Gut Check: You’re Fat! Too Much Processed Art.

By Robert Estell, Founder/Senior Partner, Estellmedia


     This is the 25^th Hour of the Writer’s Guild of America strike, and I believe it’s a perfect time to bring up the subject of ‘processed art’. As you know the WGA has instituted a strike against all of the Guild-signed Production companies, because the major companies refuse to respond to a proposal by the WGA to allow writers to receive fair compensation for work sold on ‘new media’ such as iPods, cellular phones, internet streaming, and some DVD media sales. A list of struck companies are listed on wga.org. The strike means there will be no new material on television, movie theatres, or DVDs until the major companies can reach an agreement with the WGA. So fasten your seatbelts and get ready to be hit with a big potato sack of re-runs, news, and god-awful reality shows after the month of December.

     What is processed art? Well, what is processed meat? What is produce? It’s when a producer alters the product from its natural form in order to package and ship it in such a way that other aspects can benefit despite its natural purpose. In the case of meat, the bones may be removed to reduce shipping costs and provide a more enjoyable dining experience for the consumer. Or additives may be added to extend its shelf life to reduce inventory spoilage from the retailers.

     Processed art is a bit more sophisticated than food. Most doctors would agree that a diet consisting of nothing but processed food is unhealthy and has long-term negative effects on the human body. I’m no doctor, but I must say that feeding processed art to the human mind is also unhealthy and has long-term negative effects on the human soul. But what is processed art? Take your pick:

-        Most hip-hop and pop music born from audio sampling

-        Electronic and techno music

-        So called ‘reality television’

-        Visual art reprints

-     Digital camera photos

-        Music produced using MIDI controllers

     In many cities and towns, some wise guys thought it couldn’t hurt to remove the liberal arts from the grade schools, to save taxpayers money. In some school districts, Piano and Orchestra were the first to bite the dust, leaving only the likes of concert band struggling behind, and marching band which, ironically is still doing well because of its connection with football camaraderie, despite its diluted hip-hop influence in the inner-city. Did the wise guys save the taxpayers money? Perhaps. But, at what cost? Let’s examine. We’ve gone from a song with an orchestral composition, original poetic lyrics, and soulful vocals, called “A Change Is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke, to a song consisting of two bass line notes, a synthesized hand clap, an 808 bass boom, and senseless lyrics entitled “Laffy Taffy”. The children of ‘Motown’ Detroit in the early ‘60s harmonized and covered the likes of The Flamingos and The Miracles, while the children of ‘ATL’ Georgia in the new millennium “holler A Bay Bay”! 

     I am a product of my father’s wall-to-wall album collection from his generation, but what do I have to show to my children (if I decide to go that route) to represent my generation? Maybe Jill Scott, Kem, Heavy D, or Anthony Hamilton, would be good picks. My options are limited because of the over-saturation of processed music in the industry. I am limited because most of the authentic artists of today are placed in the ‘indie’ glass-ceiling, and they find it difficult to generate enough revenue to sustain a living. When they took away the arts from the grade schools, they took away the education that allowed musicians to write songs that could last a hundred years. Artists can no longer write a song that can be sampled by advertising campaigns and pop record labels of the future, thus allowing the music to provide them with residual income. This is an aspect that processed art does not share with processed food. Sustenance. Shelf life. The Stevie Wonders, Gambles and Huffs, Smokey Robinsons, and Norman Whitfields were able to cultivate their crafts as young students in school; something that is difficult to accomplish in today’s schools.

     I’ve discovered that today’s young people have a subtle appreciation for authentic music. A startling number of them like certain new songs because of their sampled origins. For example, T.I.’s “Why You Wanna” is loved because of Crystal Water’s “Gypsy Woman”. A number of hip-hop songs produced on the west coast in the 90s came from Parliament-Funkadelic and the east coast derived from James Brown. There are a few of these younglings that are able to attend special schools and work on their crafts. While the majority of their peers are on the edge of their seats impatiently waiting to see which “woman” Flava Flav will choose this year, these select few are rebelling and becoming true artists, and that, my friends, gives me hope that the entire generation is not completely destined for the toilets of our society.

     I hope the studios can realize the value of screenwriters, teleplay writers, and show creators, and agree to increase their compensation, so the “A Bay Bays” and “Laffy Taffys” don’t end up woven into the fabric of film and dramatic television.

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