The last two episodes we were assigned to watch of The Get Down has made me think introspectively about two specific readings that I enjoyed very much. In episode eight of The Get Down we see Shaolin very afraid that The Get Down will fail and flounder in this already difficult and cut throat music industry. However, Shaolin shows us just how cut throat he can be as well.
Shaolin goes as far as to mess up Zeke’s interview with the ivy league university Yale just so The Get Down would not be threatened. Shaolin’s tenacity although questionable is strong and taught, which reminded me of the tenacity of the people of Puerto Rico. In The Washington post article “How music took down Puerto Rico’s governor” we learned about how the people of Puerto Rico felt so passionately about removing him from political office because of his corruption they used music and dance to do so. The article describes how groups of performers and artists came together on the streets and even on steps of important government buildings as well. It’s not the same sort of heartfelt passion that the people of Puerto Rico had for political corruption, but the love of music and art that connected the events portrayed in this episode of The Get Down with Shaolin’s actions sparked the connection in my head.
Additionally in episode nine of The Get Down we see an interesting idea being shown about the character Mylene. Mylene wants to be a performer so bad, but her family is being conservative about her image because they don’t want he to be sexy. On the flip side though Mylene does not mind showing a little bit of sex appeal in her performances and songs. This instance made me think of the Rumor Has It reading we read. In the reading it speaks about how mostly women are portrayed in the media. A large portion discusses on how women are sexualized and ridiculed for it at the same time in the music industry. This just sparked a connection in my head because even though Mylene doesn’t mind being sexy she shouldn’t have to if she does not feel comfortable however Roy from the record label is trying to heavily push this image.
