I'm not that much of a music person. I grew up on MTV where Nikhil Chinapa was (and I'd hate to admit it, but still is), in my honest opinion, the BEST Video Jockey on television. However, prior to this very streamlined guidance to music, my first exposure to song was through cartoon... ok, it was anime. Ninja Robots will still remain close to my heart for being the first cartoon to whose theme song I spent time on (trying) to learn the lyrics to.
As limited as my education was, I still stand by this theme song for being the best first steps to music education.
8 years of Carnatic vocal lessons spread over 3 teachers and countless hours of straining my voice to try being a Soprano (when I'm so obviously an Alto), mom's cassettes (ranging from Bee Gees, The Carpenters, ABBA, Cindy Lauper and other technicolor greats) and my own foray into the style of music that I love ( Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Louis Armstrong, Peggy Lee, Aretha Franklin and the other royals of swing, rhythm and blues, jazz and soul) later, I think I can safely say that though I may not be gifted musically, I sure can appreciate good music. So, you can judge me nine ways to Sunday on this, but I'm glad shows like Glee and Britannia High are bringing music back.
I've gone through a lot 'music phases' in my short life. The Britney Spears phase, the Boyzone phase, the Backstreet Boys and N'SYNC phase, the Falguni Pathak phase, the Avril Lavigne phase, the Limp Bizkit phase, the Guns 'N Roses phase, the Heavy Metal phase and pretty much everything in between. But here's why I think Glee is the best so far when it comes to bridging the gap between music and reality without it being sexed up, melodramatic or misleading.
If you're a Gleek and haven't watched Season 3 yet, here is FAIR WARNING - SPOILER ALERTS BELOW. More like, plot giveaways, but whatever, you have been warned. If you're wondering where I'm getting my information from... I'll have you know that it is very reliable and that's all I can say.
Here's why I think Glee is worthy of being watched by any teenager.
Unlike other shows, it broadens your mind to everything from Van Halen to Destiny's Child when it comes to music and when it comes to the heavy duty, serious stuff, I think they've got it right. It isn't too preachy, isn't too melodramatic and best of all, it's honest. It's honest about things like what young adults REALLY think about. It's honest about how they are treated by their parents and peers.
If you're a parent reading this (Wow. My own mom doesn't read this, unless it's got her in it, but kudos to you for trying to reach out and try to understand how our minds work), LISTEN to your kids when they come to you. If you're telling them to come to you whenever they have ANYTHING to talk about, keep your word. Don't freak out and yell your head off at them. As harsh as this sounds, if your kids are your only retirement fund, make sure ALL lines of communication are open and working at all times and that it's not just a one way road. A one way road also doesn't mean that you're the one who is talking and giving your kid free advice. Neither does it mean that your kid is the only one who gets to talk about their problems. It'll make your kid feel a lot better and boost their confidence if you kept them in the loop about the things in your life, financial or otherwise. Granted they don't need to know the whole picture, but they WILL understand the general sentiment. Involve them in decision making regarding things like where they'll go on vacation or what school they should go to.
Your dreams are not their dreams. If you think it's okay to live your life through you kids, you're wrong. From first hand experience, trust me, when we lean on you for everything, take our first major decision by ourselves and then YOU go and say something like - no, you should do this because it's socially more acceptable - and when we believe you instead of ourselves because it's been drilled into our heads that 'the elders know best', and when that plan fails at such epic proportions that YOU end up eating humble pie, it is not cool for ANYONE involved. Your kid is not going to blame you, if that's what you're thinking. Their going to blame themselves for listening to you and your advice when they should've stuck to their decision. After that, they're sure as hell not going to take your advice seriously anymore. Yes, we're very stingy with our forgiveness and second chances. If your kids blame you for every pitfall in their lives, wake up and smell the coffee, your kid is spoilt.
Where does the Glee spoiler bit come in? Mike Chang has to choose between listening to his dad and pleasing him, making him happy and proud of him, against following his dreams and his passions. To all the kids out there, do your research before you make a decision, because you don't want to be called fickle-minded, nor do you want your dreams to be called a flash in the pan by your own parents, because it will either crush you or make you hate them and moving on from that is harder than you think. Been there, done that.
Not only is it a show that is against violence and bullying, it also actively encourages kids to change their mindsets about people, handicapped or otherwise. I've heard older people around me say - Oh, poor thing, he's gay - and it pisses me off. Being gay isn't a disability you show pity towards. Being a victim of bullying is. If you REALLY want to do something, don't mock the handicapped person, learn more about them and their disability so that you can overcome it and then communicate with them. You may even realize that if you were in a room full of people who knew sign language and you didn't, you'd be the one who felt handicapped, not them. I've been through it, and it opened my eyes to the possibility that if you're looking at artwork created by someone who was special and if that person were communicating with you in signs, you'd be the one who felt like you had a language barrier to overcome, not them.
