Style Wars definitely opened my eyes.
I've never really thought much of graffiti. I always thought that all graffiti looked the same and I was always confused about how it got where it was, but that was about it. The movie definitely gave me a different perspective on this art form. The community that came from this one idea makes me wish I could be a graffiti writer too, and be able to carry out my name in such a unique way.
Whenever criticism of graffiti came up in the movie, especially from the mayor, we all laughed, which I think is an appropriate response. During discussion, Jack pointed out the ironic situation that the authorities were in. Graffiti supposedly supports violence, but the measures they took to prevent graffiti weren't better. Not to mention the dogs they also used to deter graffiti writers. Whoever was talking about this plan also seemed so enthusiastic about someone getting trapped in the razor structures on the top of the fences.
I consider graffiti to be an art, and I know the mayor and other critics would disagree, but it's definitely a skill and it brings beauty and color. Isn't that something art should do? Bring life and creativity and be inspirational? They're only seeing graffiti as vandalism, but I think it's more than that.
Also, I personally think that the trains with graffiti looked better than the clean ones.
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I think it's interesting that we all laughed when there were criticisms of graffiti in the movie. I have to agree that the police/government's criticisms seemed pretty irrational and their "solutions" even more so. But I can't help but think what my reaction would be if some people started spray-painting their names on my house. Honestly, I don't think I would be extremely happy about it. True, public property is different than private property, and as a citizen I think it would be cooler to see artwork on trains rather than gray walls, but I can kind of see why the government might not be as impressed by the graffiti.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Style Wars really opened my eyes to what graffiti culture is and how graffiti is created. I never realized how long it took to paint a piece or how much planning it required! Also the graffitied trains definitely looked better than the plain grey ones.
ReplyDeleteThis all makes sense. I think the ironic elements of this reflect the power dynamic that is at the heart of the controversy. The main reason that the city wanted to eliminate the art was it showed a power over the government. The graffiti is a physical manifestation of the subversive attitude that governor clearly despised. the city was forced to employ countermeasures to display its dominance over the people. Wow that is rather cynical, but the dynamic certainly exists to some extent.
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