Say what?!

Showing four different types of rap videos in order to illustrate a point is a great way to get into people's minds.  Just by looking at one video at a time, perhaps we would not have noticed the differences and values that each video has to offer.  As being part of group three we analyzed the song, "Racks" by YC and it basically showed that in that particular video, the most important thing to value is money, or in other words, materialism.  This is so embedded in our culture that we do not take a second look or even seem to question it.  I am really glad we talked about this because we, as part of this culture and society, have to learn to question things that are considered 'normal' and really ask, "is this fair?", "is this how things should be?", "why is this happening?", etc.  As a philosophy student alongside communications, I have been exposed to think outside the box very early in my college career.  I have never thought about this myself until I was exposed to it by a plethora of philosophers.  When people say, "why do people exist?"and, "What is the purpose of everyone's life?", really makes you question everyday, things as well.
Ever since Lady Gaga started becoming popular, I noticed that she was obviously very strange, but, I started noticing patterns in all of her music videos.  I became very interested in the signs and symbols she uses, for example: triangles, checkerboards, lightning bolts, a single eye, religious symbols, heads of animals, hand signs, etc.  These signs just started completely flying out at me every time she produced a music video and I decided to do some research on it.  I put the pieces of the puzzle together and realized she is appealing to the "Illuminati".  Now, I am not taking a side to this, but simply pointing out that she is doing anything and everything do abide by the definition of what an "Illuminati" is.  This is a very controversial topic, and some say a conspiracy, but it is something you will never hear on the news or hear people questioning. Now that we are exposed to the internet, you can Youtube this topic and see that many people have noticed the exact same thing.  This goes not only for Lady Gaga, but other very popular current music artists.
The point I'm trying to make is the exact same one we made in class, is that we should really question things in life.  As my Lady Gaga example, perhaps next time you see a music video don't just say, "Oh it's great, it has amazing visuals, etc",  but really stop and think what kind of message she is trying to send out to the public. The same way product placement works in music videos, is the same way other messages can be sent without us taking a pause and deciphering.  A popular blog, Vigilant Citizen, writes, "In order to keep the youth interested and attracted to the elite’s agenda, creators of pop videos cleverly combines fresh visuals with mind-numbing repetition".