My love for urban, cities and philosophy has been well documented in earlier posts. Today albeit a slight change, the topic of Urban Cowboy.
So what’s the difference between rural cowboys and urban cowboys? Well aplenty. Firstly, rural cowboys are more common in North America in the 1700s and urban ones closer to the 20th century. Secondly their range(pun unintended) of work are dissimilar, rural cowboys usually rear cattle with brown or white hide of the subfamily Bovinae while urban…. .. ohh kay that’s enough nonsense for today.
Thank you for spending time reading the abstract above, your feelings have been toyed. In fact, Urban Cowboy is a film in 1980 starring John Travolta and Debra Winger. An American romantic drama film headlining a love hate relationship. What stood out from this film was not its romance in my opinion, though still a better love story than twilight. Its music was pretty well done, I’m not sure they called it OSTs in those days.
(2)
A few of those songs turned out to be classics. Stand By Me – Mickey Gilley. This piece of music is still ubiquitous even in my generation. How about the song ‘Could I have this Dance’ by Anne Murray. Country music fused with a bit of pop flavours, these two songs are gentle on the ears, with slow tempo, simple composition and vocal harmonies. Nothing fancy, no complex chords or rhythms, and steady dynamics. Probably the kind of music that puts millenials to sleep. Music indeed has the power to connect people and till this day, last-generation songs are still celebrated and even remixed into new compositions.
Something seemingly irrelevant, like a film, is able to move people and transcend cultures. It can connect people, and give people a sense of place and identity. Just like how in 2016 K-dramas have proliferated the world, and created so much new culture, and has put so much new meaning into places. e.g. Nami Island in Korea only started flooding with tourists after the series Winter Sonata. Film is indeed powerful. Urban cowboy, 1980, too fuelled an urban cowboy syndrome (1), making popular mechanical bull riding in those days.
Irrelevant? You ask. I beg to differ. In densely populated areas such as cities, maybe film and environment could work hand in hand. Maybe we could inspire others through film. Maybe we could create identity, culture, and meaning. Just maybe, I could be the director of the next hit film, Urban Cow Deaths.
^^cheers
References
- Green, R. S., & Maier, R. (2003, December). The urban cowboy syndrome revisited: case report. Southern Medical Journal, 96(12), 1262+. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=nuslib&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA111927756&sid=summon&asid=769c910706f45787ccf514c9a3435ad2
- Urban Cowboy [Photograph] (1980) Retrieved from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081696/mediaviewer/rm1382735360
Hi Mak,
I have recently done a blog post about the power of music industry, so I totally agree that the film industry is also a powerful tool in motivating people to change their lifestyles. The film industry has a ridiculously enormous amount of power, influencing our cultures and perspectives, hence I feel that it should be exploited in this gruelling fight to save the environment. However, how do you think the environmental element should be incorporated in films so as to stand out or even compete with action/thriller movies?
Jun Wei.
Haha thanks tho I prefer to use the phrase ‘tapped on’ or ’employed’ instead of ‘exploited’ hahaha..
Yes although I feel a full-blown environmental movie would not be successful as it appeals only to environmental conservationists, if nuanced incorporation of environmental ideologies could be done in movies, any genre, even romance films, it could turn out to be a watershed in the history of environmental conservation.
Films definitely have a lot of potential to help the environmental movement. However, often times, films are highly exaggerated so as to appeal to the general public. Would environmental films be able to get this level of attention without having to do the same? For example, perfect prince charmings in K-dramas that contain ridiculous love stories, or cute girls in animes that don’t exist in real life.
While these types of films with a huge cult following often get away with such inaccuracies, this might not be the case with environmental issues. One example I can think of is Al Gore’s “The Inconvenient Truth”, where although it received huge popularity, it was also often criticised for many inaccuracies and exaggerations which it contained.
Which approach should we take then? Exaggeration which has led to success amidst criticism before, or stick to purely objective facts which could have the same result as the tons of obsure environmental films which most of the World never got to watch?
Good point brought up Jeremias, you indeed are a man of many nuggets. This question, although mildly related to my post above, is an interesting one. This probably is one of the few conundrums movie directors ruminate on daily. Too much hogwash would draw public flak, while uninteresting plots do not generate viewer attention. Obviously I wouldn’t advocate any of the extremes, but concede that I am not professional enough to give a stand. Nevertheless I believe that a balance should be achieved.
Great songs indeed. And for films personally I think Studio Ghibli’s films have really done a good job provoking the audience to ponder over environment issues and human’s relationship with nature. While they are not intended to be environmental films and the stories are not about the environment, the philosophy of being in harmony with nature infiltrates the entire course of story telling, explicitly and implicitly. They also say a lot about humanity and are always infused with a sense of universal love, so you also see the bright side of humanity and hope. On the other hand, they don’t give hard facts and are thus definitely not educational like environmental films and documentaries, but rather thought-provoking. I think perhaps environmental films could draw inspirations from them, so the messages not only reach people’s head but also their hearts. 🙂
Yes that is a good analysis you brought up. To build on what you said, I feel that after a certain point of educating people about the problem, i.e. environment issues for our case, there is also a need to show the people what they can do. What is prevalent right now is people DO know there is a problem with climate change, but they don’t know what to do, or feel their contributions are meaningless. Future films may have to target this.