Category: Writing About Art!

“Sucker For Pain” Video

Nina Darbonne

Dr. Carrie Hall

English Comp 1 1101-D355

2 May 2019

“Sucker For Pain” and EMS Work

Many have heard of New York City’s bravest, strongest, finest, and boldest as monikers for New York’s public service departments of Fire Department, Sanitation, Police Department, and Corrections respectively. But few people know there is a department missing from the list. New York City’s Best is reserved for Emergency Medical Services. In Emergency Medical Service, EMS for short, Emergency Medical Technicians, EMTs and Paramedics work with passion for the profession. A wide array of reasons reel EMS workers into the job; whether it’s the excitement of the job, morbid fascination, riding the high from helping those in need, or being one of the last lines of defense against death. Despite the undeniable love of the job, sadly many EMS workers are overworked and underpaid. More often than not, EMS workers have three or more jobs just to make ends meet. Being exhausted from working long hours and running from one job to yet another job for another long grueling shift, leads to bitter, burnt out workers. Unfortunately, EMS workers tend to leave the job either hurt from physical strain or fed up with the field of work due to years of fatigue draining the love and passion out of the job.

First responders: Police officers, Firefighters, and EMS are legally not able to strike because they provide essential services to the city. A strike would cause a detrimental gap in those services and possibly endanger lives. This can be compared to other city jobs, like Mass Transit Association, MTA which has had several strikes to give stock to their union’s pay and benefit demands. There is a significant pay gap even amongst first responders. “EMTs are paid $47,685 a year after being on the job for five years. Firefighters with five years on the job are paid $110,293, while police officers make $85,292 after five and a half years, but ‘officers may potentially earn over $100,000 per year’ with benefits, according to NYC.gov” (EMS1). Taking a look at other first responders, it is far less common to find a police officer or firefighter moonlighting as officers or firefighters (respectively) in another city or county. However, for EMS members it is essential to precariously balance several jobs just to afford to live in the city we serve.

New York City’s Mayor Bill de Blasio promotes ideals of “fairness and equality.” However, when questioned regarding the first responder pay gap during a press conference, de Blasio defended the unfair disparity in wages. “‘I have deep, deep respect for our EMTs and everyone who works at EMS,’ de Blasio said. ‘I think the work is different. We are trying to make sure people are treated fairly and paid fairly but I do think the work is different’” (EMS1). Contrary to de Blasio’s misconception, EMS workers arrive to the scene of calls along side both police officers and firefighters and encounter their own share of dangers. Moreover, the EMS department responds to the largest number of jobs of all the first responders.

EMS workers face traumatic scenes, dangerous and high stress situations on a regular basis. A survey was conducted with EMS workers and was compared to national statistical data compiled from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CDC. “3,447 (86%) of the 4,022 respondents experienced CS but the shocking discovery was that 1,383 (37%) of the respondents had contemplated suicide and 225 (6.6%) had actually tried to take their own life… These statistics are roughly 10 times greater than the national average for adults in America, according to a study done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2012” (Newland). CS stands for critical stress, which is “the stress we undergo either as a result of a single critical incident that had a significant impact upon you, or the accumulation of stress over a period of time. This stress has a strong emotional impact on providers, regardless of their years of service” (Newland). EMS workers do not voluntarily run into burning buildings or knowingly stand in the line of fire. Nevertheless, that does not mitigate the dangers EMS workers face on a regular basis and the difficulties inherent to the line of work.

The song “Sucker For Pain” was released in June 2016 as part of the soundtrack of the movie Suicide Squad. The song features artists: Dan Reynold of Imagine Dragons, Sam Harris of X Ambassadors, Ty Dolla $ign, Logic, Lil Wayne, and Wiz Khalifa. The song closely relates to the plot and themes prevalent throughout the movie. The official movie website describes the movie as, “Assemble a team of the world’s most dangerous, incarcerated Super Villains, provide them with the most powerful arsenal at the government’s disposal, and send them off on a mission to defeat an enigmatic, insuperable entity. U.S. intelligence officer Amanda Waller has determined only a secretly convened group of disparate, despicable individuals with next to nothing to lose will do. However, once they realize they weren’t picked to succeed but chosen for their patent culpability when they inevitably fail, will the Suicide Squad resolve to die trying, or decide it’s every man for himself?” (SuicideSquad). In the movie, the group of criminals transforms into unlikely heroes and band together to save the world. The group fights to save society, despite always being viewed as criminals and returning to their prison sentences after the successful mission.

