Essay Sample on Childish Gambino's This is America: A Commentary on American Society

Introduction

Childish Gambino's "This is America' new song, and video is inspiring various commentaries on their importance. Donald Glover, otherwise known as Childish Gambino, released the intense music video for "This Is America" on May 5 and shocked the American individuals. It was a severely precise portrayal of what life in America truly is for individuals of color and individuals of color as a racial minority.

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Life in Dread

Different commentators such as NPR and the Atlantic piece have commonly focused on how the ensemble scene recalls the 2015 shooting in Charleston, South Carolina. This seems likely. Dylann Rooftop, a self-announced racial oppressor who was clearly radicalized by the shooting of Trayvon Martin and reports of so-called "dark on white wrongdoing," executed nine individuals of color during a petition service at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. In "This is America", ten members of the ensemble are gunned down, not nine, yet Rooftop really hit ten, and one survived (Cookney and Fairclough 2018).

Albeit provocative and amazingly audacious, the video justly brings to light the genuine idea of life in America for some, who still carry on with their life in dread while the rest of the world sweeps social issues such as racial firearm savagery and capitalism under the carpet, smiling and moving endlessly from the genuine problems that face a still segregated, vicious America.

Symbolism

Glover's presentation as Gambino was astounding with the convincing symbolism of pervasive Jim Crow-like racial viciousness that still occurs in America. This occurred inside the first 50 seconds of the video when Gambino struck a notable Jim Crow pose, shooting a pack headed guitarist in the rear of the head. Other surprising discourse includes the understanding that kids will follow everything others might do, especially those with social impact.

All things considered, the congregation scene is not just about what occurred in Charleston. This piece of the video, similar to the prior bit, planned to juxtapose glad and positive aspects of African American culture (in this case the Dark church) with the savagery that surrounds and impacts the dark network. Rooftop and other racial oppressors might be a piece of this brutality, yet the danger is progressively pervasive and increasingly insidious.

As opposed to focusing on one sad occurrence, I accept this scene, similar to the whole video, is deliberately ambiguous so as to welcome a wide range of interpretations. Consider, for instance, three altogether different interpretations, among numerous different possibilities.

It is a criticism of the dark church for focusing on materialism ("get your cash, Individual of color") while the network is being attacked.

It is a criticism of individuals of color (in the event that you decipher Glover's character as a representation of people of color, which I personally do not) whose viciousness fails to sufficiently discriminate between those who might do them hurt and those who attempt to have righteous existences, remembering for their own communities (Supratman & Wahyudin 2019).

It is a criticism of America (on the off chance that you decipher Glover's character as a representation of America) for not esteeming people of color, in any event, when those lives are honest and righteous, as represented by their cooperation in the congregation ensemble.

Which of these, assuming any, are correct? That is, which of these meanings did Glover plan to pass on? It is enticing to ask this question, and afterwards attempt to answer it, yet I think it is an inappropriate question. As is always the case with ambiguous stimuli, what the watcher or peruser thinks is going on has significantly more to do with their background and beliefs than with the stimulus itself. There is no reason for asking what Glover planned the scene to mean. On the off chance that he planned to present an unambiguous story, he would have done as such. The ambiguous symbols suggest that he needed different interpretations.

Perhaps he needed individuals to do some personal reflection on the relationship between religion and viciousness. Perhaps he needed to welcome discourse. Perhaps he just needed individuals to watch his video again and again so as to make sense of it. In any case, there is nobody the right answer here. The question is not would could it be that Glover proposed but instead would could it be that the watcher takes from it. In any case, some specific situation – the name of the song, the lyrics, the rest of the video – that suggests some interpretations may be more precise and honest than others.

Critique on the US

This is America. This is a critique on the US may seem obvious to Americans (isn't everything always about us?). However, the music has South African influences, and the dress seems socially ambiguous. The title provides significant data.

Individuals of color are the focus. "Black" appears as a racial signifier 28 times in the song. Everything except one of those times it appears as "People of color." If this seems a bit exaggerated, consider how normal it still is for white Americans to assert that race isn't significant and that we should all focus on our shared humankind, even as individuals of color and ladies keep on encountering disproportional access to instruction, medicinal services, and justice.

