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I am sure that almost everyone (who is at least somewhat concerned with celebrities) knows about the Nicki Minaj and Miley Cyrus feud. Who wouldn't be? The media has been all over the fight, with little mention of the actual values that are being fought over. For a little background you can read this. If not, here are the basics: Nicki Minaj tweeted about her issue with all of the nominees for the VMAs for best video, once again, being all thin attractive white people. Not one person of color was nominated for best video. Miley had an interview with The New York Times were she decided to talk about the tweet in a not so subtle and downright rude way. She ignored the context of the tweet and the very real issue that was being addressed and made Nicki Minaj out to be angry over nothing and disrespectful. At the VMA's Nicki Minaj called Miley out for what she said.
Now back tract a few (maybe more) hundred years and we have Plato vs. Aristotle. Now I am not saying that they ever had a feud (it is very unlikely if not impossible) but I am pointing out a difference in their philosophies. To Plato, once you understand a concept you know it. Once justice is understood then you know what justice is. But Aristotle thinks very differently; you do not truly know what something is until you do it. Action is knowing.
Both concepts have their values.
How does this relate to the Nicki and Miley feud do you ask? Simple. Nicki Minaj plays Aristotle and Miley Cyrus plays Plato. Nicki Minaj is concerned with the action of what Miley did. Miley can say that she was misquoted or that Nicki was just angry over nothing but Nicki does not care. Miley's actions speak for her. Miley knows what she said and the context in which she said it. But she intellectually understands what it means to be respectful and the issues that the not-white community has in the music industry. So by Plato's standards, she understand. She knows.
Miley's actions also speak for her; at the VMAs she wore dreadlocks because she knew that there would not be any backlash. When Zendaya wore dreadlocks one media persona said that it looks like she smells like pot. Which I find hilarious being Miley is the one that actively announces she smokes and Zendaya does not. There have been no reports of her ever smoking pot.
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I am not a fan of Miley Cyrus to begin with. But on this issue I agree with Aristotle's understanding of what knowing is. The action is always more important and telling then the idea is. Having an idea and knowing what being virtuous is is not the same as actually being virtuous.
To read a fantastic article that concisely states what the feud is all about, including nuances, click here. If you click on no other link, I suggest you click on that one to understand the political statement that Nicki was making.
The comparison between Aristotle and Plato in regards to Nicki Minaj and Miley Cyrus is a fair and valid point. It seems well thought. However, it seems undermined by a lack of research on some of topics. Two of the best video nominations were by black entertainers. Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar. The point that Nicki Minaj was trying to make was that her video was culturally significant and therefore deserved to be nominated. Similar sexual imagery in Britney Spear's "Toxic" and VMA host Miley Cyrus's "Wrecking Ball" all led to best video nominations. Nicki Minaj was trying to express her frustration with that. How her video had a similar cultural impact and yet it was not recognized on the grounds of prejudice. The author, however, continued on by drawing interesting parallels between the two philosophers and the two superstars.
ReplyDeleteThe comparison between Aristotle and Plato in regards to Nicki Minaj and Miley Cyrus is a fair and valid point. It seems well thought. However, it seems undermined by a lack of research on some of topics. Two of the best video nominations were by black entertainers. Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar. The point that Nicki Minaj was trying to make was that her video was culturally significant and therefore deserved to be nominated. Similar sexual imagery in Britney Spear's "Toxic" and VMA host Miley Cyrus's "Wrecking Ball" all led to best video nominations. Nicki Minaj was trying to express her frustration with that. How her video had a similar cultural impact and yet it was not recognized on the grounds of prejudice. The author, however, continued on by drawing interesting parallels between the two philosophers and the two superstars.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I loved your post. It is great to have some entertainment mixed with philosopy. I just want to say that I am not a fan of both of the artist presented in this feud. However, in this case I agree with Nicki Minaj. It is not nice that someone talks about you in a disrespectful way to others. In the other hand, honestly, I don't think that Anaconda deserves a nomination. Even though, Nicki's tweet had no fundament because she was just jealous about the other artists being nominted, Miley could just stay away from the matter. Anyways, going back to the subject, I agree with Plato's ideas. People can't act in a good way if they don't know what is the good. It is just impossible. We have to think and analyze the situation before acting. If people just act without knowing then the world would be a total mess. It is better to act good from the beginning rather than doing the bad and learn from those bad actions whe it is too late.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the way you tied together modern culture with Aristotle's times in the past. I felt the way you presented each side and the way you included links for us to click on was very helpful. It was a new way of thinking and allowed the reader to make personal connections with familiar pop culture. I feel that adding the aspect of happiness of each side and each time period would add an interesting new level to the point you have already made. You could add something about what happiness means to each culture and the difference in the two. Happiness now and happiness to Miley and Nicki, is most likely not the same definition as Plato and Aristotle. Awesome job overall, you made me understand the topics discussed better and helped me make real world connections.
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