is rage, violence, eating, sex, drinking."
We as a species are starting the transition to understanding the underlying mechanisms that govern our minds we will start a new generation of self determination. Being able to fundamentally understand, control, and change what our minds do. The question will then become what do we want to be.
You're arguing that Kanye is presenting the Id vs. Logic dichotomy then? In the same sense that the NPR article paints the Id as the opposite of logic, repressed by the order of thought that comes from the orbital cortex?
ReplyDeleteSee, I'd bite, but there is this idea that goes along with dichotomizing basic urges and logic. While logic brings us wonderful advancements, there are still some great things we do for the sake of the Id. I'm not saying we should murder for the exhilaration, but, sex and danger, there is something to be said for it.
Im not going so far as to say that the logic must reign supreme but for all the good things the Id brings us there is a big bag of bad that comes along as well. I think that as humans we are able to keep the good stuff and filter out the less desirable, jealously, rage, revenge, anger, guilt, fear, are all things that society would be better off without. I don't accept the all or nothing idea, I think we should be able to keep the positive base instincts while resisting the negative ones.
DeleteOkay, so the idea is neither Vulcan logical puritanism, nor the base desires of Klingon impulse (if you'll permit an analogy) and also not a balance, but a merging: each enhancing the other. It's a good idea, but what I see in the video is the Id and Logic in opposition to one another, two incompatible things.
DeleteI like the reading of the video as a sort of Ego v Id thing. I think that's one of the things that makes Kanye such an interesting figure. He gets these important psychological struggles, but he doesn't really have the language to express them. He has intense opinions about things like art and culture (and let's not forget that he's pretty much always right), but he doesn't know how to express them. Hence: Taylor Swift fiasco.
ReplyDeleteIn this interview, he is trying to discuss the way that he is trying to remain innovative in a new area of culture, but is not taken seriously because of his roots, but he can't explain himself well and ends up sounding whiny and getting mad.
He's a tragic figure, old yeezy– excuse me, Yeezus.
Oh, I forgot my little caveat. I won't go with you on your conclusion. I don't think that humans are in the business of conquering their id.
Delete"Being able to fundamentally understand, control, and change what our minds do" on that level is like trying to get a horse that you're riding to ride a horse.
There are a lot of people in high and low culture media that are right about most things, so isn't their ability to express it that much more important then? I agree with you about conquering the Id though, I think it's more about getting each to guide the other.
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