The lyrics of the song have a clear correlation with the movie. Some of the lyrics can also be applied to EMS work and serve as an anthem of sorts. The song opens with the chorus performed by Dan Reynold and Sam Harris. The line “Take my hand through the flames” can be related to the year long wringer of paramedic school. Typically when EMTs are going to medic school, a delicate and draining balance must be maintained between attending class, scheduling ambulance and hospital rotations, studying, and working enough to keep their bills paid. Another line from the chorus that ties in with this analogy is, “I’m a slave to your games (I’m just a sucker for pain).” For many perspective paramedics, medic school encompasses a majority of their time. It requires the student to read textbooks, prepare for exams, excel in clinical rotations, and learn new skills such as: interpreting EKGs, intubation, iv placement, and drug administration. Medic school tends to eclipse work and more often than not, personal life as well.

Ty Dolla $ign’s verse can be used in context of EMS unity and pride, the community’s discontent with Mayor Bill de Blasio, and the tragedy that devastated many when a fellow EMT was run over and murdered by her own ambulance on March 16 2017. Ty Dolla $ign raps, “I got the squad  tatted on me from my neck to my ankles.”  The first line referring to having tattoos identifying with one’s “squad” can easily be applied to EMS as it is common place to see EMS workers adorned with the Star of Life, a stylized EKG, or emergency medicine paraphernalia tattoo. The following lines, “Pressure from the man got us all in rebellion. We gon’ go to war, yeah, without failure… Love and the loyalty that’s what we stand for. Alienated by society. All this pressure give me anxiety… Feeling the world go against us. So we put the world on our shoulders.” These verses can be related to the loss the community experienced losing one of its members, along with the added insult to injury with de Blasio mitigating the work EMS providers perform claiming “the work is different.” EMT Yadira Arroyo died while working an overtime shift from injuries sustained when Jose Gonzalez stole her ambulance, struck her and ran over her body. “Pressure from the man” can represent the pay disparity EMS workers face or Mayor de Blasio himself and the ignorance and misconceptions he and others hold regarding the field of work. “All this pressure give me anxiety…Feeling the world go against us. So we put the world on our shoulders” speaks to how regardless of the issues faced: PTSD, anxiety, depression, lack of respect, and poor pay; EMS providers continue to service the communities we work in and help our patients to the best of our abilities.

The second verse is performed by Logic. He raps, “I been rollin’ with my team, we the illest on the scene. I been riding ’round the city with my squad… We just posted, getting crazy, living like this is so amazing… We been loyal, we been fam, we the ones you trust in.” These lines relate to how EMS workers view themselves and the positive morale felt on the job. This encompasses the crew arriving on scene to an emergency, the nature of the job involves driving around the city in the ambulance, the love of the job, and how our patients and their family members rely on the services we provide. This verse celebrated the highs experienced working EMS.

Most of Lil Wayne’s lyrics are esoteric describing far-fetched, painful, creative ways to die; however one relatable line is, “Uhh, devoted to destruction.” This ties into how first responders are called upon during disasters and in general when things go wrong on both the small, personal and grand scale.  Wiz Khalifa’s contribution to the song is in the bridge. He raps, “Never going slow, we pick up the pace. This is what we wanted from a young age.” These lines tie into the nature of the job and emergencies call for expedient measures to be taken in both arriving on scene, care of patients, and arriving at the hospital. As for the second line, many people in EMS had aspirations from childhood to work on an ambulance and help people.