In the congregation scene, just as in the prior scenes, Glover is self-assured and brash. He kills numerous individuals (counting the ensemble) and a short time later continues to move and mug for the camera, seemingly cool as a cucumber.

On an exacting level, it is difficult to comprehend this juxtaposition of savagery and move. I believe Glover's character is expected as a representation of America. As such, it is not Glover (or People of color) doing the murdering. It is not white men (Simmons 2018). Or maybe, it is simply the nation. It is America, with its racist history and contemporary disinterest in people of color, that takes the lives of individuals of color, even guiltless, church-going individuals, of color, and continues to smile and move as however, the savagery was disgraceful of notice.

Yes, some of this savagery takes the type of self-recognized racial oppressors however another brutality is systemic — racially biased school discipline, racially segregated low-pay housing that isolates those living in neediness, subcultures that laud guns and worth them more than individuals. This systemic viciousness can be just as savage. I believe it's a piece of Glover's critique.

What does the congregation scene mean? To me, it is the entirety of the accompanying:

•It is a criticism of America for not esteeming people of color, in any event, when those lives are honest, as represented by the congregation ensemble.
•It is a criticism of the expert firearm campaign for making guns so accessible that there is no spot that individuals of color are safe, not so much as a congregation.
•It is an observation that viciousness is erratic. A man entering a congregation with barely any clothes could be searching for shelter or for God. Be that as it may, he could just as easily be searching for retaliation.
• It is an observation (criticism?) that Americans seem substance to consume mainstream society (as represented by the ensemble and his own moving) while individuals (specifical individuals of color) around them are getting murdered.

Once more, I do not assume the above is conclusive. What the watcher or peruser thinks is going on has substantially more to do with their background and beliefs than with the stimulus itself. I am not safe from this propensity. Readers understand that composition and network work focus on racial justice and restorative responses to acts of injustice (Grogan 2019). I am deciphering this masterpiece through my very own understanding. As such, it is not a reality yet rather my personal truth.

So, Americans should know about what they are saying, however doing around the adolescent, because they hold the future for what will happen to our country. Unmistakably artistic vision might be the most compelling medium to interface with a crowd of people to get a reasonable message across, and Glover is doing well by his social capacity to illuminate and spark a discussion about social issues that have been left out of sight of American life for superficial capitalism.

The artistic decision of Glover to investigate social issues as politically accused as this one of boldness and sincerity allows for America to see the disgusting idea of systemic issues that have since a long time ago tormented our nation yet been concealed with the pleasing distractions of social trends such as move fads. This numbness leads to an obliviousness about the pressing concerns of issues such as racial brutality and firearm viciousness that persists on out of sight of America's social texture. The capacity of Glover to shed a more splendid, progressively intense light on issues of the ruthlessness of life in America for African Americans, especially people of color, legitimately takes a bit of leeway of the force that craftsmanship has in saying something and making an effective response from a huge crowd.

Conclusion

The artistry of this music video truly shows what job artistry has in establishing a strong voice individual can relate to spark discussion and impel progressive awareness and activity. Glover serves as just a distraction for what is genuinely going on in the video — racial savagery and disadvantageous capitalism — and that is actually the point. With the mind-boggling large number of shifting scenes in "This Is America," we see the intensity of artistic visual representation instead of passionate, though uncoordinated, analysis about racial viciousness on social media in America. The artistry is a medium wherein anybody can infer a similarly strong message if the vision was executed well — Glover has succeeded.

Work Cited

Cookney, D. J., and K. Fairclough. "Childish Gambino: This is America uses music and dance to expose society’s dark underbelly." The Conversation (2018).

Grogan, Bailey E. This Is America: Symbolism and Imagery in the Musical Work of Childish Gambino. California State University, Long Beach, 2019.

Simmons, Kimberly Eison. "Race and Racialized Experiences in Childish Gambino's “This is America”." Anthropology Now 10.2 (2018): 112-115.

Supratman, Lucy Pujasari, and Aep Wahyudin. "The Representation of Racism on ‘This Is America’Music Video." MIMBAR: Jurnal Sosial dan Pembangunan 35.2 (2019): 440-449.