Action film music: should rap & metal be banned?
Yesterday, I braced myself to face a great intellectual challenge: I was going to watch “xXx: State of the Union”. I had read reviews, and was sure I wasn’t going to enjoy it as much as other action movies. Nevertheless, I watched it (even recorded it, as my brother wished me to do so, just in case it turned out to be good).
Well, let me spoil it, if you haven’t seen it yet: don’t watch it. Ice Cube acts really bad, and the dialogue is worse than most other action movies I’ve seen. At least, Steven Seagal would have made the lame dialogue sound philosophical.
What annoyed me the most, however, was the music: rap music pretty much all the time.
The statement was staring at me in the face: “rap music should never be used as a soundtrack”. Still, I had to be sure of my reasoning.
Picture the following scene: five Hummer-like vehicles rushing towards the US Capitol with a bunch of street thieves armed to their teeth in order to save the US President, dodging cars and driving through army-manned barriers.
In a good action movie, that would be accompanied by a fast-paced string ensemble piece, simple musically but aiming to give an adrenaline rush to the viewer.
In an okay action movie, it would be some kind of “metal”, with people screaming their guts out and destroying our eardrums with heavily distorted guitars.
In a bad action movie, the soundtrack is rap, with a person telling us all about the hardship of life to a steady beat.
The problem of choice of music during films is particularly apparent in action films (particularly American action films), because they are the films where the soundtrack tends to leave the realm of ensemble music (classical music or orchestral film music) the most. Interestingly, I cannot think of any kind of “other music” that appears as much in action movies as either rap or metal. Pop is the rage for “romcoms” and “chick flicks”, hip hop for anything with young cool kids (supplanting pop), and rock has its appearances in a couple of action movies, but they’re not serious contenders in that kind of film.
Yes, I dislike rap and metal. Yes, I mainly listen to “sissy white boy” stuff, like Paul McCartney, Elton John and Sheryl Crow. However, this doesn’t mean my opinion is worthless.
My prejudice in “favour” of metal over rap is based on a simple fact: the loudness of metal has an effect on your heart and mind to the extent where, even if you’re not absolutely horrified by what you’re hearing, it creates an adrenaline rush (well, when watching an action sequence).
Rap, on the other hand, does absolutely nothing to contribute to the viewing experience, unless you’re a fan of rap music.
I thoroughly dislike hearing metal during an action sequence, because I find it horrible musically. But rap is worse, because I find it horrible musically while at the same time feeling completely unmoved by it.
Interestingly, a cultural phenomenon is to be observed regarding the choice between rap, metal and ensemble music: if the heroes are American and black, rap will be chosen; if the heroes are American and white, it will go either way; if the heroes are European, it will be either metal or ensemble music; finally, if the heroes are above fifty, you never get metal or rap.
Now, I agree that the Afro-American culture is important, and it’s good to see loads of black actors out there. But seriously, does every action film with a black man under fifty have to feature rap music? Why not soul music, or R&B?
Why couldn’t metal be replaced with more harmonious-sounding stuff?
Ultimately, I wish action movie music would remain limited to ensemble music. Metal and rap have, in my opinion, no use, as they invariably irritate someone in the audience. Film music, especially in action movies, is supposed to make you feel the film more intensely without being perceived to do so. It’s meant to be “invisible” (inaudible, in a way), while rap and metal scream out “LISTEN TO ME!”.
However, it seems that this isn’t about to happen. The film industry is still in many ways too immature to realise that music needs to complement a film and not distract from it, and that this principle applies even to films featuring rappers.
Still, one can hope…
10 April 2009 at 15:56
Sounds like you too have applied the acronym “Retards Attempting Poetry” to rap music, as we sane Americans like to put it.
27 April 2009 at 00:12
The fact that you don’t like rap…means absolutly nothing to me…the value of your statement, is zero to me…
The fact that rap doesnt move you…tells me your very one sided…closed off to a side of society that does matter…which tells me a part of you is dead….
Me on the other hand…I can listen to all kinds of stuff, and be moved by it…cause I realize everyone is not ‘me’…
I’m more like god, in that I do have the ability to understand other people and other cutlures and other peoples plight.
(Your probablly thinking…gee man..this guy is a rapper)
I expect that…
I don’t like alternitave rock or metal in movies either…but not for the reasons you stated…they do have value…just not in that format…in my opinion…
27 April 2009 at 08:00
Then what are your reasons for disliking alternative rock or metal in movies, ghostchild?
As I said, my dislike of rap & metal in movies is linked to their effect, not to my general dislike of rap (I don’t mind metal so much in general).
Understanding a culture has nothing to do with liking its elements.
I understand American culture, but there are many, many parts of it that I don’t like. I understand French culture, and the same applies. And so on.
You can like rap yet not know a thing about its history, or you can know about whence it stems and not like it (I’m in the second case).
It’s all about taste: my taste orients me more towards some of the aforementioned artists, but I fully understand what lies behind jazz, the many forms of classical music, blues, …, having had both courses on the matter and “hard case” encounters with the music in question and its origins.
Dismissing an opinion because it states at the beginning that it is biased is too easy a thing to do, and it’s rather naïve anyway: all opinions are biased. No one truly likes everything. If a person believes he or she likes everything, it means he/she is unsure of what he/she likes, as denotes a lack of choice between elements. As such, all opinions are based on a system of preference.
For the record, I took the example of action movies and rap & metal because action movies and thrillers are my favourite kind of films, and because the music used therein is the most blatant aberration.
If romantic comedies were my favourite (they’re a close second), I could have used pop as an example. I like pop, and yet I don’t feel it appropriate to include pop in romantic comedies. Fortunately, romantic comedies don’t all include pop, and very many manage pretty well with just “ensemble music”. Pop is therefore not the worst culprit.