Every career choice has its share of positives and negatives. EMS work is definitely not an exception to this rule. However, myself and many other EMTs and Paramedics would proudly attest the positives far outweigh the negatives. We love what we do and proudly serve day in and day out. “Sucker For Pain” is a dark anthem that celebrates doing the right thing; despite lack of recognition and injustices that must be overcome.

 

Works Cited

Newland, Chad, et al. “Survey Reveals Alarming Rates of EMS Provider Stress and Thoughts of Suicide.” Journal of Emergency Medical Services, 28 Sept. 2015, www.jems.com/articles/print/volume-40/issue-10/features/survey-reveals-alarming-rates-of-ems-provider-stress-and-thoughts-of-suicide.html.

“NYC Mayor on FDNY EMS Pay Gap: ‘The Work Is Different’.” EMS1, 29 Jan. 2019, www.ems1.com/fdny-ems/articles/393319048-NYC-mayor-on-FDNY-EMS-pay-gap-The-work-is-different/.

“See #SuicideSquad, Available on Digital HD 11/15 and Blu-Ray™ 12/13.” SuicideSquad, www.suicidesquad.com/.

“Sucker For Pain.” Suicide Squad: The Album Soundtrack, Atlantic.

 

A Lot of games have come a long way from the 8-bit limitations of old consoles. Games like skyrim, **, and many other triple A games go as far as possible to reach as realistic as beautiful, creating scenic beauties that borderline too realistic. There’s no arguing that games have become much more beautiful over time, but a lot would argue if these are considered art pieces. Every game has some kind of an objective: defeat the enemy team, get to the end of a puzzle, save someone, or just get the most points out of anyone. Art though, dosnt have such a clear cut objective, more or less its purpose is to provoke some kind of emotion or reaction from an observer. With that, it’s easy to see the argument that most games themselves aren’t art, but just contain art. But does that mean that a game itself can be an art piece? Can a game provoke imagination and curiosity without holding the players hand and showing them how they should feel? Of course, there’s countless games that are meant to provoke emotions, but there’s few that can be considered works of art all by themselves.

Journey was created back in 2012 by ThatGameCompany, with the intent to create a game that not only made the player feel insignificant to their surrounding in order to have them explore the vibrant landscapes, but to go beyond the defeat/kill/win mentality of most other games. Outside of the name of the game and the ending credits, the entire game is void of dialog or writing, telling the story through map design, hieroglyphics, and paintings given to you by the echoes of those long lost. You start as a nameless hooded figure in a vast desert, surrounded by the ruins of a lost city. Through the ruins, echoed stories, and scattered pictures, you learn that the mountain that you’ve been drawn to walk towards since the beginning once gave the lands magic, the same magic that you use on your way through the game. The magic was used to nourish the land, the plants that grew, and the people that flourished from it. Over time, the people learned to harness this power, and created large and beautiful cities from this new power. Eventually though, as the city grew larger, and the land once used for food and life was now used for towers, the magic began to die out and fade. With the magic dwindling, a divide was created between the people over a hold of what’s left, and thus lead to war. Giant robotic monsters were created to fight and take what magic the other side held. In the end however, no one on either side survived, and the monsters still run free clearing the land of the life that once thrived. Over time the land was taken back by the sands of time, and what was left of the magic was used to to make you, the player. Further on you see your journey through the ruins, as if predestined, and at the end shows your defeat at the base of the mountain. Knowing this, you continue on through the frigid cold and pass the graves of those before you. As predicted, you reach the base of the mountain, and as much as you struggle through the roaring winds, the player collapses into the silent snow. As the screen fades from the white of the unforgiving blizzard, the echoes of the people who guided you come, and grants you your second wind, as you launch through the eye of the storm, past the robotic monsters, and through the fence clouds. As you break the clouds, you reach the peak, surrounded by the energy that once flooded the lands, and as you reach the end, your covered in light, as the game fades back into darkness.