As I write this, there's news about Green Lantern (Alan Scott) turning out to be gay doing the rounds. He's a fictional superhero, One Million Moms! If you have a problem with anything, have a problem with the fact that your kids are reading graphic novels and not books by authors like Enid Blyton, Carolyn Keene and others. But of course you wouldn't push your little boys and girls to do that will you? Harry Potter was blasphemous enough when it turned out that Albus Dumbledore was gay. You're not sheltering your kids when you declare war on DC comics, you're telling your kids that you'd be ashamed of them if they turned out to be gay.
So it may be a little difficult to digest, it will take time for mindsets to change and it will take longer for the negative connotations surrounding the words gay and lesbian to die out. Glee spoiler, don't turn into Santana's mom and tell your kids to keep it their 'secret' and follow it up with disowning your kid. It takes a LOT of courage to stand up to your parents, and when it's something as huge an issue as sexual orientation, remember it is NOT a disease, NOT a life choice. That's how they were born. You loved them in-utero, don't stop loving them because they've come out.
Finally, trust them. If your kids are touching 14, LET them make mistakes. Studies have shown that having relationships helps kids stay grounded and focused, unlike popular belief that speaks of relationships screwing with your kids' brains and 'tempting' them to 'experiment'. Kids that old are smart. Nobody wants to get pregnant at 14. TALK to them about sex, the good, the bad and the ugly. Talk to them about STDs and how losing their virginity is something that happens ONLY once in a lifetime. Talk to them about how they should strive to be on their own two feet so that if anything unexpected happens, they'll know how to handle it. Also, on a lighter vein, I'm pretty sure that health education videos on the 'joy' of giving birth arent' very joyful. With all that screaming from pain and exhaustion, it could also be your best bet when it comes to convincing your kid about abstinence and celibacy.
I'm pretty sure every Gleek remembers what Quin Fabray went through. Glee spoiler, it's heart-wrenching to watch Quin and Puck trying to bond with their daughter and trying to figure out how to raise her. Babies are expensive no matter where you are in the world.
But I think the best part about Glee is that it's most honest about its core issues like morality and equality. It addresses things like how sometimes the right decision for you isn't the right decision when it comes to a moral standpoint. It addresses things like giving into peer pressure and how to avoid it by just making YOU think of a better way out. But what I love about Glee, is that every single one of its characters can be related to at one point of time or the other.
As limited as my education was, I still stand by this theme song for being the best first steps to music education.
8 years of Carnatic vocal lessons spread over 3 teachers and countless hours of straining my voice to try being a Soprano (when I'm so obviously an Alto), mom's cassettes (ranging from Bee Gees, The Carpenters, ABBA, Cindy Lauper and other technicolor greats) and my own foray into the style of music that I love ( Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Louis Armstrong, Peggy Lee, Aretha Franklin and the other royals of swing, rhythm and blues, jazz and soul) later, I think I can safely say that though I may not be gifted musically, I sure can appreciate good music. So, you can judge me nine ways to Sunday on this, but I'm glad shows like Glee and Britannia High are bringing music back.
I've gone through a lot 'music phases' in my short life. The Britney Spears phase, the Boyzone phase, the Backstreet Boys and N'SYNC phase, the Falguni Pathak phase, the Avril Lavigne phase, the Limp Bizkit phase, the Guns 'N Roses phase, the Heavy Metal phase and pretty much everything in between. But here's why I think Glee is the best so far when it comes to bridging the gap between music and reality without it being sexed up, melodramatic or misleading.
If you're a Gleek and haven't watched Season 3 yet, here is FAIR WARNING - SPOILER ALERTS BELOW. More like, plot giveaways, but whatever, you have been warned. If you're wondering where I'm getting my information from... I'll have you know that it is very reliable and that's all I can say.
Here's why I think Glee is worthy of being watched by any teenager.
Unlike other shows, it broadens your mind to everything from Van Halen to Destiny's Child when it comes to music and when it comes to the heavy duty, serious stuff, I think they've got it right. It isn't too preachy, isn't too melodramatic and best of all, it's honest. It's honest about things like what young adults REALLY think about. It's honest about how they are treated by their parents and peers.
