OPINION: When dispute politics impedes basic visual enjoyment
In the whole dome of insane university courses, this history semester’s” Lana Del Rey: Emotional Landscapes of U. S. Settler Colonialism” at Northwestern perhaps had earned a spot in the top ten.
Although it was only taught a few months ago, social media recently highlighted the training.
At first glance, you may assume that a market sure would attract perhaps 10 students. According to The Daily Northwestern, professor Madeleine Le Cesne had expectations even lower.
Lo and behold, the group had a delay listing of over 40 students and was at its maximum.
Le Cesne, whose studies “focuses on pores and points of outflow as essential relationalities that blur the boundaries between system, thing, and land in New Orleans ‘ past-present-future dark creole communities”, had said to herself” I guess Lana is on people’s thoughts”.
But … do students actually ponder how Del Rey’s audio “implicates people in the’ settler-colonial condition ‘” and support them “work toward’ postmodernism futures'”?
Practically anything is achievable with important theory, especially if you have an associated grievance mindset.
Incoming Northwestern senior Naya Hemphill apparently saw the connection, and said it’s not hard to see:” If you think about Lana Del Rey]pictured], you think of Americana, and if you think of Americana, you get to colonialism ]… ] it’s so deeply rooted in her music”.
The song cites musical influences from Billie Holliday and Frank Sinatra to Bruce Springsteen and Eminem, as well as artistic hints from Walt Whitman and Allen Ginsberg, according to Del Rey’s Wikipedia website. One of her albums is even named” Norman Fucking Rockwell” ).
Hemphill claimed that she chose to enroll because the course was taught from a “non-white perspective” ( Le Cesne is a woman of color ). She also admits her” Black personality” often gets in the way of her Del Rey fans.
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Kadin Mills, a student, agreed that classes like Le Cesne’s would allow students to “take a step back from their settler lives and really assess their positionality as occupiers because there is no requirement for Native American courses at Northwestern.”
Mills added that white professors should learn more about settler colonialism in order to “take the load” off their minority counterparts. ( Just remember, however— if this actually happens then the grievance mongers will complain about” colonists” teaching about” their colonialism”. You ca n’t win. )
I can imagine that if my formative years were happening today, I likely would get lectured about” cultural appropriation” or some other such nonsense as I was (am ) partial to the R&, B and funk music genres.
Because of our music preferences, my best friend and I had little trouble establishing friendships with the (98-percent ) black students being bused in from downtown Wilmington during my junior high school days when the northern part of Delaware played host to the most “draconian” forced busing scheme in the country.
The mutually agreeable conversations— and then friendships — between these Caucasians and African Americans flourished after the city kids ‘ initial shock that white boys from the Wilmington’s burbs not only knew about bands like Parliament,  , Funkadelic, and Heatwave but actually enjoyed their music.
Were it 2024, however, one of our teachers “invested in the worldmaking potential of critical theory” like Le Cesne might lecture my pal and I about the power differentials inherent in our nascent friendships … not to mention how we ca n’t legitimately enjoy George Clinton-inspired tunes like “( Not Just ) Knee Deep” and” Flashlight” without a requisite knowledge of past prejudice and discrimination.
Course designations for classes like Le Cesne’s all should begin with “FK”—” Fun Killer”.
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IMAGES: Cinnamon Girl, Abigail Anthony/X
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