Schoolhouse Rock Foucaultian Style

Ahh Schoolhouse Rock, my childhood friend how you deceive me. According to Foucault Schoolhouse Rock is right. Knowledge is power. "Power-knowledge" is Foucault's term which shows the close correlation between power and knowledge. This definition implies serious consequences. Knowledge can never be neutral, it is determined by those in power. So this simple Schoolhouse Rock clip isn't as simple as meets the eye.

My Part

Last Wednesday, I had the honor and the privilege to be able to present Marx's main ideas to our Critical Theories class. It was nice to see the activities, slides, and clip work out very nicely. It seemed as though the students were engaged in our presentation throughout.

For our presentation to be success we had hoped for, we broke down Marxism into sections that each one of our group members took as their own. Each member than became an expert on their section and created powerpoint slides off of it. My section mainly dealt with the sell of labor and the Capitalist class. In order to connect my information with my audience, I made a hypothetical scenario which showed exactly how we sell ourselves to the Capitalist class on a daily basis. I feel this went over well with the class. Next I showed examples of who compose the Capitalist class (i.e. Dell, Apple, Von's, Staples, etc.) Again, I felt this connected well with the students.

Though I was nervous going into the presentation, once it started, I was happy to introduce the class to Marxism. Looking forward to the next group's presentation.

Drum Corp International (DCI): A Musical Captialist System

The Drum Corp International is the serious, worldwide musical extension to high school marching bands. DCI is "Marching Music's Major League" (DCI). Every dedicated musician who commits their time, energy and dedication to one of the many DCI drum corps (composed of brass instrumentalist, percussionists, and color guard members)is enlisting themselves into a capitalist machine. This system is neither good nor bad, it simply is what it is. According to a Marxist perspective, each musician is capital to the non-profit DCI corporation. But here comes the irony of this capitalist system. The individual musicians are not paid any wages, in fact, they must pay thousands to even take part. In Marx's "Wage Labor and Capital" section of Political Critism a capitalist system looks at any employee as simply a part of the production process, another raw material if you will (Marx 660). In the case of DCI, each musician is the ultimate raw material, as they not only contribute to creating the unique and entertaining field shows DCI runs on, they buy into DCI while aiding in the creation of more capitalist products (DVDs, shirts, bumperstickers, etc.)
If DCI ran according to Marxist ideals, each member of every drum corp in the DCI would receive an equal share of the overall profits created by all of their combined labor (559). Instead of paying thousands of dollars each to march, the musicians would receive a small amount of money, equalizing them with the staff who run DCI in Indianapolis, Indiana. However, this is not how DCI runs, nor will it ever run in this fashion. Through and through, DCI is a prime example of how effective exploiting a labor force can be to a large capitalist corporation.

Works Cited

"DCI Info". Drum Corp International. 2010. 10 April 2010. Web.

"Wage Labor and Capital". Literary Theory: An Anthology. Ed. Rivkin, Julie and Ryan, Micheal. Blackwell Publishing 2004: (559-664). Print.

Lacan's Belief

The influential French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan would have much to say about the above clip. Fortunately for those concerned with Lacan's interpretation, I have applied his theories to this clip. On the most fundamental Lacanian level, the pilots who survived this terrible crash will never be able to overcome their trauma. Because, according to Lacan's theory on the unconscious, these pilot's unconsciouses will never be able to return to their previous selves. Severe trauma will always permanently negatively affect an individual, that is, according to Lacanian theory.

If Only Hamlet Had A Song...

Lyrics to Mc Lars' "Hey There Ophelia"
The name's Hamlet and I've got a tale
about madness, lust and a female.
Dad's a ghost and he roams the floors,
lurks at night in Elsinore.
Got a pale face just like Kiss paint,
normal you know this ain't.
Something is rotten up in Denmark, a sick mistake.
My uncle Claudius, his alibi is fishy,
suspicions of murder because he's acting hella shifty
Frailty - Thy name is woman, because my mom's on his D
A-N-I-S-H throne, my dad's ghost tells me:
"Swear (swear, swear), to revenge my regicide,
Claudius iced me one night, under my crown he tries to hide.
So Hamlet here's your mission:
Use your antic disposition
make them think you're crazy,
bring justice, fuse the fission."
Meanwhile my girl Ophelia is goth as hell
keeps a razor by her wrist, rocks out to Soft Cell.
This girl's got more issues than Amy Winehouse,
I'm like 'Get thee to a nunnery, I'm not trying to find a spouse...'
and she says:
"Screw that, forget about that,
I don't want to think about anything like that.
Screw that, forget about that,
I don't want to know about anything like that!"

[Chorus]
I've got nothing to do but hang around and get screwed up on you
(Forget it though)
I've got nothing to do but hang around and get screwed up on you
(Just let it go)

I'm an emo prince, non-committal as could be,
you'd be non-committal too if you were flawed like me.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are on my back and I've had it,
I've got these players down from Norway let them practice in the attic.
I'll have them reenact the murder, watch my uncle's expression,
the play's the thing to catch the king and teach him a lesson.
My uncle freaks out at the play
I know he did it just like OJ.
Can't 187 while he prays because Hamlet won't play that way (nope).
Confront my mom throw her down on the bed,
because this Oedipus complex has got me stressed in the head.
Then I killed my girlfriend's Dad, he was spying now he's dead,
I screamed at my Mom while the blood made the carpet turn red.
See kings lose crowns but princes stay intelligent,
R. Kelly has girl problems? This is drama, that's irrelevant.
Ophelia bursts in throwing columbines and daisies.
Singing songs about virginity gone, - she's honest but she's crazy.
And she says:
"Screw that, forget about that,
I don't want to think about anything like that.
Screw that, forget about that,
I don't want to know about anything like that!"

[Chorus]
I've got nothing to do but hang around and get screwed up on you
(You've got to see)
I've got nothing to do but hang around and get screwed up on you
(Not you it's me)

We've got clowns in the graveyard and I'm talking to skulls,
we've got murder and incest, who said Shakespeare was dull!?
My girlfriend took her life, and I'm like, "goodness gracious!"
Her brother wants to duel - Laertes is too pugnacious.
My uncle dipped the tip of the saber in poison (duel time)
then he poisoned the cup that mom started enjoyin' (tool time).
I got stabbed with the poison sword, then I stabbed my girlfriend's brother,
and then I stabbed my uncle and we've all killed each other.
To be or not to be? Well I guess that solves that one.
And I would have stayed in Whittgenberg if I'd known that this would happen.
If you're ever up in Denmark on a moonlit night,
you'll hear Ophelia's sad song when the full moon's bright.
Baby I'm sorry I messed up, goodnight my sweet princess,
may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest...
and they sing:

[Chorus]
I've got nothing to do but hang around and get screwed up on you
(Forget it though)
I've got nothing to do but hang around and get screwed up on you
(Just let it go)
I've got nothing to do but hang around and get screwed up on you
(You've got to see)
I've got nothing to do but hang around and get screwed up on you
(Not you it's me)

Analysis: This song by MC Lars is an accurate summation of the troubles of Hamlet's subconscious/conscious life. As the song states, Hamlet is as "non-committal" as he could have been throughout Hamlet. Because of his Oedipus Complex, a reinforced theme throughout the play, Hamlet has "got nothing to do" but "get screwed up" on his romantic emotions for his mother. Last, as the song states, Hamlet's oppression is based out of his own longings ("Not you it's me").