If you're a parent reading this (Wow. My own mom doesn't read this, unless it's got her in it, but kudos to you for trying to reach out and try to understand how our minds work), LISTEN to your kids when they come to you. If you're telling them to come to you whenever they have ANYTHING to talk about, keep your word. Don't freak out and yell your head off at them. As harsh as this sounds, if your kids are your only retirement fund, make sure ALL lines of communication are open and working at all times and that it's not just a one way road. A one way road also doesn't mean that you're the one who is talking and giving your kid free advice. Neither does it mean that your kid is the only one who gets to talk about their problems. It'll make your kid feel a lot better and boost their confidence if you kept them in the loop about the things in your life, financial or otherwise. Granted they don't need to know the whole picture, but they WILL understand the general sentiment. Involve them in decision making regarding things like where they'll go on vacation or what school they should go to.
Your dreams are not their dreams. If you think it's okay to live your life through you kids, you're wrong. From first hand experience, trust me, when we lean on you for everything, take our first major decision by ourselves and then YOU go and say something like - no, you should do this because it's socially more acceptable - and when we believe you instead of ourselves because it's been drilled into our heads that 'the elders know best', and when that plan fails at such epic proportions that YOU end up eating humble pie, it is not cool for ANYONE involved. Your kid is not going to blame you, if that's what you're thinking. Their going to blame themselves for listening to you and your advice when they should've stuck to their decision. After that, they're sure as hell not going to take your advice seriously anymore. Yes, we're very stingy with our forgiveness and second chances. If your kids blame you for every pitfall in their lives, wake up and smell the coffee, your kid is spoilt.
Where does the Glee spoiler bit come in? Mike Chang has to choose between listening to his dad and pleasing him, making him happy and proud of him, against following his dreams and his passions. To all the kids out there, do your research before you make a decision, because you don't want to be called fickle-minded, nor do you want your dreams to be called a flash in the pan by your own parents, because it will either crush you or make you hate them and moving on from that is harder than you think. Been there, done that.
Not only is it a show that is against violence and bullying, it also actively encourages kids to change their mindsets about people, handicapped or otherwise. I've heard older people around me say - Oh, poor thing, he's gay - and it pisses me off. Being gay isn't a disability you show pity towards. Being a victim of bullying is. If you REALLY want to do something, don't mock the handicapped person, learn more about them and their disability so that you can overcome it and then communicate with them. You may even realize that if you were in a room full of people who knew sign language and you didn't, you'd be the one who felt handicapped, not them. I've been through it, and it opened my eyes to the possibility that if you're looking at artwork created by someone who was special and if that person were communicating with you in signs, you'd be the one who felt like you had a language barrier to overcome, not them.
As I write this, there's news about Green Lantern (Alan Scott) turning out to be gay doing the rounds. He's a fictional superhero, One Million Moms! If you have a problem with anything, have a problem with the fact that your kids are reading graphic novels and not books by authors like Enid Blyton, Carolyn Keene and others. But of course you wouldn't push your little boys and girls to do that will you? Harry Potter was blasphemous enough when it turned out that Albus Dumbledore was gay. You're not sheltering your kids when you declare war on DC comics, you're telling your kids that you'd be ashamed of them if they turned out to be gay.
So it may be a little difficult to digest, it will take time for mindsets to change and it will take longer for the negative connotations surrounding the words gay and lesbian to die out. Glee spoiler, don't turn into Santana's mom and tell your kids to keep it their 'secret' and follow it up with disowning your kid. It takes a LOT of courage to stand up to your parents, and when it's something as huge an issue as sexual orientation, remember it is NOT a disease, NOT a life choice. That's how they were born. You loved them in-utero, don't stop loving them because they've come out.
Finally, trust them. If your kids are touching 14, LET them make mistakes. Studies have shown that having relationships helps kids stay grounded and focused, unlike popular belief that speaks of relationships screwing with your kids' brains and 'tempting' them to 'experiment'. Kids that old are smart. Nobody wants to get pregnant at 14. TALK to them about sex, the good, the bad and the ugly. Talk to them about STDs and how losing their virginity is something that happens ONLY once in a lifetime. Talk to them about how they should strive to be on their own two feet so that if anything unexpected happens, they'll know how to handle it. Also, on a lighter vein, I'm pretty sure that health education videos on the 'joy' of giving birth arent' very joyful. With all that screaming from pain and exhaustion, it could also be your best bet when it comes to convincing your kid about abstinence and celibacy.
I'm pretty sure every Gleek remembers what Quin Fabray went through. Glee spoiler, it's heart-wrenching to watch Quin and Puck trying to bond with their daughter and trying to figure out how to raise her. Babies are expensive no matter where you are in the world.
But I think the best part about Glee is that it's most honest about its core issues like morality and equality. It addresses things like how sometimes the right decision for you isn't the right decision when it comes to a moral standpoint. It addresses things like giving into peer pressure and how to avoid it by just making YOU think of a better way out. But what I love about Glee, is that every single one of its characters can be related to at one point of time or the other.
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