Independent Film and Gospel Music

Different types of media is important to have on a regular basis because most news focuses on what's happening locally. Especially news stations on TV . I personally don't like to watch the news on TV because it is just too depressing. Most of the time they are talking about fires and deaths . While it is important to know who has been kidnapped or who has been murdered, hearing about it all of the time kind of numbs you to the fact that another person has been shot, so there is no distinction between one person to the next. Of course as people we sympathize but then I feel as people we tend to forget and move on to the next news.  and you most certainly can not  rely on certain news stations *cough* FOX *cough* because they tend to be very politically bias so they are not really providing their viewers with enough information to analyze and critique for themselves.



Independent film is crucial in today's society because we are so used to seeing the same kinds of movies over and over again. That causes a lack of stimulation to the brain even though people watch movies to escape reality. but just because we want to escape reality does not mean that our brains can not be challenged at the same time. The movies are becoming pretty predictable and they lack a good story line and plot so when there are movies that come out and have different plots I get excited.

*Spoiler Alert*

Momento is a great independent film that was made in 2001 and it was directed by Christopher Nolan. The entire film is told backwards . The main character of the film is Leonard and he suffers from anterograde amnesia so he is unable to store new memories. This film is great because it challenges a persons mind and it forces the viewer to look very closely to the movie instead of watching it passively. The movie is filled with little clues and you have to piece them together as the story unfolds. Most people go to the movies expecting to watch a movie that does not require much critical thinking but Memento definitely challenges that concept.


Adaptation is another film that was created independently. It was created by Spike Jonze who is a well known independent film maker who has been creating films for  over 20 years. The film is based on an adaptation of Susan Orlean's book "The Orchid Thief" and the movie was written by Charlie and Donald Kaufman who is actually the same person. The film is very unique from other films because the film is shown in the perspective of the screenwriter instead of Susan Orlean's. The novel is based mostly around Kaufman as a matter of fact and some may even argue that the film wasn't a faithful adaptation of the novel. The main character is played by Nicolas Cage so that sort of challenges what some would consider the original definitions of an independent film.

This weekend I went to a Christian convention type of thing called BattleCry and it was at the Izod center in the Meadowlands. The music that was played there was definitely very different from the Gospel music that I'm used to.
Gospel music isn't really considered mainstream in my eyes because its not something that is talked about as much as hip and r&b. I find it very rare when I hear about a gospel song and it usually takes gospel bands, singers and rappers a longer time to make it to mainstream in my eyes. I found it interesting how certain bands have changed their lyrics so that they can be more mainstream and so they can broaden their scope of people who listen and buy their music. For instance, one band that played this weekend was called the Desperation Band and the melody of their songs were very similar to something from a band like Coldplay. When I think of Christian music I think of songs like Kumbaya My Lord with a little guitar, so I find it interesting to see how Gospel music has evolved over time.




Another Christian rapper that goes by the name of Shonlock creates music that has more of an upbeat hype style and it is more relateable to the younger generation of Christians. The crowd was packed and full of energy despite the fact that we had been there since 8:30 in the morning and around the time Shonlock performed it was around 4 p.m. The crowd was amazing and it surprised me to see a bunch a teenagers who were jumping up and down and waving their hands in the air to Christian music. You would have thought you were at a hip hop concert of somebody who is as popular as Drake or Tyga because of the special effects. Some of the rappers that performed had lyrics like "God" and "Jesus" in them as much as other songs from the past. They also used the beats and made remakes to popular songs from Kendrick Lamar and Music Soulchild. They also would refer to God or Jesus as "He" or "You" quite often. I feel like that may be a tactic that they are using to become more mainstream though. The rappers tell their own personal story through their songs as their testimony and that is a pretty cool way to create alternative Gospel music that usually has the same lines used over and over again.

I had an awesome time too btw! Lol