Topic: Kendrick Lamar_HUMBLE

Kendrick Lamar (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most skillful and successful hip-hop artists of his generation. Raised in Compton, California, Lamar embarked on his musical career as a teenager under the stage name K-Dot, releasing a mixtape that garnered local attention and led to his signing with indie record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE). He began to gain recognition in 2010, after his first retail release, Overly Dedicated.

 

 

One of his music video is particularly interesting to me as it includes many captivating scenes and words. That particular video was released in 2017 and got a lot of attention. In addition of being a very well-sounding song, it also includes messages depicted with scenes. Through this song, the singer addresses Americans, but more precisely Black people, women, corrupt people and more directly to those taking part to that racial segregation and or profiling. The purpose of this song was to highlight what black people are still going through and how it affects the way they live and the way they act. The content was expressed in a lyrical and explicit way to the audience and the original oeuvre may be somewhat inappropriate for under aged people.

From the music video, it is clear that the artist put a lot of work to make things look exactly the way he wanted it to look. Scenes throughout the video have meanings and are meant to send messages to the audience. In introduction, we can see Kendrick standing still dressed like a pope portraying “HUMBLE” manners till he starts singing with somewhat a though character.  This scene represent the “awakening”, stating that none can consider one ethnicity to be superior to another, and still expect the oppressed people to stay nice. As a side note to that scene, oppression is not “Christian”. Suddenly, from a pope driving the word of God, Kendrick turned into a different personality where many girls are sitting next to him counting money. This scene represents how media takes advantage of the hard work of other. The women counting his money also have masks on their faces which means that they are under cover.

Next, a scene shows him in the middle of a diner table covered in red with wine and bread on it, and others people sitting along. This scene depicts the famous diner Jesus had before being crucified. This scene has been interpreted in many music videos by other artists such as A$AP Ferg, Nas and Stormzi. That scene more particularly show that the people you just broke bread with, can betray you.

Another scene shows Kendrick in front of a group of men with their heads on fire, and other streets guys in the background. He then mentioned “Dreamers”, to illustrate how racist people think, their selfish manners when they feel like someone is taking over. Their head are on fire due to their dreams that they can’t reach and are forced the live like the guys in the far background. On another scene with a little bit of controversy, he says that he is “tired of Photoshop” and displays a girl in two screens (natural  and “photoshopped”), where the girl seems to look better natural! That scene cause a bit of controversy from the feminists. Some seemed offended for being portrayed as “photoshopped” because they use makeup. But on the other hand, some people say that he just stated his preference and that nobody should feel concerned. The meaning of the scene was tricky as he mentioned Richard Pryor who actively fought against racism and the fact that some people change their appearance just to fit in the society.

A well known scene form an old commercial was also illustrated, where he exchanges a jar from the back of a car to another man inside an other car. The original commercial scene was made by two white men and he shows that the same scene among black Americans can be interpreted as a criminal activity.

The same action is judged different when done by someone of a different race. Next, he then appears in a house with gun lasers pointing at him. That scene shows media attack towards African-Americans and says it’s even worse than alcohol abuse. By “Be humble! Sit down”, Kendrick illustrate what African- American have been told. He then appears in the middle of bold head black men face down (oppressed), saying “be humble, sit down”, with him in the middle signifies that he is the voice with his face facing up no matter what he is being told. The following scene shows him between a group of black people in high status with their faces up and him wearing white to tell the difference and show that he will keep the battle going.

This music video is very entertaining, but the main idea behind this video was mostly about showing the audience facts about what is going on, that racist people are brainwashing the masses so they can think negative about African American. Considering the actual situation, such oppression does not help at all, it makes some people stop caring and just do what they are mostly considered to be doing. Bad things. It was an overall very interesting song with a lot of messages that the audience need to understand.

