Yes, communities still look to the images portrayed by artists when responding to the pressures of life. Central to the given claim is the fact that contemporary art revolves around observable facts to which viewers can relate. From portraying teenagers struggling with making sound choices (such as in horror movies when the principal characters open a door they should avoid) to depicting technology as what would undo humankind (robots destroying the world) art might be clichéd at times but traditional nonetheless. For illustration purposes, one could consider the song Pretty Hurts by Beyoncé and the American Broadcasting Company’s (NBC) Modern Family.
Foremost, Modern Family is perhaps the main television program today that manages to capture multiple societal perceptions of the family and mold them into a single show filmed on a set. In the article “What ‘Modern Family’ Says about Modern Families,” Bruce Feiler concurs as he writes that the show is “centered on how [families] function internally” as they deal with the daily struggles expected in a technological world. The program portrays a family that has everything one could dub contemporary especially so as it has a gay couple that adopts a child and the fact that all the characters are conversant with the use of technology, with some being too enthusiastic. Thus, Modern Family manages to deliver scenes that revolve around everything that could go wrong and right in a family. Misinterpreted messages and feuds that eventually get a solution as each episode winds up portray the culture of close-knit family members that need each other no matter the situation. There is at least one character to whom every individual can relate, and that alone makes Modern Family a perfect rendition of what could be someone’s daily life.
Subsequently, Pretty Hurts by Beyoncé takes on a different approach to modern day social issues as the song focuses on the perceptions of female beauty and what they do to women who fail to accept their persons. One recurring message in the song states that “perfection is the disease of a nation” and that people “shine the light on [whatever is] worst” (Beyoncé). Evidently, with an apparent interest in the female body, too much pressure propels women to take drastic measures as they attempt to meet the definitions of feminine beauty in present day societies. However, in the midst of the many and conflicting suggestions on how one ought to look, women end up confused; hence, the only way to deal with such a situation is to have every person accept him or herself and refuse to conform to social pressures. By that logic, when one considers the different brands of make-up available in multiple stores and the rising popularity of plastic surgery, the song not only takes on the form of a cautionary tale and one of empowerment.
With the given facts in mind, as artists share the common aim of creating art, they also play multiple roles in societies. On the same note, the styles and mediums they utilize to convey their inventions and ideologies differ as they conform to contemporary times. Based on the given examples, both song and television series reflect not only the societies of the United States but also those of a considerable portion of the globe. Technology has been the greatest aid in communication as people in Asia and Africa can see what is happening in North America and Europe as quickly as the latter can keep tabs on their ideologies. Apparently, Heilbroner was correct in assuming that cultural “efficiency [is achievable] through centralization” (123).
Works Cited
BeyonceVEVO. "Beyoncé - Pretty Hurts." YouTube. YouTube, 24 Apr. 2014. Web. 21 May 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXXQLa-5n5w&index=13&list=PLgXJI_F2zukK447_Ohjvxh3FCbPAvf8UX>.
Feiler, Bruce. "What ‘Modern Family’ Says About Modern Families." The New York Times 21 January 2011. Web. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/23/fashion/23THISLIFE.html>.
Heilbroner, Robert L. The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times And Ideas Of The Great Economic Thinkers. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2011. Print.
