Rituals and Stereotypes
Bob Marley is the
most famous symbol Jamaica has ever produced.
As one of the world finest music of the 20th century, Marley’s
admiration seems to include everyone. It
is in this context that the media chronicled his life in terms of popular
culture, especially the concepts of rituals and stereotypes.
Rituals
It is to separate Bob
from his Rastafarian faith. As such one
most famous ritual within the religion is the smoking of Ganja (marijuana). Marijuana is a rite to the Rastafarians as
communion is to Catholics. Rasta rituals
are not limited to the smoking of Ganga.
Others include the beating of drums.
“The drums, central to Rastafarian rituals and ceremonies, are loud in
the space in which they are gathered in the museum. There is the double head
repeater drum, which is played during the Nyahbinghi ceremony” (Williams, 2013)
Stereotypes
As
a Jamaican, it was hard for Bob Marley to shake some of the stereotypes. One the stereotype he faced to this day was
that he is always happy. Many people believe
that this is from the effect of smoking too much Ganga. To those who knew him best, he was a jovial and
charming person. Additionally, Jamaican
people smile naturally. Another
stereotype attributed to Bob Marley is that all Caribbean people, particularly
Jamaican have dreadlocks. Truth of the
matter, very few do.
Apply
this theories of popular culture, one conclude that Bob Marley is just a mere mortal
and practice his life as normal as possible.
Even though many may consider him a “stoner”, it begs the question: how did he pen so many great songs if he is
high all the time?
References
Browne, R. (2005). Profiles of popular
culture. Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press.
Petracca, M., & Sorapure, M. (2012). Common
culture: Reading and writing about american popular culture. (7th ed.).
Columbus, Ohio: Pearson.
Williams, P. (2013, September 15). Rasta
vibrations - rastafari ethos and artistry on show at water lane gallery. The
Gleaner. Retrieved from http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130915/arts/arts1.html
No comments:
Post a Comment