 

 

 

 

• Link to discussed video: https://youtu.be/tvTRZJ-4EyI
• Other sources of research https://youtu.be/yzoenMAFHns
• https://youtu.be/G6zWJFCTmZM
• https://youtu.be/Ne4YRL2Gpk4

The song I pick was “Im not racist” by Joyner Lucas. I don’t have pity for you black niggas, that’s the way I feel Screamin’ “Black Lives Matter” All the black guys rather be deadbeats than pay your bills Yellin’ “nigga this” and “nigga that” Call everybody “nigga” and get a nigga mad As soon as I say “nigga” then everyone react And wanna swing at me and call me racist ’cause I ain’t black. Joyner talks states that he is not a racist but then talks how he is frustrated about if a white man say something then it would but other black can say it to each other with out it being a problem.  Joyner Lucas then have a black guy explain what he has to go through when it comes to racism like getting stop by the cops for no reason and the different treatment in certain places and situations.

In the article “Sejeong’s Flower Path is a Much-Needed Healing Song This Season”, Qing wrote “In the present, a grown-up Sejeong goes about her routine alone, dressing and tying her shoelaces by herself, taking her own height (and cheating by tiptoeing), making her own toast. These scenes are processed to emphasize cool colors in comparison to the warmer sepia tones of the scenes of the past. These points of contrast bring out a lingering sense of loneliness that comes with growing up and gaining independence.” In other words, in the music video, the screen was split into two parallels comparing Sejeong (the singer) when she was a child and as grown up. As an audience, you could see how the music video showed Sejeong having her mother do all these things for her but now that she’s growing up she becomes more independent but feels lonely at the same time which is what the warmer colors represent. The scenes from the music video made me sad but touched at the same time because it perfectly described my current situation. Sejeong was raised by her mother alone and the song represented how she only wants good things for her mom and promise to let her only walk on “flower paths”. The song talks about regret and hopefulness which is how I feel towards my mom because she sacrificed so much for me that I hope in the future I will be the one protecting her and walking on the crooked and broken roads for her.

In the 2016 summer flick, Suicide Squad, a band of super villains is utilized to go on a suicide mission to save the city that despises them. The song, “Sucker For Pain” from the movie soundtrack that captures the dark overtones of the movie. The song features a collaboration of rappers along with the singers from Imagine Dragons and X Ambassadors. In one of Lil Wayne’s verses of the song, he raps, “Like I chewed a chunk of charcoal. Naked in the North Pole. That’s why my heart cold, full of sorrow, the lost soul.” (Suicide Squad) An online analysis of this verse states, “Lil Wayne says how emotionless he has become towards this society. A chunk of charcoal has no taste or nutritional value. Guess he sees the modern society as a chunk of charcoal-burnt up and black and dirty. And he has become to heartless because of all that.” (JustRandomThings) However, I took the verse to be a holiday reference. Typically, when someone is on Santa’s naughty list they are said to receive a chunk of charcoal in their stocking instead of a gift. This would relate to the main characters being supervillains. Moreover, Lil Wayne references the North Pole which ties into the holiday theme of the verse. Moreover, Lil Wayne mentions being nude in the North Pole as it would be a painful way to die. This ties into other scenarios he mentions which are are elaborate, fanciful, and painful ways to die.

 

Works Cited

 

“Listen to ‘Sucker For Pain’ from Suicide Squad Soundtrack (Lyrics Review).” JustRandomThings, 24 June 2016, justrandomthings.com/2016/06/24/listen-sucker-pain-suicide-squad-soundtrack-lyrics-review/.

 

“Sucker For Pain.” Suicide Squad: The Album Soundtrack, Atlantic.

Thank U, Next, Ariana Grande’s newest album has gotten a lot of buzz. The album comes after a storm hit her personal life and after 6 months of her last album. A lot of people have been praising this album because of how it was put together in such short notice and it has stayed at #1 on the Billboard charts for weeks. But not everyone agrees that this is a great album. Jonny Coleman from The Hollywood Reporter said, “But, the whole thing feels like a cheap champagne hangover. Sweetener, her previous album, came out less than six months ago. And it’s hard not to read Thank U, Next as a set of leftovers from these same 2018 sessions, or an unnecessary sequel to Sweetener’s shining brightness.” This critic shades Ariana’s comment about making this album with a bottle of Pink Veuve Clicquot by her side. He obviously loved her last album Sweetener since he said it shines brightly but he can’t seem to say the same for this one. Well, I couldn’t disagree more. I definitely don’t believe this was “an unnecessary sequel.” If anything, I believe it was necessary because if you listen very closely to the songs in the album, they each speak of personal things partaking in her life. This was her way of expressing herself and answering everyone’s question of “Is Ariana okay?” I also don’t agree that the songs for Thank U, Next are “leftovers.” The songs and the vibe from both albums are completely different. If any of the songs from Thank U, Next were on Sweetener it wouldn’t make sense because they are two different sounds. Sweetener is a very pop album while Thank U, Next shows her love for R&B. At the end of the day, if I made an album like this while drinking Champagne and have it remain at #1 for weeks, I would be more than proud. Let’s see you do it, Jonny.

Hey everyone, your music paper deadline  has been rescheduled until after the break (rough drafts due April 30, Final Drafts due May 2.) However, a few of you are pretty far along! If you’d like to get them off your hands, you’re free to turn them in at any time. We will not be spending much time actually discussing this unit after the break.

For Thursday (3 parts):

1. Please write and post a paragraph on OpenLab in which you respond to a quote from another article on the artwork you are going to write about. Find a quote you can really converse with! Something you don’t just blandly agree with, but can add to in some way– either by disagreeing or by adding your own opinion in some way. Remember to INTRODUCE, SUMMARIZE  and ANALYZE  your quote! Topic: Writing about Art!
2. On the same post, please take a picture of and post your “soapstone worksheet” (this Tuesday’s homework.) This is easily done by clicking “add media”
3. Please read and annotate the article on “This is America” you picked up at the end of Tuesday’s class. You don’t have to write about it, but you will need to be able to explain it to people who have not read it. So read closely. If you missed class, please print out, read and annotate THIS ARTICLE. 

 

                                Lucki (you called me)

The opioid crisis is one that, unfortunately, too many people can relate to. (insert statistic here). A lot of people say that music plays a big influence in such an epidemic. This is due to the various references to drugs that a majority of rap artists use. Such an influence spans outside the “hood”, especially nowadays. Kids from suburban, or kids who didn’t necessarily grow up in a bad neighborhood, might be listening to the same artist that a kid living in the Bronx, or in the projects is listening to. And both are hearing the same words as each other. People love to give the argument that drugs are being depicted in a false manner, that drugs are being glorified. But, not all artists are the same. Lucki (formerly known as Lucki Eck$), is a rapper from Chicago. I personally have been a fan of Lucki for a few years now, but his music is starting to “blow up” for the lack of a better term. Like a lot of artists today, he is known for his references to controlled substances. Now, I can you rolled your eyes, but its not in the way you might think. Lucki talks about the dark side of the pills he takes, the drink he sips, how its all killing him slowly. And he knows it. But he’s in the hands of the drug, and seems to have little to no control of his needs. Lucki also talks about his personal problems with depression. About how he uses drugs to “block out” all of the bad things that are going on in his life. The drugs help him forget. I think the point Lucki is trying to make is that all of these people around him are fake, “smiling when they losing”. But, even though people call him an addict, and label him as one, he is more genuine than most. This is because Lucki expresses his raw emotions, what life, and drugs, and depression, and withdrawal are doing to him, how its affecting Him. He may conceal his depression, but doesn’t ignore that fact that it still exists.

Lyrics:

I’m gonna move along, because you’re clueless
My little brother genius and a nuisance
Got your hoe surprised, I really do this
He be off them percs, like in his music
I’m really off this so that’s confusing
All these niggas smiling when they losing
We was smoking dope behind Obama crib
Hiding in the summer new tape shit
I’m xannin’ like back to the basics
That xan really blockin’ out that fake shit
When that sip drought, stomach rip and pout
How could I be worried about what they say
When that seal crack it feel like payday
How you findin’ trouble on your vacay
You called me a addict and that’s okay
I just split this pint with my big bro zay
I ain’t really thinking about you no way
You called me an addict and that’s okay